Help! Delta 17-600 drill press problem

[gattman]

I have a Rockwell/Delta 17-600 variable speed drill press with a variable speed pulley problem. According to delta it is from the early 1960's and the part is no longer available. The problem is the variable width pulley mounted on the motor has a nasty wobble which results in big vibrations. This is the older style, without a spring. The fixed part of the pulley (where the wobble is) is mounted to a splined shaft that mounts on the motor shaft. The pulley is pinned on to the splined shaft, and evidently it wasn't true when it was pinned; hence the wobble (axial play). Does anybody know where I might get a good used part, or has anybody had any luck with machining off some of the splines and installing a bushing??? I have tried Ace tool repair and Joe at Plaza machines, with no luck.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice. Chris

[Tom Kohlman]

Isn't the 17-600 the old "stand-by" 16" floor model that as far as I know is still sold today? Sure I saw it for sale at WWW a year ago before they went under. You may want to check again with Delta again.

Maybe they are trying to do you a favor and tell you to simply buy a new one...knowing the prices of Delta OEM parts too well, it may be cheaper to replace than to repair especially if your time is worth anything...doesn't make much sense to me but fact of life I guess...

But if you insist on repair, then I'll add that any Delta DP I've owned never had springs...loosen the knobs on the sides then move the lever handles in or out to get a proper belt tension, then tighten the knobs. If you are truly out of line, then maybe your motor shaft got bent (don't know how so dubious). Maybe your vibration comes from the fact that the base isn't sitting on a level surface???

Just some thoughts...

[gattman]

Thanks Tom. It seems that the 17-600 model number covers a lot of different drill presses, including a fairly new one. Mine is definitely an older industrial sized one. The variable speed set-up on mine is with split pulleys, not stepped pulleys. The split pulley system lets you continuously vary the speed, from slowest to fastest. The problem with mine is definitely in the pulley. The part of the pulley that is fixed to the splined shaft has ~.060 axial play in it, and the shaft itself has negligable runout (~.003). As you might imagine, the .060" runout causes that puppy to seriously vibrate.

Chris