Remove play from drill press quill

[Ohio Mike]

Here's an interesting video.  This guy fixed a loose drill press quill with nylon screws.  At the end of the video he shows how he prevents the belts from vibrating.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxIuhj7rBIA



Mike

[MarkSingleton]

Another way to do it is to make your own 'wear take up."  Buddy of mine
took his press completely apart, down to the main cast iron head. Then
at the front, cut a vertical slot. Then affixed two long rectangular pieces
of steel, cross-drilled and threaded, to span the 'gap" along each side
of the slot. He could then tighten the casting sides ever so slightly and
carefully, over time, and it tightened up the formerly sloppy quill.

Would not work for all castings, but I submit the idea as a possibility.

[Ohio Mike]

Another way to do it is to make your own 'wear take up."  Buddy of mine
took his press completely apart, down to the main cast iron head. Then
at the front, cut a vertical slot. Then affixed two long rectangular pieces
of steel, cross-drilled and threaded, to span the 'gap" along each side
of the slot. He could then tighten the casting sides ever so slightly and
carefully, over time, and it tightened up the formerly sloppy quill.

Would not work for all castings, but I submit the idea as a possibility.

Good idea! 



Mike

[Phil Thien]

I had a Ryobi benchtop unit with a sloppy quill and was going to do something similar but found a refurbished Ridgid floor press for $150.

[daddo]

I think the nylon is going to give once a larger bit is used a few times. I'd use a brass screw with the end polished.

Very good idea.

[Timberwolf]

I think the nylon is going to give once a larger bit is used a few times. I'd use a brass screw with the end polished.

Very good idea.

....................
One trick I learned when I was reloading my own ammo is when you have a set-screw that can damage whatever it's pressing against, remove the screw and insert a small lead shot the size of a BB or smaller, then re-insert the set-screw and adjust it to remove slack..The lead will crush and conform to the shape of the object, yet it will prevent any damage. This is especially effective when a threaded object has to be locked tight, like in the case of my reloading die,, The threads wont be damaged. This could work very well to remove slack from a DP quill shaft also...

[Kevin M]

I did the exact same thing to take the play out of the Jetlock fence on my Unisaw.  I drilled and tapped the cast iron on either side of the fence body to accept UHMW set screws.  Running the screws down so they ride against the rails takes out the play and because I have one on each side of the fence body I was able to adjust the angle of fence relative to the blade to dial in the parallelism.  I hadn't touched the set up in years and when I recently had to remove the top to replace pulley bearings, the fence was still within a few thousandths of parallel to the blade. My jetlock rails extend 50+" to the right of my blade and I've never even considered a fence upgrade after this modification.