DP table alignment

[Stephen]

Have followed the recommended methods from this forum to check the DP table alignment. I can adjust the horizontal (left & right) alignment of the table but find the fore and aft appears to be tilted to the front a fraction. I cannot see a way to adjust this. Am I not seeing something on my "NONAME" DP from China? The instructions that came with the DP is of no help.
I could shim the vice but would require adustments each time the vice is removed and replaced.
Any guidance will be appreciated. Many thanks

 

[its_virgil]

I just did a search on "drill press tune up" and got several good hits. Here are a few. I did not read them so....
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=58372

http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/DrillPrs.shtml

http://www.iamplify.com/wood-magazi...e/Drill-Press-Tips-Techniques/product_id/4770


http://wiki.owwm.com/(S(zpim3p555ji...ess_tune-up.pdf&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Do a good turn daily!
Don

Any guidance will be appreciated. Many thanks

 

[rherrell]

Put some kind of a wood base on top of the steel one and shim it where needed.:wink:

 

[Dave_M]

Put some kind of a wood base on top of the steel one and shim it where needed.:wink:

Yep,
That's what I ended up doing. I sunk a few T-tracks in the wood base and it turned out to be a nice multi purpose DP table.

 

[Randy_]

I'm not sure how tight the fit is between the head and the post; but you might be able to shim the head and correct the misalignment if it is not too large.

And maybe to save a few folks some wasted time..... Don tried; but, sadly, none of those links addressed a method for adjusting a DP table that is not square. There is some other useful information so they may be worth a look-see; but you won't find any help for truing a table.

 

[yarydoc]

Stephen I put an old screw jack under the front of mine with a piece of pipe on it. It was tilted down in the front about .025 and had some flex in it when you were drilling. With this you can jack it up untill its true with only a small amount of pressure. This will true it up and take the flex out of it. If you need to move the table on the drill press you can adjust the jack.

Ray

 

[palmermethod]

Put some kind of a wood base on top of the steel one and shim it where needed.:wink:

I installed one of the Rockler D/P Tabletops with great success. Had the same problem but easily shimmed and corrected.

 

[Stephen]

Thanks everyone. I will make a DP table top and shim as required. Thanks again for the help.
Stephen

 

[randyrls]

Have followed the recommended methods from this forum to check the DP table alignment. I can adjust the horizontal (left & right) alignment of the table but find the fore and aft appears to be tilted to the front a fraction. I cannot see a way to adjust this. Am I not seeing something on my "NONAME" DP from China? The instructions that came with the DP is of no help.
I could shim the vice but would require adustments each time the vice is removed and replaced.
Any guidance will be appreciated. Many thanks

Stephen; You might want to shim under the table by adding a washer between the mounting bolt(s) and the bottom of the table.

Check out your local library to see if they have any books on DP tuning.

 

[Sylvanite]

A quick-and-dirty solution

I bolted a cross-slide vise to my drill press table, ripped a piece of 2x4, and clamped them in the vise. I cranked the slides so that the rip-line was centered under the quill and drilled a small hole. I marked the pieces so they always go into the vise in the same orientation. Even if the table is off, the hole is aligned with the quill travel.

I put my blanks in the vise with the ripped 2x4 pieces on each side, so that the blank is held corner-to-corner in the vertical hole. I adjust the slides to center the blank under the quill and get aligned holes.

It's still not as consistent as drilling on the lathe, though.

Regards,
Eric