Drill Press Quill, Gibs?

[steam4ian]

G'day all.
I have a relatively cheap drill press which has a problem. The quill is not firm in the body, I can move it up to 0.2mm. I have checked a number in various stores and found some movement in this are in all of them. I note that there is no provision for adjusting the clearance between the quill and the body or the provision of gibs. I am sure there may be features on top of the line machines. I note that some lathe tail stocks have split in the body which allows the top to be clamped down on the quill.

Why is this important to me? The need to be able to spot a hole accurately, square and repeatedly seems fundamental to getting accurate work.

I am considering drilling four 12mm holes in the head body to allow four shaped studs to rub against the quill; the studs will be retained on a plate which is held to the body with set screw and jacking screws. The studs will need to be shaped (filing) to match the curve of the quill. For studs I am considering brass with tinned coating (babbitt), bronze or teflon.

I could ditch the drill press but the cost of a replacement would eat into my mill fund.

Are others plagued by floppy quills?
How have they over come it?
Is it really a problem?

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian

[jackrae]

I once spent sub-£40 buying a cheap pillar drill and it had exactly the same type of problems. - you get what you pay for they say

First you need to ascertain if the spindle runs true and parallel in the quill. If it does then you're half way home. If not then I suggest you find someone who'd be happy with a less than reasonable machine to off-load it onto.

To overcome a sloppy quill I overbored the head and then turned up some bronze bushes which were a neat fit for the quill. This cured the quill fit.

Then I had to do the same wiith the feed spindle to get a reasonable feel to the feed.

And in the end - I spent some more money, bought a really rough and rusty looking second-hand Meddings MD4, completely stripped it and refurbished it with replacement bearings and a coat of paint and have been a happy bunny ever since.

Jack

[dickdastardly40]

Is a mill with a quill (no poet me) an option? Save on space, 2 fer the price and solves your slop problem.

It could be better to move the press on as is, rather than buggering about with it and having to explain to a prospective new owner that your jury rig makes it better.

Devil's advocacy always!

Al

[Deleted]

I bought one of these cheap drills to add some detailing to my Modelworks Britannia, and it has similar free play in the quill. I've actually found it to be a benefit, because I can centre punch the position for a hole and the drill will then follow the punch mark even if the workpiece is a fraction out of line.

John

[Jo]

I picked up one of these at the club annual jumble sale for the vast sum of £2, with the intention of converting it into a tapping machine. (It was sold on before I made the tapper).

Jo

[paul]

I have the same problem and, at the risk of upsetting no-one, I'll tell all I bought it from Machine Mart - it's a 'Clarke' brand and cost about £40 (here's the link www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cdp5dd-drill-press/path/drill-presses-magnetic-drilling-systems)

Combined with the rickety machine vice that it came with (out of square closing and lots of jaw-lift), the chances of getting an accurate hole are not good - holes are ok for diameter etc but are almost never 'vertical'. It's also incredibly noisy.

Incidentally I looked at comparably priced ones in 'Wickes' and 'B&Q' recently and both seemed more solid and positive than the Clarke one.

When pennies permit I'll get a better (second-hand) one.

[Lurkio]

Hi Ian,

I have a cheapo bench drill which has the same problem. As the others say here, you get what you pay for.
Even if you get the quill a nice fit in the body, you'll still find that as you apply any pressure to the drill, the whole thing flexes, throwing the quill/spindle out of square with the table - no good at all for work requiring any accuracy.

I'm intending to do as Dickdastardly suggests....get a mill with a quill (I'm saving for a miller as you are).
Then I can reserve the mill for all the precision jobs.
I'll use the cheap drill for all the other 'rough' jobs that crop up such as threaded holes on mounting fixtures, mounting holes for brackets etc etc. - the ones where accuracy doesn't matter too much.

Regards,
Lurkio.

[havoc]

Yep, I also confined the drill-press to woodworking and low precision jobs. The rest gets done in the mill. But like jj mentioned, you will have to center center mark better below the drill (or center drill) because it will wander more than with a drill that has some play.

[SteveW]

Guys,

I have exactly the same problem and have often speculated on how to fix it. In the end I just keep the little screw on the side tight.

You get what you pay for and you pay for what you get.

[Deleted]

Got one of those cheap Chinese drill presses myself.

Wasted a lot of time and effort on it and still have a less cheap cheap Chinese drill press. Bluntly, I shouldn't have bothered - Good Ole 20-20 hindsight :-).

Tightness on any part of the moving parts on that thing can best be described as "A BB in a boxcar" and it sounds like riding in one over old and poorly maintained track too :-).

There is a screw with lock nut on one side of the head on mine that goes into a slot on the quill, that helps some.

All that said, it is still somewhat better than nothing.

There be truth in the "One gets what one pays for" with that thing.

[Tel]

I bought a little one of these (Taiwanese 5 speed bench drill) and it also has a slight amount of quill 'freeboard'', however the main problem was with the table flexing away when pressure was applied. Got around this by fitting an outrigger - just a rod that slides in a bracket mounted on the base and can be locked in and position. Problem solved. Also added a bracket to accept a stop rod, and a fence. Now it is true that I can no longer swivel the table around on the column, or tilt the table, but this has not been an obstacle.

While most precise drilling is done in the lathe, and now the mini-mill, this unit has served me well since about 1980 and is probably well on it's way to achieving it's second million holes.

I can take some happy snaps if there's any interest.

[havoc]

Isn't it a better question if drilled holes should be high precision anyway? I mean if I need a high precision hole, then I do not use a press drill or I do not even "drill" it. I might use a mill to drill and then ream or use the lathe. But the press drill is more for rough work.

[abby]

I agree with everything posted with regard to the poor quality of far eastern made drill presses ,however,faced with the problem of producing very accurate wax patterns for my gauge 1 loco project , I decided that dies would be the best solution. This meant having to build some form of high pressure injection machine - Chinese drill to the rescue !
Abby.

[paul]

Abby I don't know what that is supposed to be but I'm willing to bet it's an improvement on the original functionality!

[havoc]

They can indeed stand in for light pressing duties. Have used one myself for mounting connectors and axles. But you need a guide and not rely on the drill shaft itself.

[Lurkio]

Abby,

Nice!

Lurkio.