BTW The steel piece I was drilling was firmly clamped at both ends to the table.
Drill bit was a jobber length.


Alex wrote:
I have a quill play in my Frox Shop 17" drill press.
When rotating with no load the runout is just 0.002" but if you move
chuck with your hands back and forth test indicator shows 0.030 runout.
Woodstock Int. (manufacturer of all Fox Shop tools) warranty guy is
saying that I am not suppose to try to move chuck while measuring
runout. "The right way" to measure runout is to do it while drill runs
on lowest speed with no load.

Quill set screw is already tighten to the point when I can hardly move
spindle up/down

BTW I just tied to drill 3/8 hole in 1/4 thick mild steel and can see
that when drill bit is half way through "hole" is somewhat triangular.
After the hole is through it looks pretty round with rough walls. Is it
suppose to be like that or it's because of runout?


Thanks,
Alex