Jet 16 drill/mill

[mikey]

If you're going through the trouble to drop the quill out, you may as well remove the pinion shaft and clean/grease the pinion teeth and fine downfeed mechanism. It only takes a few minutes to do this and ensures the downfeed is smooth. You can also clean and lube the quill return spring, which is almost guaranteed to be rusty and grungy.

 

[John_Dennis]

I had an old Jet 16 for years. It was a good machine and worked well. It was a MT3 which I did not care for but it was never a problem. You do not need to worry about horsepower on a machine this size. The only time you need more power is when using large drill bits. I currently have an old Rockwell mill that has a 1/2 hp motor. I never slow it down. The Jet 16 has more quill travel than most mills this size which can be useful when boring lawnmower blocks.

There are a number of post here about small modifications to make it better. Better column clamp nuts, Delrin cross feed nuts, motor mount/ belt tension adjustment. You may find that the T nuts are an odd size, I had trouble finding any that fit right and ended up modifying some with a carbide end mill. You might also permanently remove the top belt cover. It was always in the way.