Drill Press Help- Rockwell Cat#17540

[minaval]

hello: Have worked most of my life with machines from tool and die shops to heavy machinery in a steel miil. Now that i'm retired have my small shop in my back yard and bought a Rockwell catalog number 17-540 drill press, I believe its a 17 inch floor model. Pretty much similar to the one you have in the forum which is I believe a 17-600 one.I bought this machine for barely 75$ it was in the back of someones back garage. The machine is basically in excellent condition, it had a three phase motor which I changed to a single phase 1 1/2 horsepower motor. it worked perfectly,I made sure that it was properly oiled, and free spinning, it is also a variable speed machine, which I think is very nice and practical, however all of the sudden the spindle will go down only about 3 inches and it stops. it feels like there is something soft stoping it from traveling down, the stop is somewhat soft no a solid hard stop, I wonder I somebody could give me an idea what the problem could be, I'm looking for obvious things that could cause this, but can't find it.

 

[454ragtop]

Hi, welcome. Don't want to sound like a jerk, and I can't see the other side in the pics, but is there any chance one of the depth stop nuts vibrated down? Next check the quill bore adjuster right at the bottom of the main casting, right in front of the quill, make sure it's not too tight. Then next step, I would remove the quill assembly. Carefully loosen the nuts on the return spring cover, back the spring off and remove it, then you can pull out the pinion gear with the hub and handles. The quill should then just fall out, best to put a block of wood on the table to support it while working on the pinion. This will let you inspect the teeth on the quill and pinion for chips or deformities. Check back and let us know what you find, maybe post more pics.

 

[Whitworth]

Mice often build nests inside drill press heads. That clogs up the pinion/rack assembly. Look for wood chips, foam bits or other gunk inside.