Squaring drill press table question

Chiro75 · May 18, 2005

Okay, I didn't invest in a perfectly straight test rod thingamajig for squaring up my drill press in preparation for the latest round of folder action (Folder 2, Chiro75 0), but I did chuck a drill bit and checked it against something that is square. From either side it looks pretty square, but what gets me is that there is a little gap of light when I'm checking it at the front (6 o'clock position if you were looking straight down the line of the chuck). Is there a way to fix that, or do I just have a POS? I know it's a POS, but is there a way to shim the collar that tightens to square it up a bit or is it a lost cause? It's just a little sliver of light if I backlight everything to see, so it's CLOSE, but not dead on. Any ideas other than getting a second rill press? FWIW, the front end of the scales on my fixed blades come out perfectly, so it can't be too badly off, but folders are a different animal.

IronWolf · May 18, 2005

what kind of drill press do you have? depending on the design, there may be a few places that a small shim would work well. You might even be able to place a shim where the head meets the support column, that way if you moved the table up or down, the shim you placed wouldn't fall out or get wedged in.

Matt Shade · May 18, 2005

Before you go to a lot of trouble, take a peice of brass rod and bend it 90 degrees in two places. So that it looks like a H with the top left and lower right legs removed. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Chuck it in the drill press and raise the table up until it just barely touches the lower end of the rod. Now turn the chuck by hand and watch to see if the rod flexes, or looses contact with the table anywhere.
That will let you check it in all directions. It might look off from the front, but it may not stictly be front to back. Then you can get a better idea of what to adjust or try to shim. It probably will never be perfect, but you can try

My drill press isn't perfect either, but I get along OK. Bits flexing, or drilling off size will cause you more frustration than a slightly off square table.

kenny · May 18, 2005

Steve
I have a dial indicator that you can borrow if you need it. I use it to tram my mill. let me know and I will bring it friday.

ysforge · May 18, 2005

I've done something similar, but I Taped a sharpie to the piece of rod, and ran the thing about 10 rpm (hand crank post drill) and raised the table till it just started touching, then I knew where I was high.

Tony

z537z · May 19, 2005

Aluminum foil. Shim it up!
Sounds crazy, but it works. Easy to fold up, won't compress too much, stays put.

_z

J. MacDonald · May 19, 2005

Kenny's on the money. If you're looking for precision, you need an indicator. I would use a test indicator (finger type) which is different from a dial indicator, but can be held in the chuck and swept to know just how much it's out and tehn try to support it or shim it into tram. DON'T TURN ON THE MOTOR with the indicator in the chuck.

John

Chiro75 · May 19, 2005

Kenny, I'll pass for now because I'm clueless in how these things work. I'll try Matt's method and report in. Smart idea! You guys are all geniuses!

tom mayo · May 19, 2005

Matt Shade said:
Before you go to a lot of trouble, take a peice of brass rod and bend it 90 degrees in two places. So that it looks like a H with the top left and lower right legs removed. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Chuck it in the drill press and raise the table up until it just barely touches the lower end of the rod. Now turn the chuck by hand and watch to see if the rod flexes, or looses contact with the table anywhere.
That will let you check it in all directions. It might look off from the front, but it may not stictly be front to back. Then you can get a better idea of what to adjust or try to shim. It probably will never be perfect, but you can try My drill press isn't perfect either, but I get along OK. Bits flexing, or drilling off size will cause you more frustration than a slightly off square table.

after you do that, if it is high or low in one corner, take some thick threaded rod, cut off a piece that is the right length, cut it in half and put a threaded long extender nut in there, fix it so it wont move, and crank that think up unitl its level.

ZDP-189 · Jun 20, 2005

I have a dial indicator, but no matter how accurately you can set your press, you may eventually run up against the accuracy of your drill press' fit.

My press has a table that swivels on a bolt so that you can align the work object with the orientation of the drill bit. By adjusting it I can get the sides exactly the same height, but the front of the table sags just a little and is lower than the back.

I found that this can be either of two ways: (1) shim the table up a bit by slipping brass foil under the bottom side of the joint, so pushing up the front (2) for larger gaps, you have to shim under the bolted-down drill press so that the front is effectively raised.

Hope this helps