Nova Voyager Drill Press

[Michael Kellough]

That's a great solution Mike and it looks good too!

 

[Bob D.]

Very nice [member=4518]Mike Goetzke[/member] , I like it. Looks very stable with the wide spread on the casters.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Very nice [member=4518]Mike Goetzke[/member] , I like it. Looks very stable with the wide spread on the casters.

Thanks - yeah my smaller DP that is half the weight feels much more tippy on an adjustable store bought base. This one is very solid. I only need to pull it out about two feel for longer boards.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Oh boy, my new shinny Voyager may have a vibration problem. There is noticeable vibration around 2,800RPM and worse at 3,000RPM lessens somewhat at 3,500RPM and gets worse up to 5,500RPM. The vibration lessens if I loosen the table position lock.

Is this normal or do I have a lemon?

Thanks

 

[Bob D.]

No vibration problem with mine. I've run it over 3000 more than once.

I'm assuming this is with the casters retracted so the base is solid and
there is bearing on all four corners.

Are you talking about the column elevation clamp or the table tilt lock.

What happens if you reposition the table?

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Yes - base is solid. I did try another position but it's late so may try again tomorrow. Seems like a resonance but at 5500RPM a 4x4x12" treated post will walk off of the table.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Have you checked the chuck? Knocked it out and re-seated?

There aren't many moving parts in the Voyager so if it isn't a crooked chuck it's a reject from the user's point of view.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Have you checked the chuck? Knocked it out and re-seated?

There aren't many moving parts in the Voyager so if it isn't a crooked chuck it's a reject from the user's point of view.

It vibrates even without a chuck. I replaced the Albrecht with the stock and still has vibration even with 150# of sand on the base. I also measured runout at the chuck and it's like 0.007"(with Albrecht or stock chucks)! I tried measuring the spindle bore, it's hard to get at, and the needle on the gauge doesn't move. I ran the Albrecht on a Viking DP and the runout is 0.0005".

I called Nova but their tech expert is off today. The guy I talked to thought it was the spindle? My thoughts are motor or fan out of balance. The vibration is probably tolerable for the times I'm at or above 3000RPM but not expected for a $2K DP.

Think I'll recheck the post to base bolts and clean the spindle bore.

 

[rvieceli]

this is NOT acceptable on any drill press.

There seem to be only 4 bearings in the head. A suggestion, it appears that you have the drill press base bolted to the mobile base and the mobile base has the casters between it and the floor. Perhaps take the drill press off the mobile base or block the mobile base up with a couple of pieces of wood , so the casters are not on the floor and try again. Sometimes casters, even when new, will have a small bit a play in the wheel axle. This might be causing your vibrations.

If you still get the same results, you will need to return it.

If you want try cleaning the Morse taper, a cleaning kit for a 20 gauge shotgun is just about the right size.

Ron

 

[derekcohen]

As other Voyager owners will confirm, a movable base must be as low as possible. The Voyager stands quite high, and is probably designed to live on its own base.

I think I shall move the wheels to the side (although they are not in the way).

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[DynaGlide]

As other Voyager owners will confirm, a movable base must be as low as possible. The Voyager stands quite high, and is probably designed to live on its own base.

I think I shall move the wheels to the side (although they are not in the way).

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek,

As one of the most talented hand tool woodworkers I've seen on this and other forums I'm surprised to see such nice machinery in your shop. Mind sharing what else you have? Is it just those 3 or do you have all the usual suspects?

 

[Bob D.]

I think it would be more stable with the wheels on the side.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Yesterday I took the mobile base and chuck off the Voyager and the vibration is less at 3000RPM but still what I call excessive at 5500RPM. At 5500RPM the quill handles and table shake quite a bit.

I did put it on the mobile base again and wheeled it to it’s home position. My load leveling casters have rubber feet built in that you turn a wheel to stabilize the machine (worked great on my wood lathe). Sort of by chance I tipped the DP to the back and the 3000RPM vibrating was reduced. So I found some wood blocks to support the front and the vibration level is similar to the DP without the mobile base. That 5500RPM vibration still there.

