Drill press problem

[DanG]

I recently bought an old Delta-Rockwell drill press.  The chuck is held by a Morse Taper...well, at least it WAS.  I had the bit hang up as I was finishing a hole, and it spun the taper loose.  I was able to get it to hold again by tapping it on with a plastic dead-blow hammer, and it worked for a while.  Then I had another hang-up and now I can't get it to stay on at all.  Is there a trick to this, or is it just worn out?

[Modat22]

I've had this trouble myself. You can get a hand reamer that will refresh the taper in the chuck but it might do it again.
What I've done thats worked so far is sand both the taper shaft and the taper bore, clean with solvent and use a gell super glue on both taper and bore. Then tap the chuck back on and clamp for a couple hours.

Mine has held up for several months now. If it continues you may want to switch to a different chuck which will require machining and the installation of a screw to hold the chuck on.

Good luck

[DomR]

It shouldn't be worn out.  Try to clean both the taper and chuck really good then apply some Loc-tite and slide them together.  Put a piece of wood on the table and press it up tight.  After it sets it should be good as new.  I have one of those generic presses that the taper kept coming out of.  I had to do this three times before it finally "stuck" and it's lasted almost two years this time.
Good luck

[Gilman]

You've got youself old dirty faces on your tapers DanG.  The oxide film is a ceramic with a low coefficient of friction.  Clean that oxide layer off and your coefficient of friction should go up.

Worst case, use some  anaerobic adhesive (Loctite) and set it permanent.  I doubt you're going to wear out your chuck and need to replace it soon.

Also when resetting you tapers, rotate the worktable out of the way and slam the chuck in by hand.  

[DanG]

Thanks guys!  The first time it came off, it was full of oil so I cleaned it with some brake cleaner.  I'll try a light scuffing with some fine emery cloth and clean-up with solvent.  If that don't work, I'll go with the Loc-tite.

[johnjbc]

Mine has an Allen Screw up inside the chuck. Is there a threaded hole in the bottom of the taper?

[mike_van]

Dan, my little Delta's done the same thing - It figures, something you don't want to stick will rust up tight, something you wish would will keep falling off!  >:(

[Brian_Rhoad]

Clean the taper and the chuck good and then lap them with valve lapping compound. Clean every thing with brake or carb cleaner and reassemble. This should solve your problem .

[DanG]

Well, there's an idea, Mike!  I could just dunk the whole thing in salt water and go catfishing for a few days.  That otter do it! ;D 8) :D :D

John, I didn't see any sort of screws but I didn't look down inside of the chuck.  I'll take a peek.

[JimBuis]

Brian has this one right.  I have read of putting the compound on the taper and working the chuck in and out of the press with it running to match the two surfaces up against each other.  I also read about doing that step while wearing a pair of heavy leather gloves lathered with grease so the chuck can spin freely.  I wonder if it might be safer to have a block of wood clamped down to the table and use the handle of the press to apply slight and gradually increasing pressure while its running.

In any event lapping it into place restores the original function.

IMHO,
Jim

[DanG]

That sure seems like a sensible solution.  I went out and had another look, and there isn't a screw.  What really concerns me, is that the chuck seems to bottom out against the flange above the taper, preventing it from making good internal contact.  I'm beginning to wonder about taking a silly millimeter off of the chuck to let the taper slide further into it. ???  I gotta look into all this a bit further.  I haven't even had the covers off to see what  holds this thing together. :

[Modat22]

Put a file on the table under the taper, turn on the drill and remove a little material from the tip of the taper.

[DanG]

That's a good tip, Modat, but that ain't the problem.  I checked the depth and I have plenty of clearance at the bottom of the hole.  I'll file(no pun intended) that for future reference.

Here's what I'm up against:  The upper stop...




Here you can see the taper and the flange it is butting up against...




