MEW 241 Mods to a drill press

I congratulate Laurie for ingenuity, persistence and craftsmanship in partially correcting the play in the quill of his new drill press. It is just a pity that he had to do it at all.

It is surely a fundament requirement of a drill press that the quill should have virtually no play. I would like to know what amount of play his suppler considered to be “within specification” and the limits of the specification.

Just for curiosity I went into the workshop to check the quills of my machines with a Mitutoyo dial gauge the results as follows:

1. 40 year old Meddings MB4/3 with the quill fully extended (5&rdquo absolutely no play was detected in any direction. Quill diameter is 62mm.

2. 15 year old Taiwanese Clarke CDP 12 HBN with only a 40mm diameter quill fully extended to 64mm had only 1 thou play maximum in any direction.

To be honest I did not expect the Meddings to have any play but the little Clarke drill surprised me by having so little play

If I were in Laurie’s shoes I would have returned the drill press to the supplier as being unfit for purpose. It is nonsense for them to try to convince customers that play is acceptable in any drill press.

Eric

Play is annoying, but I sometimes wonder if it really causes an issue with most drilling (rather than milling).

Schlesinger says 3-thou runout, for what it's worth, but doesn't specifically mention quill play.

My bottom of the range, 17-year old drill press has appreciable play. It still manages to drill sub-millimetre holes in PCBs! I suspect that the play (sub-10 thou but irritating) allows a small degree of self--centring to take place.

One day I will take the quill out., make a few slits in the main casting and fit a pinch bolt. One day...

Neil

And the day you do, you will kick yourself for not having done it years ago!

Steve

Interesting in that the grinding spindle of a big Churchill crank grinder with 30" x 3" wheels has about 1/8" up and down movement when cold.

A Fuller 16 speed truck gearbox has nearly 1/4" play on the second and third speed gears on the mainshaft, that much so that the first ones I stripped I tried to order the missing sleeves !!

In both these designs they centralise themselves when running.

Not read the article as yet but surely it will have merit for someone restoring an old drill press ?

Doesn't have to be a new drill press.

John S.

The article is very good but the point I am making is that it concerns a brand NEW drill press, not an old one or a truck gearbox, or grinder spindle.....

I was looking around for a bigger drill press in January. I went to a couple of the well known machine stores and had a look and a feel. A lovely looking £300 DP in one of the machine stores had noticeable play in the quill. I pointed this out and the shop assistant showed me that I could take that play up by tightening the screw that bears in the quill slot, the one that stops the quill rotating (did I miss the point there?). Anyway, I walked away and ended up buying a second hand Meddings for twice the price.

The fit and finish of the Clark stuff seems a cut above others (but I still reckon the electrical bits they put on the machines are cr#p).

Damn, I'm going to have to buy issue 241. How did he fix it?

Steve

Its a pity the article does not state what the play was before the mods and after, what length the test bar was and what the supplier said the spec should be.

Edited By JasonB on 21/04/2016 19:01:35

I think the article should also tell us the make of the drill so we can avoid buying one. If it is within manufacturer's limits he can hardly object.

At the end of the article is a common misconception. Silver steel is not stiffer than mild steel, so would not help.