Drill Press Problem

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Chasper

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Why is this happening? I drill a hole, it veers off center and the chuck falls off, I'm spending more time reattaching the chuck than drilling.
tn_detached.jpg


What I think I've ruled out:
1. It isn't that the back end of the bit is pushed up too far, causing the taper on the chuck to attach all the way.
2. The table is not tilted.
3. The bit is coming down perpendicular to the table.
4. The main post on the drill press is perpendicular to the base.
5. I'm using a PH vice, it holds the blanks perpendicular to the base and there are no shavings under one side of the vice.

What I think might be the cause: The ends of the blanks are seldom truely square. 7mm bits are especially bad about veering to the side when they are pressed into the end of a blank that is not square. When it comes off I put a scrap block under the chuck and use the press to force it on tight. Is there a better way to reattach so it does not fall off with the slightest side pressure?
 
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Looks pretty clean in the picture, but just to be sure, clean the chuck taper and socket with a stiff brush and acetone, DNA, or something similar to be sure there is no trace of oil or trash in there. Then retract the jaws all the way up into the chuck, seat it firmly onto the taper and put a large ball peen hammer, nice heavy chunk of bar stock or something like that down into the center of the step pulley up top, and bonk the face of the chuck with a dead blow hammer, wooden mallet or something similar.

If that still don't work try getting some engineers blue, or layout dye, and coat the taper with it. Then gently seat the chuck by hand and see if you are getting a ridge or stripe that is making contact first and not letting the taper seat properly. You may be able to clean it up with some fine sandpaper and a very hard flat backing block.

Beyond that you are going to have to talk to a real machinist.
 
That is good advise from James.

Check your socket for damage. If the taper continually falls out, you may have bent the socket causing it to be out of round. (Worst case)

If you have your drill press manual (or check online), look for a parts list. Some sockets have brass bushings that can wear or break. These are not very expensive, but they are knuckle busters to replace.
 
Advice given so far is very good. I'll add patience. This is a common problem with new drill presses. I would caution against using anything on the taper, any slight coating can throw the drill off center. The clean and pound bit is probably the only answer.
 
Originally posted by Chasper

Why is this happening? I drill a hole, it veers off center and the chuck falls off, I'm spending more time reattaching the chuck than drilling.
Click to expand...

Gerry; Is the drill new? or just new to you?

The suggestions to clean the male and female parts of the taper are good ones and may fix the problem. No oil allowed here!

The jacobs chuck usually has a JT taper on it. There are a number of JT tapers. Take a look at the article below in Wikipedia.

The DP head spindle will have a Morse Taper usually 3, or R8 spindle.
The top of the spindle may have a threaded drawbar in it.

You have DP head spindle -- Male MT# to male JT# -- jacobs chuck

Less expensive DP's may not have the male-male connector.

A few drops of locktite will keep it from falling off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_taper#Morse

Addendum: As I was closing the image, I noticed that the taper hanging down looks like it has scoring marks on it. I also notice there may be a score line about 1/4 of the way down. The least little bit of irregularity on the taper will prevent it from grabbing.

Pauls next suggestion about the oven is a good one,


Hope this helps.....
 
And if all else fails, after making sure everything is clean, you can heat up the drill chuck, say in the oven on warm(150 degrees) for a bit and then push it up on the taper. Or set it on a block and crank the quill down into the chuck and hold it for a mintue. It should shrink on.
 
It was not clear to me from your description, is the chuck falling off the JT side of the taper or is the chuck and taper falling out of the spindle?
 
These machinery letter and words are going right by me, I'm an executive with soft hands. That makes it hard for me to catch on to all the machine talk.

I would call it a chuck with a femail socket and the spindel or quill is tapered, it looks like MT2 to me. If you click on the picture it will probably pull up larger. The chuck falls off when I'm retracting either because I've drilled all the way through or to get the shavings out of the hole. What I normally do is to turn the drill off, put a scrap block under the bit and press down. If the chuck isn't real tight on the bit that motion will push the bit up into the taper and it falls off again immediately. I'll try (1) cleaning, (2) removing the bit and pressing the chuck up onto the taper, (3) giving it a wack from the bottom side up with a mallet, and (4) heating it up and letting it cool on the taper.

Thanks for the help.
 
And the drill press is new, not just new to me. It is a Delta DP350, 12 inch, bench, dial up variable speed. I've had it for 2-3 months and the chuck fell off the very first time the bit veered off center.
 
Forgot to mention a tip given to me by a master, and professional, woodworker. Remember: It is HIS tip, not mine.
He cleans inside and outside of the MTs completely, leaving no residue at all. No oil, cleaner, anything. Then he spits on the male MT, taps in solidly and lets rust in place. No more falling out. Works for him.
 
Spits on the male MT? There are way too many innuendo possibilities for me to reply to that. But let's say there was a hypothetical turner who had too much homophobia to do as suggested, would it be OK for him to spit on the other part?
 
Chuck falls off.

Happened to me so I replaced the part that holds the chuck with a drilled and tapped taper and through the top fitted threaded rod and a locknut,has never moved since.This is the part that fits in the Quill. I can not tell if your drill press has an open top in the pulley set above the chuck from your pic.If this sounds involved then spit on the part that that drops out, sure have powerful spit out there or loctite that allows drift to remove the chuck part in the future. Good luck Peter.
 
Addendum to chuck drop off. I use DeWalt Extreme 2 drills,never have problems drilling including blowout,live dangerously with no precautions like wood under blanks, no worries.
The drills are sold in your country by Arizona Silouette,cheap as chips, last for a long long time and really work, they are variously called pilot point etc.
Have fun Peter.
 
Originally posted by Chasper

Spits on the male MT? There are way too many innuendo possibilities for me to reply to that. But let's say there was a hypothetical turner who had too much homophobia to do as suggested, would it be OK for him to spit on the other part?
Click to expand...

My mind wasn't were yours was [:p] but, if you want to crank your head at an akward angle under the drill press head and spit straight up, be my guest. ;) Be cautioned, what doesn't stick comes back down. [xx(]
 
Originally posted by Chasper

Spits on the male MT? There are way too many innuendo possibilities for me to reply to that. But let's say there was a hypothetical turner who had too much homophobia to do as suggested, would it be OK for him to spit on the other part?
Click to expand...
Have you cleaned all the grease off the machine before you assembled it? If not, it may be a real problem for you. As far as your quote above, if someone has that much homophobia, they are probably not going to be turning anything into a cylinder for fear of it being a phalic symbol. Most of the homophobics that i have met, seem to come out later in life. Have a sparkeling day......LOL[}:)]:D
 
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