Delta Drillpress Disassembles itself

[Pat]

My wife won a Delta drill press as a door prise. It is a 121 inch table top model with a mehanical speed variable knob to vary the RPM from about 400 to 3100 RPM. When I first used it it came apart. A retaining ring didn't. I put it back and it ame apart again. I reamed a washer to a precise fit for the motor shaft and put it next to the retaining rim. It came apart somewhere else. A pulley half with a steel insert with Woodruff keyway came apart. The insert was supposed to staf fixed in the pullley half but didn't. I went through some more gyrations and pinned the insert to the pulley. I drilled the motor shaft and threaded it 1/4-28 to use a bolt and washer in place of the (now lost) retaining ring. It seems to work fine now.

Delta will partially recover from their merge with Porter-Cable and begin to ship parts after May the 5th. I told them of my difficulty and they are sending me the "STANDARD FIXIT KIT" for this model. A new pulley with more secure insert, new belt, and other bits and pieces like the key etc.

This is a good news - bad news story. THE BAD NEWS They had so many failures due to a flawed design that their phone ladies are very familiar, take your serial number and address, and ship you a kit. The good news is they are sending the parts and not weasling out of it nor sending me on two 130 mile round trips to drop it and pick it up at an authorized repair center.

Once I re-engineered it sufficiently it seems to work really well and the twist knob speed control via a CVT made up of two variable diameter pulleys seems to be an OK design.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[fivestring]

I H8 when this stuff happens.......... [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

But at least they're trying to make good on their product.

[em14]

Pat,
I was wondering how this was going. When you get the kit installed give us a consumer report please. I assume that they are applying this design fix to the new ones as they build them. I wonder how a person could tell if the fix is on the one at the store? Thanks for the info ...
Leo

[Pat]

Leo, I expect to receive the new parts by the middle of May and until they arrive I don't know what they did different. I would have had a closer fit of the spring retaining washer from the git go as it just seemed prudent engineering practice. The steel insert with the keyway needs to be a much tighter shrink fit or pinned some way to keep it from sliping independently from the puley half.

I would guess they would only ship the "new" version by now but how do you know which version is in the store? How long has it been in the supply chain sitting on a shelf? You have to pull 6 screws to take ot the top cover to look inside and still it might be hard to see anything. I would call the Delta (or go on-line) folks and ask then what serial number sequence or other annotation denotes the "fixed" product.

Now that it works oh so fine one of my complaints is that the weekly lubrication schedule requires taking the 6 screws out to remove the top cover. I can see theose screws being replaces wth winged units or some of those powerful little magnets or something.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[em14]

Thanks Pat ... I plan to get a bench drill press but I'm not in a big hurry. I have a 15" with a 5/8" chuck that works fine except it is always covered in grease and oil residue. Looking forward to your results.
Leo

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I bought a made-in-Ti-wan 5/8" floor model drill press at auction about a year ago. I knew before I bought it that it needed to be re-engineered; especially in the drive belt dept. As originally manufactured, there isn't enough pulley drive area to transmit the HP at the lowest speed setting. I machined one groove off the intermediate pulley stack and re-arranged the grooves. I gave up the "bottom gear" but it was useless anyway since it wouldn't actually pull in that speed. While I was at it I installed a reversing switch. It's a good useable press now and I have about a hundred-fifty invested. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[Pat]

CJDAVE, Excellent! You got a good deal but we are still about $149 ahead of you.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Stoneheartfarm]

I had a part break on my Delta scrollsaw a few years ago. It was just before Christmas and a few weeks out of warranty. The lady at Delta went out of her way to extend the warranty and have the part shipped immediately.

I've always been happy with Delta's service on repair parts. I'll take Delta tools anyday simply because they stand behind them so well.

Steve