New Drill press Spindle/Quill Wobble

Hey everyone. I have a new 20" drill press and am attempting to tune her up because she was in bad shape when I received her. I managed to get everything in order except for there is a considerable wobble that wobbles the whole press and shes a pretty big press. Id say its around 1/8th to 1/4 wobble. In troubleshooting the wobble I narrowed it down to 1 suspect. I took out the spindle/quill and i sat it on the floor and spun the quill around the spindle. There is a good amount of wobble/ momentum from one side when i spin it by hand. From visual inspection everything seems to be in order except when i place it next to a square the quill is slightly off 90 degrees from the floor (if that makes sense). The only thing I can think of is that when it was put together the bearings are ever so slightly not flush or offset on the spindle causing it to rotate off center. Does that make sense? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

Return to the maker let them give you a new one that is correct. Even Harbor Freight has implied guarantee that what they call a drill press can be used as a drill press. 1/4" wobble is way out of line, literally.
Bil lD.

Forget "Orange is the new Black", I'm gonna start a new show "Wobble is the new Runout".

Wasn't there just another post about drill "wobble"?

Anyway it sure sounds like the spindle itself is bent...

I’ll guess it’s chi Asian and it will always be a problem unless a complete rebuild if possible. New isn’t always good nowadays

If I understand correctly, you are holding the spindle stationary and spinning the quill. If this is the case it does not show you anything(the quill doesn’t rotate in use), hold the quill and measure the spindle run-out(your wobble) , better yet put it back together and measure how far out the spindle taper is running out. It’s hard to believe the machining is off by that much(even if it’s the cheapest machine on the planet)
Edit: removed chuck stuff after rereading OP

Did you check the pulleys and belts?

Take some pics or better yet a video


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I realized that last night before i went to bed. It dawned on me that the quill is stationary. Yes the belts are good. the motor and center pulley are spinning great, I was able to get rid of the quill play in the housing, although the spindle pulley is a little off, I spun it with the spindle out its spinning slightly off and the bearings seem fine it seems like a poorly made pulley. Its only a little bit off and I can't imagine thats whats causing the whole press to shake/wobble that much. I don't have a dial indicator yet but when the press is running there doesn't seem to be much runnout at the chuck/drill bit. its the whole press moves together i know its gonna cause issues. Ill try and take video.

Terry Keeley said:

Forget "Orange is the new Black", I'm gonna start a new show "Wobble is the new Runout".

Wasn't there just another post about drill "wobble"?

Anyway it sure sounds like the spindle itself is bent...

Click to expand...

If you would just use a hand drill, you wobble it 180 degrees out
from the "built in wobble" and it would all cancel out.

Just realized this was a new drill press, I'd send the POS back!

Terry Keeley said:

Just realized this was a new drill press, I'd send the POS back!

Click to expand...

I can't. It's past 90 day warrantie. If I have to buy a replacement part so be it. I just want to be sure of the problem before I call them.

So I put the quill/spindle assembley in a vise and spun the spindle and the spindle seems good. I then put everything back together except the spring and it's much better now. Tomarrow I will re install the spring and hopefully all will be good. Mabey it was a case of some thing tightened or installed out of whack. Who knows. Like I said before when running the whole press would wobble a good amount. Anyway thanks to everyone who responded.