In article ,
Bruno wrote:
I bought this old drill press the other day -- it's from the 50's I
believe. Model number is 103.24520.

Bad story is this... the headstock was off center and I wanted to
center it. I had a friend to help (who has a dozen drill presses at
his shop). I started to tell him what I wanted to do and before I
could stop him he just reached up and released the headstock lock. The
headstock came down instantly onto the table (about a 12" drop).
Fortunately, no hands were down there.

Ouch!, anyway -- even if nobody was hurt. Why didn't he at
least look for a stop collar below the headstock -- and check that it
was solid?

[ ... ]

Anyway, I don't know what the taper is and would appreciate any help
in figuring out how to get that chuck off. There is no slot on the
spindle for the drift. I have a manual for a slightly older version of
this drill press, and it says "be sure the taper on the chuck and on
the spindle are clean", so I know it is a taper, and there is a "chuck
removal wedge" in the parts list, but I don't have it.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Some drill presses have a solid spindle, with a male Jacobs
taper on the end to accept the chuck. The wedges (they come in pairs)
are available from places like MSC, and probably most other serious tool
supply places. However, you need to determine what the taper is, first.
If the chuck is a Jacobs, copy all the information on it, which should
encode the Jacobs taper (among other things). Perhaps a JT-6, perhaps a
JT-3, perhaps a JT-33, perhaps something else.

Most sizes use a single pair of wedges, but some require half of
two different size wedges. Visit Jacob's web site, and you should find
the sizes documented. Try a google search for Jacobs and see what it
does for you. I can't seem to find the bookmark which I had for their
site at the moment.

Having the male Jacobs taper a permanent part of the spindle
removes one of the chances for fixing it more easily -- replacing the
arbor which adapts the Jacobs taper in the chuck to the Morse taper in
the spindle.

Good Luck,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---