Home Repair forum - Chuck keeps falling off Drill Press

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Chuck keeps falling off Drill Press

anoldfart2@unlisted.com

2006-01-24, 5:21 am

I have one of those inexpensive small bench top drill presses. It's
worked pretty well over the last 2 years since I bought it at a local
auction. Yesterday I had to drill a 1/2" hole in some 1/8 steel. I
was drilling when suddenly the bit got stuck. I rasied the lever, and
the chuck fell off the shaft.

The chuck and shaft are tapered, but there is no flat side. It's
basically just pressure fit due to the taper.
So I put it back on the shaft and tapped the chuck upward with a
hammer. I started to drill again, and once again the chuck fell off.
This continued to happen. I finally took a heavy hammer and really
beat the chuck onto the shaft. 30 seconds later it fell off again.
I repeated, hitting even harder, and once again it fell off.

At that point I said the hell with it and used a hand drill.

Is there some trick to this, or something I am missing? There is no
screw inside the chuck (like the hand drills), no pin, no threads,
nothing like that. How the hell is it supposed to stay on, and stay
tight on that shaft?

Either it's badly worn, or I am missing something. It does not look
to be worn....

Anyone got any suggestions?
I am seriously considering using JB weld, but I know it will never
come off again. However, the press is useless as it sits now.

It even fell off before when I drilled a 1/4" hole in a 2x4 scrap,
while I was trying to fix it.

Thanks

jimmy@the.shoppe

2006-01-24, 5:21 am

On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 02:11:31 -0600, anoldfart2@unlisted.com wrote:

>I have one of those inexpensive small bench top drill presses. It's
>worked pretty well over the last 2 years since I bought it at a local
>auction. Yesterday I had to drill a 1/2" hole in some 1/8 steel. I
>was drilling when suddenly the bit got stuck. I rasied the lever, and
>the chuck fell off the shaft.
>
>The chuck and shaft are tapered, but there is no flat side. It's
>basically just pressure fit due to the taper.
>So I put it back on the shaft and tapped the chuck upward with a
>hammer. I started to drill again, and once again the chuck fell off.
>This continued to happen. I finally took a heavy hammer and really
>beat the chuck onto the shaft. 30 seconds later it fell off again.
>I repeated, hitting even harder, and once again it fell off.
>
>At that point I said the hell with it and used a hand drill.
>
>Is there some trick to this, or something I am missing? There is no
>screw inside the chuck (like the hand drills), no pin, no threads,
>nothing like that. How the hell is it supposed to stay on, and stay
>tight on that shaft?
>
>Either it's badly worn, or I am missing something. It does not look
>to be worn....
>
>Anyone got any suggestions?

I've had good results by getting the chuck really hot with a propane torch and
then using a piece of wood between the chuck and the hammer to tap it tight.

Edwin Pawlowski

2006-01-24, 8:21 am

<anoldfart2@unlisted.com> wrote in message
news:8fnbt1t52old8luao8tr53aognm15pgoeu@4ax.com...

> The chuck and shaft are tapered, but there is no flat side. It's
> basically just pressure fit due to the taper.
> So I put it back on the shaft and tapped the chuck upward with a
> hammer. I started to drill again, and once again the chuck fell off.
> This continued to happen. I finally took a heavy hammer and really
> beat the chuck onto the shaft. 30 seconds later it fell off again.
> I repeated, hitting even harder, and once again it fell off.
>
> At that point I said the hell with it and used a hand drill.
>
> Is there some trick to this, or something I am missing? There is no
> screw inside the chuck (like the hand drills), no pin, no threads,
> nothing like that. How the hell is it supposed to stay on, and stay
> tight on that shaft?

The taper must be perfectly clean. Use mineral spirits and then let it dry.
Put the chuck in place and just give it a tap with a hammer and a piece of
wood as a block. Tapered chucks are on millions of drill presses. It is
possible that your unit has a bad spot, but it does work. They are not good
at taking a side thrust though.

yourname

2006-01-24, 12:21 pm

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
> <anoldfart2@unlisted.com> wrote in message
> news:8fnbt1t52old8luao8tr53aognm15pgoeu@4ax.com...
>
>
>
>
> The taper must be perfectly clean. Use mineral spirits and then let it dry.
> Put the chuck in place and just give it a tap with a hammer and a piece of
> wood as a block. Tapered chucks are on millions of drill presses. It is
> possible that your unit has a bad spot, but it does work. They are not good
> at taking a side thrust though.
>
>

ink it up[would use dykem, but I 'll bet you have a sharpie] and spin it
lightly in the taper to check for a high spot. If you find one, gently
ohso gently wiht a fine file.

Most likely you have exceeded the capacity of the drill chuck/taper.