I had a 15” Ridgid DP in the same location for 20+ years on one of those mobile bases you make with 2x2 stock and it didn’t vibrate much at all (even at 3000RPM). You think this 300#+ DP should run smoother. They do advertise it as “vibration free”.

Nova is supposed to get back to me today.

 

[derekcohen]

As other Voyager owners will confirm, a movable base must be as low as possible. The Voyager stands quite high, and is probably designed to live on its own base.

I think I shall move the wheels to the side (although they are not in the way).

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek,

As one of the most talented hand tool woodworkers I've seen on this and other forums I'm surprised to see such nice machinery in your shop. Mind sharing what else you have? Is it just those 3 or do you have all the usual suspects?

You are very kind. With regard to machines, I have upgraded most over the past 10 years, but really it should be seen as a 30-year period of development. I use machines fir the grunt work, and prefer handtools for all joinery, advanced shaping and finishing.

I also have a shortbed Hammer K3 slider, a Nova Saturn lathe, a small 9x6 belt sander, as well as a router table built into the K3, and a host of routers, etc, etc.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Mike Goetzke]

[member=2839]scholar[/member] (and others) Have you added a front crank for elevation yet?

I splurged for a Woodpecker’s DP-Pro. I built a table for my old DP but this thing is in my opinion worth the big $. But, I find the table lock hard to get to (this is probably the case for any DP with a large table) and the large elevation crank on the Voyager just misses the table.

I’m thinking of doing the bevel gear mod for the elevation and putting an extension on the table lock. If any others have made these mods any help is appreciated.

For the elevation I was actually thinking of using a torque cable like Woodpecker’s did on their “sidewinder” router lift years ago. This would eliminate the bevel gears but Woodpecker’s doesn’t have parts for these anymore and I’m finding it difficult to find a cable like they used.

Mike

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Yesterday I took the mobile base and chuck off the Voyager and the vibration is less at 3000RPM but still what I call excessive at 5500RPM. At 5500RPM the quill handles and table shake quite a bit.

I did put it on the mobile base again and wheeled it to it’s home position. My load leveling casters have rubber feet built in that you turn a wheel to stabilize the machine (worked great on my wood lathe). Sort of by chance I tipped the DP to the back and the 3000RPM vibrating was reduced. So I found some wood blocks to support the front and the vibration level is similar to the DP without the mobile base. That 5500RPM vibration still there.

I had a 15” Ridgid DP in the same location for 20+ years on one of those mobile bases you make with 2x2 stock and it didn’t vibrate much at all (even at 3000RPM). You think this 300#+ DP should run smoother. They do advertise it as “vibration free”.

Nova is supposed to get back to me today.

Just thought I’d give an update. Nova/Teknatool seemed concerned and helpful to help solve my vibration issue but maybe due to COVID and current supply chain issues progress has been slow. They did end up sending me a new headstock but it had the same vibration issue as the original. Just for grins I removed the quill and it ran very smooth (I was instructed to do this on the original headstock but it had no effect). I reindexed the spline drive on the quill and reassembled it and to my surprise it was still pretty smooth running. Then I added the chuck and it was still good. All this was done on my shop built mobile base so I’m very happy camper now.

Mike

 

[Bob D.]

Good news. Did you feed back to them what you found. Maybe they can correct or revise their assembly process to eliminate this issue.

 

[nclemmons]

Glad you got it fixed.  Was using my Voyager yesterday and thought about you and your vibration challenges. 

Thanks for the update.  Time to build something!

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Good news. Did you feed back to them what you found. Maybe they can correct or revise their assembly process to eliminate this issue.

Yes, their lead engineer Rich is my friend now.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Glad you got it fixed.  Was using my Voyager yesterday and thought about you and your vibration challenges. 

Thanks for the update.  Time to build something!

Yes - time to set it all up and use it! Can't believe the difference with messing with the quill.