Drill Press Vibration Issue...
#18
(11-13-2019, 01:39 AM)kurt18947 Wrote: I have a benchtop radial arm drill press. It's always had a vibration, link belt didn't help.  Replaced the cone pulley on the motor with a decent quality single pulley and vibration went away. At least I know where the problem lies, not sure how to balance the motor cone pulley. Considering a VFD and 3 phase motor for lower speeds, don't know if the drill press is worth it.

Run the cone pulley and look for side to side wobble. If this is what you see then the bore could be out of square to the face. Probably the face of the pulley needs to be faced. If the out of balance is due to the pulley heavier on one edge than the others then try wheel weights  for auto rims. The cone pulley can be drilled to remove weight from the high side. I have a pulley on one machine that has 1/8" diameter holes near the edge. 4 holes if I recall.
The pulley can be machined to tolerance but probably cost more than the pulley is worth.
I made a 4 step pulley out of laminated maple for a shop made wood lathe. No vibration , or wobble. A 4 step cast pulley was very expensive at the time, 25/30 years ago. Still runs great.  I think your best bet is either wheel weights or drilling holes in the heavy side.

mike
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#19
(11-12-2019, 02:31 PM)fredhargis Wrote: Are you sure you're tightening the belts enough when you change pulleys? Once tightened, there shouldn't be any "slop" in the center pulley.

 +1  The belt tensioner shouldn't  be loose.  I looked what I think is your model and the belts are tensioned by moving the motor. Loosen both motor locks and retighten. If you are at the motor movement limits you may have to remove a link. Roly
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#20
Looks like I can flip the motor pulley without much trouble.  I'm going to try it to see if vibration lessens, while still giving me the speed range I require.  I'll report back.  Thanks for the info so far.  Right now, I'm using it in the 470 rpm range.
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#21
Did a test bypassing the center idler pulley.  Vibration was a bit worse, so I wet back to normal.  Also, the slowest speed I could get was too fast for me.  Unless I find a doable fix, I guess I'll use what I have for now.
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#22
Been watching this thread.  I have a similar HF DP, but larger.  Same basic design.

The problem with mine is runout in the quill.

I borrowed a known good chuck, installed it, no improvement.

This DP was one of the first machines I bought back when I was starting out and couldn't afford much more.  That was almost 20 years ago.

I've just about convinced myself to replace it with a quality machine.  

HF has some "diamonds in the rough."  I don't think these DPs are in that group.
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#23
(11-13-2019, 09:07 PM)WxMan Wrote: Been watching this thread.  I have a similar HF DP, but larger.  Same basic design.

The problem with mine is runout in the quill.

I borrowed a known good chuck, installed it, no improvement.

This DP was one of the first machines I bought back when I was starting out and couldn't afford much more.  That was almost 20 years ago.

I've just about convinced myself to replace it with a quality machine.  

HF has some "diamonds in the rough."  I don't think these DPs are in that group.

Try this...remove your chuck, rotate a bit, reinstall the chuck, then recheck the runout.  Had the same issue with an old Delta DP and had to do the same thing to minimize the runout.  It worked.
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#24
The more quality machines have provision to tighten the quill when over time
it gets loose and wobbly. My '68 Powermatic has it, my late eighties Delta does
not.

The lower end ones can be modified, it you are so inclined, but it takes a bit of
work. Basically what it entails is adding in the missing feature.

The press is taken apart, down to the main casting. A vertical slit is cut from the
bottom where the quill exits up several inches. A jig saw on slow speed and a
fresh metal blade with plenty of cutting oil.  Next you need two stout pieces of
steel to straddle the slit. They are mounted alongside the slit with drilled/tapped
screws. They are also side drilled/tapped so that screws can be used to draw the
"sides" of the slit together, thus tightening the casting around the quill.

It is a lot of work, but can fix a lot of the wobble problems.
Mark Singleton

Bene vivendo est optimum vindictae


The Laws of Physics do not care about your Politics   -  Me
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