Squaring a drill press?

[Toller]

I just bought a Delta 17-990 12" drill press at an auction. I thought I got a great buy on it until I checked to see if it was square. It was off a half degree both side to side and front to back. Fixing the side to side was simply a matter of adjusting the table to be at

1/2 a degree, but now the pin that is supposed to lock it at zero obviously won't go in. Front to back I "fixed" by putting a couple shims from a Coke can in at the bottom.

Is it pretty square now, but neither method was great. Any better ideas?

Did I get a lemon, or is being off like this common?

[B A R R Y]

It sounds like someone may have either moved it around by the table or left heavy, unbalanced items on the table for long periods.

AFAIK, shimming is a perfectly acceptable method of repairing machinery. I probably would have done the same.

[tom]

[Toller]

Well that gives me a good reason to make an auxilliary table; thanks.

[Elrond Hubbard]

You could probably adapt a table saw aligner to get the job done accurately.

Ever helpful,

Scott Cramer

[tom]

[bridgerfafc]

delta is (was?) supposed to be pretty good about quality control, and that isn't exactly a bottom-end machine. you may have a lemon. your lemonade making method is pretty standard; I've done exactly the same thing.

for a way to measure your progress accurately, a dial indicator mounted in the chuck and used to read the surface of the table works really really well. for more information google "tram drill press table".

[Roger Shoaf]

Perhaps what is wrong is not that the table is not square to the post but that the head is not square to the post. As I see it, the problem with shimming the table and adjusting the tilt to get things square, every time you adjust the table to bring the table back square you will have to fart around like you already did.

While not familiar with your specific drill press, on the ones I have assembled, the head is attached to the post with some set screws. The first thing I would try is to reset the table to its zero position and see if by changing the set screws on the head attachment you could align the to surfaces that way. If tweaking the screws don't give you enough, then perhaps a shim or two might.

If you try this, let us know how it comes out.

You might also send Delta an e-mail to see if they have a fix for this problem.