Installing vibration dampening mounts on a drill press motor

[dunstan]

I've restored an old Rockwell DP220 Drill Press, and am wondering if it would be helpful to install some vibration dampening material between the motor mount and the main frame.

I've struggled to find any specific mounts that would fit, and so am probably going to install a layer of felt as a first step: http://www.mcmaster.com/#87255k11/=tnxt9h

The motor runs pretty smoothly, so this would be overkill to a large extent, but I'm looking for a bit of advice on whether I'd be doing more harm than good. Would mounting a layer of felt, or rubber, or a vibration dampening mount, somehow undermine the energy transfer of the motor?

Again, I know this is probably overkill, but I enjoy overkill. However I don't like spending money and making things worse, so I'd be interested to know if anyone who has a better grasp of the mechanics than myself can offer their advice.

Thanks very much.

 

[rlitman]

It wouldn't help. The belt causes vibration, not the motor. If the motor is out of balance, it is junk.

 

[Cab037]

I'm in agreement, my old drillpress runs very smoothly with no vibration dampening between the motor and the motor mount.

 

[lzenglish]

You did not indicate if you have a vibration or not, so do you? To answer your question on the felt, it will not work, IMO, as the bolts will still transmit the virbration thru the mount. They do make isolation damper mounts used in the HVAC field, and the Commercial Air Compressor fields to name a couple, but these completley isolate the hard mounted hardware from the unit itself using molded rubber. Grainger use to carry these type of mounts and probably still do. Now, again, if you have a vibration in the motor itself, it can be eliminated thru balancing, much like you would a car wheel, ceiling fan etc, by adding or removing weight. This will depend first on the condition of the bearings, and if they are ball rollers, or bronze bushings.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hva...v&sa=X&ei=mqQQVLisNYicjAKnpYC4Bg&ved=0CDgQsAQ



Wayne

 

[rlitman]

if you have a vibration in the motor itself, it can be eliminated thru balancing, much like you would a car wheel, ceiling fan etc, by adding or removing weight.

Correct, but the armature (and sheave) should be balanced at the factory (usually by drilling, and not adding weight), and there is no good reason why that balance would change.

 

[knobby]

Ive heard mixed revues on these belts on DP's
Some folks say that they are awesome others are meh
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=30051&cat=1,240,41067

 

[jakemac]

I've never liked the look of linked belts. I'm sure they work fine, but they remind me of something made by kids in craft class at summer camp.

 

[zkling]

No need to soft mount it. Go get a quality, proper fitting gates or the like V belt. Have you ran the motor without the belt on, how do the vibrations compare? I used to have a floor model DP220 it ran super smooth. You might want to put a thick piece of rubber or wood under the base though.

 

[dunstan]

Well the motor runs pretty smoothly, and I already have one of the v-belts. I guess I'll save myself some money and forget the felt then, and if there are wobbles I'll track them down in the normal manner.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

 

[scw1991]

A good quality v-belt like the Gates Hi-Power type "A" is your best bet.

The more economical type 4L v-belts tend to have ridges on the belt seam that cause vibration when passing through the sheave.

 

[zkling]

Well the motor runs pretty smoothly, and I already have one of the v-belts. I guess I'll save myself some money and forget the felt then, and if there are wobbles I'll track them down in the normal manner.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

One other thing to check is make sure your pulleys are coplanar when installed on the machine.