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"Birddog" (maintmgt)
11/17/2015 at 20:21 • Filed to: None

My Harbor Fright drill press chuck just decided to fall off during a project. Turns out it wasn’t really fastened on to begin with.

No threads, no keyway, nothing.

DISCUSSION (14)

Urambo Tauro > Birddog
11/17/2015 at 20:31

That sucks! Is this an older unit, or something that HF currently sells?

TheHondaBro > Birddog
11/17/2015 at 20:32

MY SIMPSONS REFERENCE WAS WAY BETTER THAN YOUR DIVORCE JOKE.

That’s what you get for winning COTD.

Birddog > Urambo Tauro
11/17/2015 at 20:36

This might be 8 years old. They’ve probably changed suppliers a few times by now.

Birddog > TheHondaBro
11/17/2015 at 20:36

I wha?

Telumektar > Birddog
11/17/2015 at 20:45

...was it glued in place?

Seriously though, maybe its a conic coupling like in lathe’s tailstock, for live centers and such. It doesn’t seem to be that useful in a small, vertical drill press

I bought a manual drill press/drill adapter a couple of years ago.
Like the this but much worse looking. It still works but not very well, as the adjustment ring that allows it to go up and down broke in half about a year of very light use...

traitor joe > Birddog
11/17/2015 at 20:46

This is entirely normal for a heavily used drill press, and that is the standard way for fastening a drill press chuck to the spindle. Unwind the chuck so that the jaws are fully retracted, put it on the spindle, and use a hammer or mallet with a piece of wood as a buffer to knock it on. One or two blows should suffice.

Birddog > traitor joe
11/17/2015 at 20:51

No joke?

Thanks! I was toying with welding it on but felt that would be a mistake.

TheHondaBro > Birddog
11/17/2015 at 20:57

You may wanna check the FP.

Birddog > TheHondaBro
11/17/2015 at 21:00

Freaky.

traitor joe > Birddog
11/17/2015 at 21:01

It was confusing for me initially too. But if you check, all drill press chucks are classified by taper number - they are held on by a smooth taper and friction alone. I have yet to find one that was keyed or held on differently. A lot of them have a square or rectangular bit at the end of the taper, but this plays no role in fastening the chuck.

Try what I suggested in the last post, and see how solidly it is attached. There are also plenty of instructional videos, if you search “how to attach/install a drill press chuck”

Birddog > traitor joe
11/17/2015 at 21:12

Thanks for the info.

I just took a mic to the stub and sure enough it’s tapered.

DasWauto > traitor joe
11/17/2015 at 21:41

Correct, I assembled a reasonably sized industrial drill press and its chuck simply got pressed on the tapered spindle shaft.

sdwarf36 > Birddog
11/17/2015 at 22:58

That just may be on purpose. I’ve seen other chucks like that. So you don’t bust stuff up too bad if you screw up. Should be a slight taper on the shaft. If you’re worried, get some Loctite stud+ bearing mount. (green)

Birddog > sdwarf36
11/17/2015 at 23:22

I have been corrected. I guess it is normal.

Thanks for the Green Loctite, I forgot about that stuff.