I have had good luck with red loctite. beating is counterproductive.

WConner

2006-01-24, 12:21 pm

I have seen where some people use valve grinding (lapping) compound to seat
the taper in the chuck to the taper of the quill. These two surfaces will
need meticulous cleaning afterwards of course.

Walt Conner

Rich

2006-01-24, 2:21 pm

Put the chuck in the freezer for 30 minutes or more then take it out wipe
off the sweat and then seat it. It will expand and stay put.

Rich

"WConner" <wconner5@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:m_rBf.34506$Le2.8974@trnddc04...
>I have seen where some people use valve grinding (lapping) compound to seat
>the taper in the chuck to the taper of the quill. These two surfaces will
>need meticulous cleaning afterwards of course.
>
> Walt Conner
>

yellowbirddog@hotmail.com

2006-01-24, 2:21 pm

anoldfart2@unlisted.com wrote:
> I have one of those inexpensive small bench top drill presses. It's
> worked pretty well over the last 2 years since I bought it at a local
> auction. Yesterday I had to drill a 1/2" hole in some 1/8 steel. I
> was drilling when suddenly the bit got stuck. I rasied the lever, and
> the chuck fell off the shaft.
>
> The chuck and shaft are tapered, but there is no flat side. It's
> basically just pressure fit due to the taper.
> So I put it back on the shaft and tapped the chuck upward with a
> hammer. I started to drill again, and once again the chuck fell off.
> This continued to happen. I finally took a heavy hammer and really
> beat the chuck onto the shaft. 30 seconds later it fell off again.
> I repeated, hitting even harder, and once again it fell off.
>
> At that point I said the hell with it and used a hand drill.
>
> Is there some trick to this, or something I am missing? There is no
> screw inside the chuck (like the hand drills), no pin, no threads,
> nothing like that. How the hell is it supposed to stay on, and stay
> tight on that shaft?
>
> Either it's badly worn, or I am missing something. It does not look
> to be worn....
>
> Anyone got any suggestions?
> I am seriously considering using JB weld, but I know it will never
> come off again. However, the press is useless as it sits now.
>
> It even fell off before when I drilled a 1/4" hole in a 2x4 scrap,
> while I was trying to fix it.
>
> Thanks

If there's been no galling of the surfaces (male or female) during the
incident you described, there's a chance the taper was poorly made to
start out with. Machinists will often check tapers by rubbing them
with chalk, seating them, and the removing them to check for signs of
uneven fit. Depending on how bad the problem is, they'll take an emery
cloth to it while on a lathe, or they'll take another cut at it.
Hopefully, your taper has only a minor flaw that can be polished down.

Get out the chalk and magnifying glass. Be sure to clean the chalk off
really good when you're done.

Tim Killian

2006-01-24, 2:21 pm

All the previous advice (except maybe freezing the chuck) is good. The
taper and chuck must be perfectly clean with no galling or burrs.
Sometimes people try to use drill presses as a mill or router where the
chuck has side-loading. This kind of use will often cause the chuck to
come off the taper as it is not designed for side loads.

anoldfart2@unlisted.com wrote:
> I have one of those inexpensive small bench top drill presses. It's
> worked pretty well over the last 2 years since I bought it at a local
> auction. Yesterday I had to drill a 1/2" hole in some 1/8 steel. I
> was drilling when suddenly the bit got stuck. I rasied the lever, and
> the chuck fell off the shaft.
>
> The chuck and shaft are tapered, but there is no flat side. It's
> basically just pressure fit due to the taper.
> So I put it back on the shaft and tapped the chuck upward with a
> hammer. I started to drill again, and once again the chuck fell off.
> This continued to happen. I finally took a heavy hammer and really
> beat the chuck onto the shaft. 30 seconds later it fell off again.
> I repeated, hitting even harder, and once again it fell off.
>
> At that point I said the hell with it and used a hand drill.
>
> Is there some trick to this, or something I am missing? There is no
> screw inside the chuck (like the hand drills), no pin, no threads,
> nothing like that. How the hell is it supposed to stay on, and stay
> tight on that shaft?
>
> Either it's badly worn, or I am missing something. It does not look
> to be worn....
>
> Anyone got any suggestions?
> I am seriously considering using JB weld, but I know it will never
> come off again. However, the press is useless as it sits now.
>
> It even fell off before when I drilled a 1/4" hole in a 2x4 scrap,
> while I was trying to fix it.
>
> Thanks
>

RicodJour

2006-01-24, 3:21 pm

Small wonder. The thing spins like the dickens and he probably got
dizzy. ;)

R

andynewhouse@yahoo.com

2006-01-24, 7:21 pm

>I rasied the lever, and the chuck fell off the shaft.