I'm thinking if I shave a couple of mm's off the top of the chuck, it will allow the taper to seat, especially if I do the valve lapping trick to clean up the surfaces.  There is a bit of scoring on the taper, which tells me it has done a bit of spinning in the past. :

[PineNut]

Another option would be to replace the arbor. Many of these small shop drill presses use a Morse #2 taper. These can be obtained from Enco  (www.use-enco.com) for about $5 or so. The taper on the other end must be sized to fit the chuck.  I had to replace the arbor on my drill press when I found the chuck was not running true. When I had problems with the arbor not staying in the drill press, I cleaned both the drill press and the arbor and have not had any other problems.

[scsmith42]

DanG, from the photo's it looks like the chuck has spun quite a bit on the arbor.  Your idea about taking a .050 off is a good one, I'd try the valve grinding compound in addition.

If this doesn't fix it, follow PineNut's advice and replace the arbor.  It usually taps in from the bottom.  Enco, J&L Industrial Supply, or MSC should all stock these.

Good luck.  Scott

[beenthere]

Is the taper of the chuck the right taper for the quill (think that is what its called) ??

Appears to not be the right chuck for the drill press (just my thinking at the moment, for what it's worth).

[DanG]

I hadn't considered that the male and female tapers might not match.  The thing was drilling nice, true holes before it broke loose, so I assumed they were right.  I don't have any measuring gear to check the female part of it, anyway.  If I have to replace one part, I'll have to replace both, so I think I'll just grind a bit off the top of the chuck and see what happens.  Considering how well the thing was working before, I don't think it'll take much.

[CHARLIE]

DanG, take a real big 16 pound hammer and beat the crap out of it until you know it's broke beyond repair. Then go buy a new one. ;D

[DanG]

Charlie, I ain't sure I can swing a 16 pound hammer anymore.  Besides that, I got fifty bucks tied up in this thing, and I ain't throwin' away that kind of investment!  Also, it's too heavy to consider movin' it again.  To get it in here, I took it off the truck with the forklift, and set it on a 4-wheel dolly.  I rolled it into place and raised it up with a chain fall, then I brought the table and put it in place and lowered the press onto it.  That will be the last time it moves in my lifetime, if I have anything to say about it!

[Modat22]

If you lived close to me I'd machine that shaft for you real fast. You can still file a bit of material off the top of the chuck, you probably won't need to remove much metal to get a tight mesh on the taper.

Good luck!
Sam

[Don_Papenburg]

DanG that ain't no morse taper you got there  , that one is a jacobs taper  like a J3 or a 33 .  I fixed mine by traden it .   Look for a drill press with a morse taper then sell that dang thing .  A morse taper has a female taper in the quill and the male has a flat tang on the top that fits in the slot and opening for the taper wedge to remove the tool .   The tang also helps keep the tool from spinning.Happy drilling

[DanG]

Thanks for that info, Don.  I really know very little about these things, and somebody told me that was a Morse taper, so that's what I called it.  I never even heard of a Jacobs taper until now.

I think I'll keep this old press, though.  It was originally sold by Farquhar Machinery Co. in Jacksonville, Fl. according to the plate that is riveted to it.  My Son's Grandpa retired from there when it closed it's doors, so this ol' chunk of iron becomes worth something to someone.

It is a heavy duty machine with a good solid base, so this little problem is worth fixing, in my mind.  Besides all the suggestions above, there's always JB Weld, and Stick Weld. ;D 8) 8)

[Bill]

DanG

IMHO -

Having "spun" a couple tools that weren't supposed to be able to spin I vote for the screw/bolt solution. You find a likely spot where  you can drill a hole through the chuck and slightly into the taper (arbor ) . Thread the hole on the chuck and run a screw or bolt in there to lock them together.

I've always favored a good solid mechanical connection.

Just my $0.02

Good Luck . . .

[DanG]

That might be a workable solution if I had a working drill press, Bill. :D :D

[dail_h]

   I have  almost the same problem as Dang. I got an old Walker Turner, that seems to have NO taper,just a friction fit. Won't stay in.   Any sugestions?