drill press woes

Joan Keeler

Member
Messages
135
hi everyone

just a quick question about my craftsman drill press.

as i was drilling a pen blank yesterday , when i was backing out the bit i got to the begining of the opening and the chuck just about came off in my hand :eek: i don't know why it did, but this is the place to find out how to fix it :dunno: i dont see any bolts or screws to hold it in place . any ideas on how to get my baby press going again ?? TIA joan
 
Hi Joan

It is very possible that you have a Jacobs Taper on the drill press, and the chuck fits on via a friction fit.

Mine looks like this..........

quill_no_runout.jpg

You can see the Jacobs Taper there, that the chuck goes on to.

Is this similar to what you have?

What model C-man drill press do you have?

Cheers
 
This question comes up frequently on my pen turning discussion forums. I don't know if drill presses just do not like pen turners or what. ;) But, as said, the holding is (usually) friction with the Morse taper fit. First, clean out the inside of the receiving taper with a cloth or paper towel lightly oiled (WD-40 works great). Do the same with the male taper and try again. To seat, open the chuck all the way so the jaws are not protruding then, with a wood or rubber mallet, whack it fairly firmly into the receiving taper. Sometimes the tapers just do not want to mate respectably. Even though they are milled to a standard set of tolerances, there can be just enough difference so you may never (very rare) get a perfect seating. I'm about to buy a Morse taper finishing tool just to true up all mine and keep them that way.
 
Clean both the inside taper and the actual taper itself very well. We use lacquer thinner on any new drill presses around the shop here.

Important when drilling pen blanks to allow the drill to come up out of the material frequently to clear the flutes...this reduces the friction as you are reversing near the bottom of the blank.
 
i`m pretty unethical when it comes to jacobs tapers on drill presses...i clean both halfs well with lacquer thinner then spit on the male taper and drive the chuck home using a block of wood to the table, cranking on the feed handle, check run-out and wait 24hrs for the chuck to rust solidly in place....
 
If it's an OLDER Craftsman, (like mine) it has a stud bolt, or machine cap screw holding the chuck on, (I can't remember which since it's been a couple of yrs since I had mine off). If you look up the parts breakdown sheet, (pictoral one) on the Sears Parts using your model number it should show you how it is put together, (that's how I found mine, since the manual for it had long since disappeared).
 
i`m pretty unethical when it comes to jacobs tapers on drill presses...i clean both halfs well with lacquer thinner then spit on the male taper and drive the chuck home using a block of wood to the table, cranking on the feed handle, check run-out and wait 24hrs for the chuck to rust solidly in place....
I love that idea of rusting it into place - I would have never thought of that.

Mike
 
i`m pretty unethical when it comes to jacobs tapers on drill presses...i clean both halfs well with lacquer thinner then spit on the male taper and drive the chuck home using a block of wood to the table, cranking on the feed handle, check run-out and wait 24hrs for the chuck to rust solidly in place....

I'm still mulling over Tod's technique. :eek::huh:;)

I'm still laughing over Tod's technique! :rofl: Unique, I'd say.

Nancy (52 days)
 
My Bargain Barn Cheap table top Drill press would not hold the Jacobs taper. I did all of the above answers but in a week or so the S-O-Gun would drop off. :huh: then it came to me.... CA... a drop on the hole and a sharp whack with a mallot and that was 3 years ago...:thumb:

I got an old Craftsman (1950s model) the other day, I have sense cleaned it up and it looks like vintage "new" I didn't mess with the chuck amd shaft as I figured to leave well enough alone (I did check to see if it ran true or out of line and it passed the test) so I don't know if it is a tapered fit or a bolted shaft.

Give the CA or even Locktite a try, A drop and a whack worked for me. :wave:
 
Gee everyone, thanks!!! :thumb: I knew I would learn from you guys. I truly thought I had some how broke it, after using it for the first time. Now Todd, I'm not an expert by any means about wood working machines or any machines for that matter but I was always under the impression that rust on a machine was a bad thing :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: thanks again for the
enlightenment. I can now get back to playing !
 
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