Newbie looking for help with drill press

[upstatenyguy]

Hi,

This drill press was given to me essentially as a gift, by the wife of someone who passed away. I am looking for your help with two things:

(1) Can you please help me ID this? The motor says "Wards Powr-Kraft", model number "A5850" "C-2-40", 5A, 1/4HP, 1750 RPM motor. I'm not sure that the motor is the original and googling for the model number was not useful. Approximately what year and make is the drill press? Is there somewhere else I should be looking to find the drill's model number?

(2) There is a slight wobble. I have replaced the belt, and it's still wobbling a bit. How can I take out the bearings? Would I be able to find replacement bearings easily?

I'm a newbie, and would be grateful for any and all leads and tips.
Jim.

 

[Cyberbear]

Certainly looks to be an early bench top model. You didn't specify where the "wobble" was on this machine. If the wobble is the result of a bent quill, that can be corrected if it isn't too bad. You'll need to become familiar with this unit and determine why it wobbles, bent or just out of balance. Are there any signs of it being dropped?
Do the bearings need removal, are they ball bearing or sleeve type? Check the motor and quill pulleys, and motor shaft for being bent also. It's difficult to diagnose w/o more info. These drill presses are very basic and should be easy to fix.

 

[upstatenyguy]

Thank you! I am seeing the wobble at the tip of the bit when the drill is on. When I try to rock the chuck end or the top end of the shaft, with the drill off, it feels rock solid and there seems to be little play I can feel. When I turn the press on, the table that it is mounted on shakes, so it could be out of balance. The bearings look like sealed ball bearings to me.

I have no idea about the history of the press. It may well have been dropped.

How should I go about diagnosing where the wobble is coming from?

 

[MushCreek]

Either the spindle is bent (rare) or the chuck is damaged (common). A third possibility is that the point at which the chuck is attached may be damaged. Most old drill presses have a taper on the spindle that the chuck is mounted to. You tap it on, and the taper locks it in place. Some tapers are tiny, some are quite large, but yours is probably small. If the taper gets buggered up, even slightly, the chuck will wobble. Try to determine if the chuck is wobbling at all. The vibration could be a bent spindle, damaged pulley(s), or a raggedy belt. Something would have to be way off to be a balance issue.

 

[Ben Secor]

Vintagemachinery.org is a great website. Tons of information! Also, OWWM.org

 

[bubinga]

take the belt off and run the motor, see if the motor seems rough or nice and smooth, and quiet. To help pinpoint roughness.

 

[upstatenyguy]

Thank you all very much!

As best as I can tell, the wobble is coming from the chuck. There is indeed a taper where the chuck is just squeezed into place. When I was using a large bit, the chuck wobbled a lot and just fell out wholesale! The spindle seems fine and the motor runs smoothly.

It seems to be very difficult or just plain impossible to get the chuck squeezed back in straight. No matter what I do, it ends up being slightly off, and that leads to a wobble, especially with a large drill bit.

What do the wise people have to suggest to get the chuck placed back into the spindle all straight and true?

 

[lilredex]

Remove the chuck then look at that spindle (running) to see it is straight. If it is, look for burrs on the spindle taper (and inside the chuck). Burrs can be removed with a sanding board or small file, very carefully......don't make flat spots.

Then make a test fit of the chuck. Mark the spindle's taper with a Sharpie and twist the chuck back and forth on it to see how close the fit/contact is. Markings rubbed off will indicate the contact area.



E...A previous discussion, http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184816

 

[pattenp]

The chuck should self align, that's why the shaft is tapered. I press on the chuck using the drill press itself. Open the chuck fully and press it down to the table. I hope you're not using a hammer to knock it on.

 

[bobmulry]

Hi,

Don't forget the old trick of a thin strip of paper to align the chuck...

Chuck up a piece of drill rod and use an indicator to find the run-out direction and use the paper strip to correct it......

Remove all the burrs and dings that stick up and out of the chuck taper and if it is in really bad condition a replacement Morse Taper to chuck adapter can be purchased or a new chuck...

Good luck,
Bob

 

[rvieceli]

Since this thing was free, I hope you don't mind spending a little bit to check it out.

First, if one did not come with it, pick up a drift key. It is the tool that allows you to remove the chuck and the taper from the spindle. It is likely a Morse 2 taper.

they look like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DD05P/?tag=atomicindus08-20

If you want to figure out the run out, you need to use a dial indicator and have some way to hold it.

Here is one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DD0VA/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Harbor Freight also has the same thing.

I know it's cheap junk but you are not wanting to become a machinist and for what you want it will work fine.

google checking drill press run out and you'll get a bunch of videos etc

You want to check the run out at the spindle, if there a bunch then it may be the spindle
bearings. If the spindle runout is ok but you still have wobble then the chuck may be the culprit. Although that looks like a nice Jacobs keyless chuck.

Take the chuck and the attached taper out of the spindle. and spray some wd40 into the taper. You can use a wire brush for a 20 gauge shotgun cleaning to clean the spindle taper. sometimes some stuff will make it's way into the taper. Reseat the taper and check it again.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Back then it was common for drill presses to be sold without motors, so it's entirely possible it was bought that way and the original owner used a motor they already had on hand. I don't know if the drill press is also a Wards, but I'll guess that if there was a nameplate or brand sticker it's either covered up or replace by that Handyman Club decal. as mentioned, try the vintage machinery forum; they have a bunch of pictures and owner's manuals, and maybe you can find a press that matches.

Try the photo index first, you can sort by machine type (i.e. drill presses) http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/bytype.aspx
If you find one that looks right, go to the publication index and see if they have the manual for that press: http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/pubs.aspx

 

[maxpower_hd]

My guess is that it probably is a Montgomery Ward press but likely manufactured for them by someone else. They had a lot of that sort of stuff back then. Much like Sears. I don't believe they sold just motors unless it was re purposed from something else.