Pedestal Drills

[fridayman]

Recently I found myself shuttling back and forth between my place and my brothers, with increasing frequency, to use his pedestal drill. So the time came to get my own. I picked the SPD-20B from Hare & Forbes. I assembled the first one a couple of days ago, and found firstly that the pulley casing was bent (it looked like the box may have been dropped as the polystyrene inside was also broken in many places), and more importantly the spindle has some runout. Only a very small amount at the spindle which was very hard to detect, but at the tip of the bit at full extension it was more than 1mm, maybe 1.5mm. So yesterday I swapped it for another one, and the 2nd one has the same problem except its slightly worse - I tried drilling a 16mm hole and at full extension it was moving the cross vice around a bit (maybe a couple of mm), so I bolted the cross vice to the drill table, which then made the whole spindle/chuck/extension assembly move around instead. On the 2nd one the rear motor pulley also hasn't been fitted properly - it looks like it has been forced on but not aligned properly with the flat side on the motor shaft, and long story short it's sitting about 8mm too high and chafing the belt (belt bits/dust already building up in the casing after drilling 1 hole). I'm not too impressed to be honest. They have agreed to send me a 3rd new one today (after I've already made 2 trips there myself). I want to give this one a thorough check before I accept it, so my question is: how much runout is acceptable and what is the best way to measure it with normal home workshop tools? Also what else should I lookout for?

[macca]

You found one motors are another,
worked for them for seven years as service manager, I could go on but I won't, good luck with your purchase

[fridayman]

Here is a vid that I took of the problem on the 2nd one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGnLPtm_YYs&feature=youtu.be

PS How do I embed videos in posts?

[Homer_Jay]

I have the same drill, had it for about 12 months.
Chinese built and they are not very good quality IMHO, but that is reflected int he price I guess.
I don't think mine is that bad though!

[Marschy]

Here is a vid that I took of the problem on the 2nd one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGnLPtm_YYs&feature=youtu.be

PS How do I embed videos in posts?

Click on the 'Share' option in Youtube and paste the url that it displays, not the one from the address bar.

I have one of the small Chinese drill presses, which for all intent and purposes looks identical to the link you posted, but with a shorter, non-winding work table. It is one of the most used tools in my workshop.

I think you have just had bad luck if anything, my cheapy drill press drills very nicely with little to no noticeable runout. It only really causes me issues with tapping. So I tend to compensate for my drill sizes, e.g. If I need to tap for an M3 screw, the drill size should be 2.4mm, so I drill 2.3. So you can see there are ways around runout, but I don't think you will get much better than 0.1 of a millimeter or possibly higher on these cheap machines.

[achjimmy]

I wouldn't expect much better from a cheap Chinese drill tbh.

I was a fitter and then sold machine tools for years. Every drill I have or had or got for friends is an older Australian or English made drill.

Look for a Waldon or Richardson drill press. Either wait for a good one or get a ratty one and tidy it up. It will be one of the best things you ever did.

[DaveR]

Look for a Waldon or Richardson drill press. Either wait for a good one or get a ratty one and tidy it up. It will be one of the best things you ever did.

x 2
If your looking for accuracy you'll need to spend some more coin then that.
Look about on Gumtree, Evilbay etc, or a place that sells equipment from closed businesses.
I scored my good one by chance, someone took it to a tool repair place, never came to pick it up, so after a period had past, they sold it to me for a little more then it owed them. Given you paid $350, I wont tell you how much, except to say it was my lucky day......

[Mrs smith]

If your looking for a quality drill, look for a secondhand "BROBO Waldown"  even a vintage one will run rings around the one you've bought or another cheapie option would be an old "Sherline" keep an eye on gumtree and the bay.
Best way to measure run-out with using a dial indicator. 

[fridayman]

The good people from Machinery House have just been round to swap the unit for another new one. They tested this one before they sent it and reckon the runout is 0.1mm (which is fine for what I'll be using it for). I'll check this for myself when my dial gauge arrives, but for now there is no visible runout even at full extension. I'll see how I get along with this drill but keep an eye out for a good quality 2nd hand bargain.

[DaveR]

Hopefully that remains a good outcome for you.

[duggie]

Question - Were you using the same drill bit in both drills ?

If yes , then the drill shank may be bent.

Has the drill bit been sharpened by someone ?

If yes, the drill bit center may be off center if not sharpened properly, this will cause the drill bit to vibrate.

[achjimmy]

Question - Were you using the same drill bit in both drills ?

If yes , then the drill shank may be bent.

Has the drill bit been sharpened by someone ?

If yes, the drill bit center may be off center if not sharpened properly, this will cause the drill bit to vibrate.

Reminds me duggie
if you ever need a drill bit to cut large just sharpen one land longer.
If you ever get chatter and can't control it with speed, tear a small patch of flannette cloth and drill through that with a constant pressure, will remove chatter

Jim shandy hints 

[fridayman]

Question - Were you using the same drill bit in both drills ?

If yes , then the drill shank may be bent.

Has the drill bit been sharpened by someone ?

If yes, the drill bit center may be off center if not sharpened properly, this will cause the drill bit to vibrate.

I did wonder if it might be the drill bit and checked it against a square (possibly not the most accurate test...) and it seemed straight. The drill bit is brand new and this was its first use - I was actually quite impressed with how well it cut for a drill of this size. You could see the runout in the chuck against the background though (in the vid at about 5 seconds).

While we're on the topic of drilling... what is the best lubricant to use for drilling? I only had some on a stick (like a glue stick) and WD40 at hand, so I used the WD40. I was drilling steel wrapped around a aluminium core.

[oldmate]

I use a bit of machine oil.   Remember the bigger the bit the slower you go, with cutting speed. Let the drill do the work

[macca]

I did wonder if it might be the drill bit and checked it against a square (possibly not the most accurate test...) and it seemed straight. The drill bit is brand new and this was its first use - I was actually quite impressed with how well it cut for a drill of this size. You could see the runout in the chuck against the background though (in the vid at about 5 seconds).

While we're on the topic of drilling... what is the best lubricant to use for drilling? I only had some on a stick (like a glue stick) and WD40 at hand, so I used the WD40. I was drilling steel wrapped around a aluminium core.

They did have a big problem with run out on those
Unless you are running coolant, Trefolex is great