I have acquired an old press that works pretty good except the spring return does not work. Looks like it is missing the spring. Does anyone know what a typical spring for a drill press looks like? Or have any idea where I could get an replacement? This machine is very old and I do not know the manufacturer but I am thinking that the springs must be standard..
thanks
Replies
Search the web for a pdf owners manual.
I don't know if springs are a standard size. Might be hard to determine if you have little information on your machine.
Two months ago, the spring in my Delta table top drill press went. I found the part in the owners manual, typed the part number in google, found three sellers, and had the new spring in less than a week. Thank God for the internet.
Dorsett
Most quill return springs are relatively wide flat springs... think tape measure type springs. Each manufacturer has its own style of anchoring the two ends within the 'cup' that it's mounted in. Go to OWWM.com. See if you can 'match up' what drill press you have with photos of old drill presses. Otherwise, we will need a better description besides 'old' to help you. Delta has at least two different styles. One is housed within the drill press body and is adjusted by a screw directly under the 'cup'. The screw is really a worm-drive that works on the outer lip of the cup. The second style is an external cup, adjusted (wound up) by loosening the nut and winding the spring. (sort of like a window shade mechanism.)
Before searching for a replacement spring, you may want to be sure that there is tension on the spring and that someone did not just loosen it up. On the two units I replaced, the 'internal' end of the spring snapped off. It's not really possible (easy) to get the inner end re-bent to engage the shaft.
SawdustSteve
Actually if you heat the end with a torch you can bend them easily.John W.
The OUTER end can be easily heated, but the inner end is VERY dificult on the wide, thick springs to soften and then bend. Believe me, I've tried it on both drill press quill springs and door check springs.
SawdustSteve
I've done both ends, and the outer one is definitely easier, but of course it is usually the inner one that breaks, some law of the universe I suspect. Don't recall exactly how I did it, but I seem to recall I had a helper to pull the spring open some so I could work on the inside end.John W.
The springs aren't standard, but many of them were similar and could be adapted. Are you sure there isn't something to identify the machine? There were only a few major manufacturers, with a few photos it shouldn't be too hard to identify what you have.
John White
thanks for your help....I have attached a couple of pictures of the drill press to see if any one can identify the make......I checked again and there is no name anywhere...
You've got a generic Taiwanese or Chinese drill press, sold by a lot of companies with the only difference being the paint color. Your best bet for parts would be to try to match it to a Grizzly model, you can find parts sheets for a lot of their tools on their web site.John White
See what its worth in scrap. Scrap prices are sky high.
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