Squaring a Drill Press Table

Is there a simple and inexpensive way to square the drill press table with the chuck other than just lining up the bit and the table with a square? I have a dial indicator but don't want to spend $165 for another gauge that goes in the chuck.



I know some of you have a cheaper way of doing it that is more accurate than using a square.

I use a magnetic base with my dial indicator mounted on the table. Then, mount a known straight rod (drill bit) in the chuck and touch off on a 90 degree from 2 sides or from both sides, if you are worried about table warpage. Harbor Freight magnetic base with rods for around $15.00 with coupon.

What I used to do at the Boys Club in the shop as a kid was with a rod bent maybe 45 degrees, whatever fits, so I could both level the table and of course be sure that the drill was at 90 degrees from it. Basically you put one end in the drill and tighten, then you should be able to spin it and it touches the same for 360 degrees. Basically think of a triangle with the base flat. If the sides (On top) are equal you can draw a line down the center that would be 90 degrees from the base. That was good enough in a basically unmaintained shop run by kids. If its good enough for you then you don't need the gauges.

http://www.wixey.com/anglegauge/index.html

Do the same as above , but with the DTI attached to the bent rod, reading on the table at a radius a few inches out from the center. "Sweep" the table in a circle , adjust to minimise variation.
Unless you are drilling or boreing deep holes in thick material, it is not ultra critical.

If any of the repliers to the OP are interested, he's just a copypasta spammer


This is a link to the original post on another forum from Jun 22, 2008
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/squaring-a-drill-press-table.564551/


Text of that page:

Squaring a Drill Press Table

Discussion in 'Shop Talk - BladeSmith Questions and Answers' started by Charles L, Jun 22, 2008.

Jun 22, 2008 #1
Charles L
Charles L

138

Feb 20, 2008


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Is there a simple and inexpensive way to square the drill press table with the chuck other than just lining up the bit and the table with a square? I have a dial indicator but don't want to spend $165 for another gauge that goes in the chuck.

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/GSDRVSM?PACACHE=000000059094128

I know some of you have a cheaper way of doing it that is more accuate than using a square.


Jun 23, 2008 #2
howiesatwork
howiesatwork Platinum Member Platinum Member

2,413

Jun 16, 2004

A piece of rod or heavy wire (coathanger).
Put it in chuck, bend till it reaches near the outer edge of the table, then rotate chuck by hand, checking the clearance between the table and the end of the wire.
When the distance off the table is the same all the way around, the table is squared...


Jun 23, 2008 #3
AcridSaint
AcridSaint

2,412

Jun 23, 2006

Could maybe do that with a hex wrench too so you'd know it was staying square. I got a large set of SAE hex wrenches for about $5 on clearance at Harbor Freight and the largest one is probably 8" long, would be enough for the job plus you'd have new tools

That was a great tip!


Jun 23, 2008 #4
Luke Sheridan
Luke Sheridan

199

Oct 2, 2007

How square do you want it?


Jun 23, 2008 #5
nc_cooter
nc_cooter

574

Sep 26, 2004

Make a simple bracket to mount your dial indicator in your chuck.

[​IMG]

This was used to tram a mill. It doesn't have to be this complicated. You can just bend some round bar to a right angle.

Mike


Jun 23, 2008 #6
balibalistic
balibalistic

2,623

Jul 14, 2004

Before i got the mill,i just chucked up a 5/16" counterbore and lowered it down to touch the surface on an aluminum plate.pretty much any drill press will require some shimming.


Jun 24, 2008 #7
Charles L
Charles L

138

Feb 20, 2008

Thanks...I think I will try the homemade bracket for my dial indicator. I may even be able to use the hex wrench for the bracket.


Jun 24, 2008 #8
David Wesner
David Wesner

2,531

Jan 5, 2005

Hi Charles The crew here has come up with some really good ideas for improvising a method of checking the spindle to table alignment.

The problem is, unfortunately, most drill press tables or spindles have no method of adjusting the tram. Not like a mill anyway. You may be able to somehow use shims to adjust the table. The spindle on the other hand may be a bit more difficult (not that shimming the table into alignment will be any easier )

This is just what I've found when it comes to most of the drill press tables I've worked with. YMMV. I hope, for your sake, that your drill press table (or spindle) has a better method of adjusting than I've seen on most.

