Drill Press help?

[Stuey]

Okay, so I have access to a drill press in one of the lab rooms and need to use it for a few things.

But there doesn't seem to be any spring return. The chuck rests at the lowest possible position.

Is there some kind of setting I have to adjust, or is a part simply missing or broken?

[figarowa]

usually there is a tri-spoke lever off to the side, there may be some sort of safety lock which keeps the chuck down???

[Floppyman]

Interesting.....are you able to move the table up down easily (if the drill is stationary)? Although that would be odd....all drill presses I've used the chuck is movable vertically. Doublecheck to make sure that there isn't a some sort of safety mechanism that is keeping the chuck locked in position.

[Stuey]

Nope - the level/wheel moves freely. However, I have to manually lift the chuck by spinning the wheel as opposed to manually lowering the chuck w/ the wheel.

The chuck CAN move, but it doesn't return upwards at all. it may just be gravity that's lowering the chuck, or some control that I cannot locate.

It's an older floor stand model w/ no controls other than an on/off. If I remember correctly, the stage can be height adjusted, and the chuck range of motion can be adjusted as well. If I lower the bottommost chuck stop, the chuck slides to that position automatically.

[Hi Ho]

I've never seen a drill press without a spring return but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I would guess that there is a part missing. What brand is it?

[Stuey]

I didn't take down the brand. I only had a chance to do a rough examination and I fired it up to make sure it works.

It's likely 20-30 years old from the looks of it. I'll try to take a closer look at it tomorrow.

[sdkfz]

I got a free drill press from my brother in law for this exact same reason....he prefered to get a whole new drill press instead of trying to fix it.

On (now) mine the tri spoke handle is on the right and it's mechanism goes completly through the housing to the left side of the case. On this left side is where the lock nut was. It is right out in the open. The spring is unable to return the chuck to the top since the plastic / nylon in the locking nut is now permantly stretched and the spring has nothing to have tension against.

The problem was fixed by going to Ace hardware and buying a new locking nut.
Total cost: 36 cents for new nut plus gas for 3 miles travel

[Stuey]

Originally Posted by sdkfz I got a free drill press from my brother in law for this exact same reason....he prefered to get a whole new drill press instead of trying to fix it. On (now) mine the tri spoke handle is on the right and it's mechanism goes completly through the housing to the left side of the case. On this left side is where the lock nut was. It is right out in the open. The spring is unable to return the chuck to the top since the plastic / nylon in the locking nut is now permantly stretched and the spring has nothing to have tension against. The problem was fixed by going to Ace hardware and buying a new locking nut. Total cost: 36 cents for new nut plus gas for 3 miles travel

I saw a few nuts on the end of the shaft like you mentioned. I'll bring some of my tools with me and then see if I can get the equipment coordinator's permission to fiddle with it.

[sdkfz]

Good luck - on mine the lock nut was the first thing you could possibly remove on the assembly, a crescent wrench was all it took to replace.

[Stuey]

A few nicked fingertips, two lacerations, two pinch cuts due to an impact injury, and two really dirty hands, and I kind of fixed it!



It's a Rockwell model drill press. The spring mechanism was at fault. I *accidently* removed the spring from its housing and then couldn't get it back in, after I tried many times winding the spring about the axis.

I removed the entire chuck and the shaft from the drill and then couldn't get it back in.

Eventually, I was able to lower the chuck enough so that it was still engaged in the drive shaft, but low enough so that the level axis cleared the gears. I then wound up the spring a bit that way. I'm concerned that I wound the spring too tight. Also, I'm thinking that I should oil things up a bit. The spring housing is secured to the lowering level axis by two washers and two nuts. There's quite a bit of friction about these parts - should I just use regular 3 in 1 oil?

Also, it just dawned on me now... I should have been able to do all this just by lowering the chuck enough to freely spin the lever. That's probably how it all became unwound in the first place - someone lowered it too much, the chuck fell, and the level spun back all the way. *DOH*.

[Brad the best]

any oil will do , 10-30 , wd40 , iso64 , 80w90 . doesn't really matter .

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by Stuey ... should I just use regular 3 in 1 oil? ...

I use Marvel Mystery Oil on my drill press and other stuff. Try it, you'll love it (found at the local auto parts store and the like)

[Stuey]

Sounds good! I'll look for the Marvel stuff also next time I'm at the shop.

I'm just glad I didn't permanently destroy the machine.

[Brad the best]

you can cover it with canola oil if you want . it really wont hurt it , for gears ya use a ep oil , but for general lubrication it will work perfect .

but if you really want something that is specific , then i recomend chevron iso 130 .