Ridgid Drill Press Issue

[jbasen]

I have a Ridgid 15" drill press and for the most part it is a decent product for the money and I'm happy with it.  However, I do have one problem.  I tried emailing Ridgid support about this and, unlike when you contact Festool, they ignored my email and never replied.  I'm hoping that someone here can give me some ideas on how to solve this

The one time I have problems with the drill press is when I try to use a hole saw in it.  Unlike a standard drill bit, hole saws always have some vibration. About half way through a cut with a hole saw, as I am pulling back slightly to clear sawdust from the saw cut, the chuck falls off the quill.  [eek]

Any ideas on how to keep chuck from falling off the quill would be welcome.

Thanks in advance for the help

 

[bionicus]

Clean the mating surfaces really well with mineral spirits/alcohol, checking that they're smooth -- no burrs or damage. Open the jaws and heat up the chuck in the oven at 350F for 30 mins or so before quickly pressing it on using a block of wood and the machine itself as the press. Hold it pressed for a minute or two as it cools and let it cool completely before putting it to work.

If that doesn't do it replace the chuck and/or spindle.

 

[jbasen]

Thanks [member=5872]bionicus[/member] !

I have tried cleaning the mating surfaces and there is no damage.  I'll definitely try heating the chuck up.

Thanks again.

 

[Cheese]

[member=18233]jbasen[/member]

Make sure there are no burrs/rust/protrusions on either of the mating surfaces. Clean off any with fine emery paper, and then clean again with alcohol.

Is the chuck disconnecting itself from the quill (male taper issue) or is the chuck disconnecting itself from the adapter (female taper issue)?

If the chuck is falling out of the quill, then heating the chuck will not solve the problem but will make the issue worse. If this is the case, then cold should be administered rather than heat.

If the chuck is disconnecting itself from the (drive) adapter then applying heat to the chuck can help. Along with cooling the adapter in a freezer. When the two items are assembled and brought back to room temperature a shrink fit will have been performed.

However I'd go easy on the heat maybe 150-175 degrees max. There's probably some grease internal in the chuck and some of the chucks have plastic retaining/locating rings inside. Less is more on this one...

 

[jbasen]

Thanks [member=44099]Cheese[/member]

On my drill press the quill (in the manual they actually refer to it as the "spindle") is the male side of the taper fit and the chuck is the female side.  If I understand what you are saying correctly I should chill the chuck in a freezer instead of heating it.  Correct?

Thanks again.

 

[Kevin McConville]

Female components warm to expand and Male components chill to shrink - remember Seinfeld?  It doesn't take much of a shrink fit to be super tight

 

[jbasen]

Well next time the chuck falls off I'll give this a try.

Thanks

 

[Cheese]

Well next time the chuck falls off I'll give this a try.

Thanks

[member=18233]jbasen[/member]
I'll attack this one tomorrow when I have more time (between the Viking game and our commensurate win) ...it's not a difficult issue just a very important one because this does happen all of the time, and it confuses a lot of people including myself.

 

[travisj]

(between the Viking game and our commensurate win) ...

My daughters are supposed to go to my parents tomorrow, but asked if they could stay home instead.  "Grandpa will be watching the Vikings and screaming at the TV" was their excuse.  I had to explain that the same would be happening at our house (my wife yells at the TV...).

 

[Cheese]

My daughters are supposed to go to my parents tomorrow, but asked if they could stay home instead.  "Grandpa will be watching the Vikings and screaming at the TV" was their excuse.  I had to explain that the same would be happening at our house (my wife yells at the TV...).

That's Funny  [big grin]

Interestingly enough, those tickets that were trading last week at $110 per seat, as of last evening, they are now going for $25 per seat.  [eek] We may be a hardy lot...but we're certainly not fools!!

 

[Cheese]

[member=18233]jbasen[/member]

What I'm trying to first determine is which end is doing the falling out thing. That then determines what the fix is.

The 1st photo shows (L to R) a Jacobs chuck with a separate arbor installed, an Albrecht chuck with a separate arbor loose, and a Jacobs chuck with an integral arbor.

The integral arbor cannot be removed, so if this is the type of chuck you have, your problem will always be with the arbor-to-quill interface.

If your chuck is similar to the first 2 chucks shown, then you can have 2 different problem areas, it can be either the chuck-to-arbor or arbor-to-quill interfaces, or both. 

In a chuck-to-arbor interface it's best to heat the chuck and cool the arbor.
In an arbor-to-quill interface, it's best to cool the arbor (integral chuck) and heat the quill.

That's the reason I said that just heating the chuck may not fix the issue, It all depends upon at what interface the problem lies.

The 2nd picture just shows an Albrecht chuck installed with a separate arbor in a drill press. I'm just trying to help you identify which type of chuck you have. Sometimes you have to look real close.

Hope this helps...

Edit: When I added the 2 photos after I had already posted, both photos were added to the post but turned 90 degrees CCW.

 

[jbasen]

Thanks again for your help.  To clear up the confusion I threw a hole saw on my chuck and started drilling into some scrap wood.  As you can see, here is the result.

 

[jbasen]

Sorry the FOG somehow rotated my picture 90 degrees ???

 

[Cheese]

[member=18233]jbasen[/member]
Thanks for the picture...that says it all...you have a chuck with a separate arbor and your problem is with the chuck-to-arbor interface. This is an easy peasy issue.
1. Remove the arbor from the drill press.
2. Warm up the chuck and cool the arbor.
3. Assemble the 2 pieces and allow the assembled pieces to come back to room temperature.
4. Reinstall in the drill press.

This is actually a lot better problem to have than an arbor-to-quill problem. [thumbs up] With an arbor-to-quill issue, sometimes the quill needs to be reamed to remove high spots and regain proper engagement. 

 

[tiralie]

[member=18233]jbasen[/member]
Hope this helps...

Very clear explanation.
Thanks.
Tim

 

[jbasen]

Perfect!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jbasen]

I just wanted to follow up on this thread.  I went through the procedure last night of cleaning the interface and then heating/chilling the parts.  Today I drilled a bunch of holes using a couple of different hole saws and a forstner bit.  No more problems with the chuck dropping off.

THANKS AGAIN!!

 

[Cheese]

[member=18233]jbasen[/member]
[thumbs up] [thumbs up] [thumbs up]
What youv'e done is to create a shrink fit between the chuck and the arbor which, if truth be told, it will be damn hard to break the bond. So in a normal scenario, you may wish to change out the chuck on your drill press, and that is still a viable option, however, you will seldom/never wish to break the bond between the chuck and the arbor...there's no need.