Drill press accessory

[sdelivery]

was surprised to see radial bearings of both sides of both leadscrew supports.

View attachment 385245

Those are called thrust bearings.
They use a hardened "washer"on each side of an insert with slender rollers running radially. You can shim those to reduce "backlash"

 

[C-Bag]

Some folks don’t seem to like having a x-y table on a drill press, I love it. I started out with a cheapo HF. My brother gave me an old Palmgren x-y rotary table I mounted on my Delta UniDrill along with a 3” speed vise and the only thing I wish now was it was a bigger speed vise. But I love being able to tweak position with the handwheels instead of bumping and over shooting.

 

[yota]

love the long throw on that quill. Looks like 5 or more inches.

you were right. exactly 5".

 

[yota]

Those are called thrust bearings.
They use a hardened "washer"on each side of an insert with slender rollers running radially. You can shim those to reduce "backlash"

these have a threaded brass or bronze collar with an allen screw for taking up backlash.

 

[yota]

so I let all the parts soak in the parts washer (mineral spirits) all night then scrubbed them with a brush. took the table, crank handles and dials for a ride on my soft wire wheel to remove a small amount of corrosion. shot everything (as usual) with Boeshield.

 

[yota]

put some Honda moly 60 grease on the thrust washer bearings and races, adjusted the backlash, oiled the ways and lead screws, assembled and adjusted the gibb screws. this thing is really smooth and tight. I don't think it had much use.

 

[yota]

this is the old Stanley 3" vice I have been using on my drill press. getting stacked kinda high here. would have to crank the table way on down...

 

[C-Bag]

More of my heresy I guess. But I see my machines as mine to do with as needed so I drilled and tapped holes in my UniDrill to mount my x-y rotary table. It has two t-slots but they were not close enough to mount the table. But having a 24” radial arm and a huge base means I can leave the table mounted up and move the drill anywhere within reach for other stuff. I do wish the radial arm had geared adjustment as that would be way handy and more precise.

 

[yota]

I get it but I'm not gonna be the guy to drill holes in this 75 year old pristine production table. just aren't many left without abuse.