I inherited a ~1950s vintage Craftsman drill press from my grandfather and have been using it for about a year now. The thing is solid as a rock and the motor still seems to run well but there is a noticeable amount of runout. A recent FWW article on drill presses talked about removing the chuck and cleaning the taper. The demo pics appeared to be of a newer Rigid drill press. The chuck in the article, it seems, was removed by banging down on the top of the chuck. Mine looks quite different than the one in the picture and I am hesitant to start whacking on it. Does anyone have any experience with removing such a chuck and/or fixing runout?
Thanks
Chris
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Replies
There are several possible causes. Take a look at the drill press tuneup guide at:
http://www.owwm.com/files/PDF/FAQ/drill_press_tune-up.pdf
and a good discussion of similar problems at:
http://discussion.oldwwmachines.com/ThreadDetail.asp?ID=52887&ParentID=52826
Pete
Edited 1/6/2006 7:31 am ET by PeteBradley
I also have a Craftsman drill press of the same vintage. It was my father's and now I have it. The drill press came with a metal wedge shaped in a U-shape that you can insert between the top of the chuck and the end of the quill. Tap the wedge with a small hammer and the chuck will pop right off. If you don't have that wedge, perhaps you can make one that will work using hard rock maple or something like that.
Wedges are available from Mcmaster also. http://www.mcmaster.comPete
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