replacinging spindle "wedge" on older Drill press

I have an older light duty Guardian Power 16" floor stand drill press that the spindle and chuck has dropped out of. Nothing looks damaged on spindle but it will not stay in drill when pushed up back into it. Manual shows a "wedge " in parts list that I can not see(maybe it sheared and fell out freeingng spindle. Is this fixable or toast(wedge part might not a available. Thank for any assistance.

The 'wedge' is used to dislodge the morse taper. It isn't used for insertion or seating. In the quill there is a slot that can be seen when the quill is extended. When the taper is installed, the tang end can be seen in the lower part of the slot. You stick the wedge in the slot above the tang and hit it with a hammer and it forces the taper out. If the bore and taper look good on your machine, you can try seating it with a rubber mallet, or by tapping the chuck firmly against a chunk of wood on the table using the down feed handles (make sure the jaws are retracted completely into the chuck). It is common for a morse taper to need a bit of persuasion for firm seating.

When properly seated the morse taper can be very difficult to unseat, hence the wedge. You can make your own wedge easily enough, but they are quite available and not expensive. McMaster-Carr

DrakeJ said:

I have an older light duty Guardian Power 16" floor stand drill press that the spindle and chuck has dropped out of. Nothing looks damaged on spindle but it will not stay in drill when pushed up back into it. Manual shows a "wedge " in parts list that I can not see(maybe it sheared and fell out freeingng spindle. Is this fixable or toast(wedge part might not a available. Thank for any assistance.

Click to expand...

Perhaps the word "spindle" should be drill chuck arbor, which would make the problem easier to understand, as would a picture.

Larry

The purpose of the wedge has been well explained above.

But you say the taper will not stay in the spindle. This is probably due to damage to either the taper adapter on the chuck or to the female taper in the spindle. This is probably a Morse taper which is designed to be self holding. When these mating tapers are new, they will bind together with a moderate amount of force as when the chuck with it's adapter are thrust by hand into the spindle with moderate force/speed. Often that will be followed by pressing the spindle down with the chuck resting on a block of wood to increase the hold. Some people will use a hammer with a block of wood against the chuck, but I do not recommend that. Hammer blows can damage ball and roller bearings in the spindle.

If the tapers do not hold together with moderate force, there are likely some dings on one or the other surface or both. If it is not hardened, a small ding on the male taper can be removed with a small file. Try to file just the ding, and not very much of the original surface around it. I like a round, chain saw style file for this as it can remove just the ding. If the taper is hardened, do not use sand paper but a fine stone, USED CAREFULLY and GENTLY can work. A small diameter, round stone would be preferred. If you have a precision, flat ground stone, that can be ideal for this kind of repair but not many shops have these.

If the female taper is damaged, you can purchase Morse taper reamers of the appropriate size and again, CAREFULLY use it to restore the internal taper in the spindle. But the damage is more often on the male taper.

Thank you all for info. It sounds as though it is not a wedge that secures the tapered spindle/arbor in place but just upward force and friction. The taper and quill look in undamaged condition and I was looking for a physical attachment that held it into quill. The taper spindle/arbor dropped loose while using a 1" bit on not well enough secured material and I was getting a lot of vibration. I did push taper into quill and it stuck enough to need to be light tapped to get out when I was looking it over but I was still thinking there must be a holding device somewhere. The limited owners manual I have is little more than a parts list and safety guide.

DrakeJ said:

Thank you all for info. It sounds as though it is not a wedge that secures the tapered spindle/arbor in place but just upward force and friction. The taper and quill look in undamaged condition and I was looking for a physical attachment that held it into quill. The taper spindle/arbor dropped loose while using a 1" bit on not well enough secured material and I was getting a lot of vibration. I did push taper into quill and it stuck enough to need to be light tapped to get out when I was looking it over but I was still thinking there must be a holding device somewhere. The limited owners manual I have is little more than a parts list and safety guide.

Click to expand...

Please explain what kind of "bit".

And this forum prides itself on being only for pro machinists - RIGHHHHHTT!

DrakeJ said:

Thank you all for info. It sounds as though it is not a wedge that secures the tapered spindle/arbor in place but just upward force and friction. The taper and quill look in undamaged condition and I was looking for a physical attachment that held it into quill. The taper spindle/arbor dropped loose while using a 1" bit on not well enough secured material and I was getting a lot of vibration. I did push taper into quill and it stuck enough to need to be light tapped to get out when I was looking it over but I was still thinking there must be a holding device somewhere. The limited owners manual I have is little more than a parts list and safety guide.

Click to expand...

If the MT adapter on the chuck looks and feels smooth then the internal taper on the "spindle" may be at fault. Read Thermites post carefully, the only thing I can add is it is possible to make a MT cleaner of sorts.
I had a drill press that would not hold the MT adapter securely. After checking the taper externally and found a small scratch. I made a sort of reamer. I made a #3 MT and then milled 1/8" wide x 1/16" deep slots in 8 places. I stoned the reamer to remove any burrs. I turned the reamer in the quill by hand. This worked, the chuck is still in the quill after 10 years or so. You can buy a reamer, probably cost $40 or more.

Again thank you for all the info. I learned a lot and I believe I can get DP back in service now with confidence. And I apologize if I missed needing to be an experienced machinist to post and somehow slipped in a back door. But I am a highly skilled/experienced craftsman, just not a machinist.

No apologies necessary. Everyone starts somewhere in any field regardless of their experience in another. A few here get a little stuffy at times, but the vast majority are quite willing to help.

A person could have extensive experience with a VMC and have never touched a drill press, that being 'someone else's job'. Even some who've used a drill press for years may have never had occasion to change a chuck or arbor.

Metalmagpie could stand a reminder that none of us are born knowing everything. Folks come here to draw on each other’s experience and knowledge. I’m sure I could teach him a thing or two on my area of expertise. Let’s remember that this is a ‘forum’

Seen a similar effect caused by a short tang on a Morse taper ....instead of the tang entering the slot in the spindle ,it was rotating slightly and pushing the arbor out ......cured by lengthening the tang by about 1/4" with weld and grind.....could also be cured by replacing the arbor with a correctly dimensioned one.