Please keep us posted on what you come up with. Many here, me included, would welcome a simple method :thumbup:


Jun 24, 2008 #9
RUGUR
RUGUR

1,154

Jun 4, 2005


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Hi.
You can build your own test indicator holder, but they don't have to be as expensive as you are thinking. You can get the holder separate from the test indicator. Look around MSC Direct, they have cheaper models available.

I had some pictures that I took while squaring my Craftsman drill press.
First pic - The Bent Wire Test


Second Pic - The table is shimmed with a folded piece of aluminum foil.

Click to expand...

What an odd way to spam...

Still, good to see everyone's tips and tricks.

Dang, how did you happen to figure that one out? My one thought was it wasn't a question I'd expect a first time poster to bring here.

Because my non-neurotypical brain sees patterns much better than most people, and I have learned the patterns of spammers, which include posting stuff that doesn't fit the usual posting patterns of "real" members of any forum (or newsgroup, etc.).

So here, when a first post is something in a non-EV related thread, or is off-topic in someone else's thread, it's suspect. When a whole thread is created for something generic, or something non-EV or bicycle-related, it's suspect. Or when it's language pattern doesn't fit (sometimes relative even to itself, if it's a copypasta with addons). Usually easy to check, if it's not simply obvious spam.

Sometimes a first post (or quickly-subsequent post) is a copypasta of something I've read before here on ES, so it feels familiar.

I don't have an eidetic memory, by any means, but I have a "pattern memory", which means if something is close enough to a previously stored pattern, it'll trigger a familiarity-feeling. I can rarely remember exact things, especially if they are complex at all, usually just bits and pieces. Makes normal life difficult sometimes. (I have to write things down, type them up, etc., to be certain of details later on). But I can seem "amazing" at "remembering" certain types of things, especially if I am exposed to them repeatedly, like being here on ES just about every day for so many years, or stocking / etc things at work every day for about as long--I just "know" where things are, where they go, what we have, etc., though I often can't explain how I know or how someone else might find them. :/


This thread not only doesn't fit the usual posts here, it sounds like a reply to someone else, when it's actually the starting post to a thread. So I selected one of the phrases and did a "search google for..." on it, and the first hit was the above quoted / linked post.

There are a number of other spammers presently operating on the forum that aren't copypasta types, but are random-thread-poster types, where they either create threads that aren't forum-related, or reply only (or at first) to the non-forum-related threads and posts, such as PrestonDavid and Blora. PD's two actual spam posts appear to have been nuked, but his pre-spam posts are still there. Blora's spam post appears to ahve had the spam link nuked, but the pre-spam posts are also still there. His actual spam post is also spammed over on another forum (or else it is a copypasta of a spam post). Neither has been banned or removed for spamming, however, just as the OP of this thread has not, which I don't understand, but it's not my call anymore (I can only report them).

I would bet that none of them are actually posting from the places their profiles say they are, if we could see their posting IPs.

There's probably others I haven't noticed on the forum yet, because I haven't seen any of their posts. Generally I look first at my subscribed posts page, and when I have looked at the replies to threads there, then I look at the unanswered posts page, and the unread posts page, to see if there's anyone with a question not answered that I can help with, or stuff I"m interested in, or find useful, etc.

WHen I was a mod I would also deliberately hunt for spammers, looking not just thru the threads, but looking at all the new members each day. Many of them give themselves away by the patterns used for their names, or what fields they choose to fill out in the profile, or their signatures. Others I'd have to look at their IPs, or their posts (if they made any yet). Some I'd actually have to check the IPs against spammer databases to be sure of, but many are simply obvious that they are spammers and not "real" members, once I know the patterns to look for. I've posted about that sort of thing around the forum before, if you look up "spam*" in my posts it should bring them up.

Programs or scripts could probably be made to do what I did, and "see" those patterns, then pass on the evidence and suspects to a mod to review, but I don't know how to do that, and no one I know that does either has time or cares about that sort of thing.