I would just try cleaning both surfaces carefully with mineral spririts
and then tapping the chuck on with a block of wood between the hammer
and the chuck, as Edwin mentioned above. If it wasn't damaged by
previous hammering, this should work. I would NOT put the chuck in the
freezer - if anything, you should heat it, and then its diameter would
shrink as it cools and hold it onto the spindle. Shouldn't be
necessary, though. I definitely would not use JBweld either, as this
could defeat the whole purpose of the spindle taper arrangement, which
is to keep the chuck exactly centered with the drive shaft.
Good luck,
Andy

George E. Cawthon

2006-01-24, 8:21 pm

Rich wrote:
> Put the chuck in the freezer for 30 minutes or more then take it out wipe
> off the sweat and then seat it. It will expand and stay put.
>
> Rich
>
>
>
> "WConner" <wconner5@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:m_rBf.34506$Le2.8974@trnddc04...
>
>
>
>
That's backwards. If you put anything in the
freezer it should be the quill. Freezing the
chuck would just make the hole smaller, which
means it would go on more tightly and then when it
warms the hole gets larger and if falls of the
quill even more easily.

Chris Lewis

2006-01-27, 4:21 pm

According to George E. Cawthon <GeorgeC-Boise@worldnet.att.net>:
> Rich wrote:
[color=darkred]
> That's backwards. If you put anything in the
> freezer it should be the quill. Freezing the
> chuck would just make the hole smaller, which
> means it would go on more tightly and then when it
> warms the hole gets larger and if falls of the
> quill even more easily.

Perhaps not backwards. Depends on what comes off with the chuck.

My drillpress has a female taper in _both_ the quill and the
chuck. They're attached together by an adapter that has a male
taper on both ends. They're different tapers... Many DPs
will be like this. I'd also imagine that some DPs have the
adapter bolt to the chuck (like a portable drill chuck).

When I've had "falling off" problems, it's always been the quill
end, and the adapter has stayed on the chuck. So freezing it
would work. If it didn't dislodge the chuck-adapter taper ;-)

A good cleaning with alcohol or degreasing agent is usually the trick.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

George E. Cawthon

2006-01-27, 8:21 pm

Chris Lewis wrote:
> According to George E. Cawthon <GeorgeC-Boise@worldnet.att.net>:
>
>
>
>
>
> Perhaps not backwards. Depends on what comes off with the chuck.
>
> My drillpress has a female taper in _both_ the quill and the
> chuck. They're attached together by an adapter that has a male
> taper on both ends. They're different tapers... Many DPs
> will be like this. I'd also imagine that some DPs have the
> adapter bolt to the chuck (like a portable drill chuck).
>
> When I've had "falling off" problems, it's always been the quill
> end, and the adapter has stayed on the chuck. So freezing it
> would work. If it didn't dislodge the chuck-adapter taper ;-)
>
> A good cleaning with alcohol or degreasing agent is usually the trick.

I've never heard of an adapter or a female chuck
in any discussion on chuck falling off. So, I was
not aware of this possibility. However, I think
the assumption in this discussion was that the
chuck was female and the quill was male.

Chris Lewis

2006-01-30, 3:21 am

According to George E. Cawthon <GeorgeC-Boise@worldnet.att.net>:

> I've never heard of an adapter or a female chuck
> in any discussion on chuck falling off. So, I was
> not aware of this possibility. However, I think
> the assumption in this discussion was that the
> chuck was female and the quill was male.

The quill on my DP is a female #2 morris taper and the chuck is a female
"R8" (I think) taper. The R8 is quite stubby and wider than the #2.

[There's the Morris #n series, plus IIRC, Rn, and Jn standard tapers.]

This configuration is very common at least in the larger units.

My DP is a heavy duty bench model - an inexpensive knockoff of an
industrial unit I suspect.

Most of the conversations I've seen about chucks falling off have turned
into people siliconing their chucks on. I don't think they care enough
to look very closely.

Few people these days really appreciate what tapers are for. The only
other place woodworkers see them is tailstocks of mid-quality and
better lathes.

After taking machinist courses, it makes me cringe when people
glue 'em together. All of their DPs had female tapers on the
quill, and special levers to make disengaging them easy so
you could swap the chuck for something else. Mine has a slot
in the side of the quill so you can drive a wedge in to pop
out the taper.

But, if all they're ever going to use in their DP is the originally
supplied chuck I suppose I can't argue.

But they do prevent themselves from using things like large size
twist drills that have #1 and #2 morris tapers, and mount directly
into the quill (there are sets that go all the way from 1/2" to 2" or
more in diameter - I'm waiting to find mine at an auction - bought new,
they're a bit on the pricey side).
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

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