Wen 4214 Drill Press Runout

Hello all. Let me first say, I've been reading Practical Machinist forums for quite some time now and finally have a question. I think I know the answer from reading a bunch of posts related but I want to make sure I haven't missed anything and I'd appreciate and feedback you might have (good or bad).

I have a Wen 4214 12" benchtop drill press. I believe these are the same as the Jet 12" model with different paint. I've become more and more sensitive to the wobble that I get when drilling. The runout is visible and I'm sick of dealing with it. I took the advice of the various posts here and on other forums and did a few runout measurements. My dial indicator isn't the best but I generally trust it. The video shows the measurements and where I measured.

Here's a summary:

Spindle & Arbor - ~0.0025
Inside Spindle - ~0.000? (Not sure how accurate this measurement is with a regular dial indicator and not a lever type, but I think if it was badly off it would show some movement)
Drill Rod Lower - 0.010
Drill Rod Upper - 0.010

What's the issue. I think it's obvious but I don't want to make an assumption because I'm not an expert.

Also, I don't know what the creaking sound is when I turn the pulley by hand. Have to inspect up there.

Thanks for any help.

This is typically what you are going to get out of a "homeshop" tool.

Please read the rules of this forum and redirect this to another "non-mentioned" forum out there.

This thread will get locked shortly by a moderator.

Ken

4GSR said:

This is typically what you are going to get out of a "homeshop" tool.

Please read the rules of this forum and redirect this to another "non-mentioned" forum out there.

This thread will get locked shortly by a moderator.

Ken

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It was approved by an administrator, is in the General section and is similar to other posts on the same subject. I don't see the problem but I'll gladly leave if that's the consensus. Thanks for being helpful, Ken.

Are these the rules?

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Here are the guidelines in question:

Machinery Discussion Guidelines

A bench-top import drill press definitely falls into the verboten category.

But no need to leave - lots of us here on the forum with unmentionable machines. We can ask questions all day long as long as they are not specific to home-shop machines or methodologies. (Example of the latter would be something like asking how to hook up a washing machine motor to power your drill press.)

In this case, the key question you want to ask is not "what is going wrong with my import bench-top drill press," but "what is the best way to determine runout on a drill press."

Copy that, Awake.

So, the spirit of my question remains then. Is this the proper procedure to check for runout? As I said, I searched this and other forums but want to be certain I didn't miss anything. Regardless of machine make, is the process I used appropriate?

Your process is correct except for spindle bore run out. As you stated I not sure if you are getting a correct reading with that style of indicator. I suspect the chuck jaws are your main problem.

crazygoat said:

Your process is correct except for spindle bore run out. As you stated I not sure if you are getting a correct reading with that style of indicator. I suspect the chuck jaws are your main problem.

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I had never seen a lever type dial indicator before I started to research this issue. They seem to be incredibly useful and I'll be getting one soon hopefully.

TheRising said:

I had never seen a lever type dial indicator before I started to research this issue. They seem to be incredibly useful and I'll be getting one soon hopefully.

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What you're referring to as a "lever type indicator" is commonly known as a Dial Test Indicator or DTI for short. They
are a complement to, not a substitute for, a regular dial indicator. A DTI usually has a dial with a diameter around 1-1/4"
and a travel range of about .100". A normal dial indicator is usually about 2" in diameter and has a travel range of 1".
A DTi is also much more sensitive, usually reading to tenths of an inch where a dial indicator is graduated in thousandths...

If you have a good holder for that indicator you can probably come in from the bottom and read the bore of the spindle. Not necessarily the best option but I've done worse. This would at least give you an idea of what's going on.