Runout of .003 is no problem for a drill press. It should have no effect
using your #44 drill in pine.

You are not dealing with a high precision boring machine.
Relax. Your drill is fine and will probably last another hundred years (if
you don't keep smacking it around).
Frank

"Tom Watson" wrote in message
...
I used to have a cheap Delta floor model drill press but it took up
more floor space than it was worth.

So, I bought a cheap Delta bench top drill press to replace it.

It's a 1/4 horse, made in Taiwan, with a No-Name chuck, and it was
made in 1990.

For most of its life it lived with a jig table on it that was for
drilling Euro-hinge holes. It was accurate enough for that and gave
good service.

Now I want to do some drilling that needs to be a bit more accurately
done.

I chucked up a new 25/64" twist bit and squared the table up to it,
using a Starrett 3" Engineer's Square that I use for setup work.

Then I checked the concentricity of the No-Name chuck, using a
Starrett Dial Indicator and Magnetic Base.

It started out at .003 and the best that I could get out of it was
.002, by smacking things around a little bit.

Then I set the Dial Indicator up to check the runout on the bit. I
set the tip to run on the plain part of the shaft, just above where
the flutes started, about 1" down from the jaws of the No-Name chuck.

The best I could get out of it was .003.

Question: Is it worth buying a piece of drill rod to set this Cheap
Thing up, or can I assume (or live with) the accuracy of the drill
bit's shaft? (Assumption: Said drill rod is $15.00)

Question 2: Can I reasonably expect accuracy greater than .002 out of
this Cheap Thing - or am I dreaming? (I might already be in tall
cotton and just don't know it)

Caveat: No way I'm buying a good chuck for this Cheap Thing. That
would be even crazier than most things that I do.

Caveat 2: The holes that I want to drill will be made with a #44 bit
and will only be 1" deep, into mild pine.

Caveat 3: I don't want to dismount the No-Name chuck on this Cheap
Thing - for that way madness lies.


Tia (not Carrere - sigh...)



Tom Watson

http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/