I agree with Dave that the belt would be the first suspect. I've got
the same model; it runs smoothly.


Dave

Drew Eckhardt wrote:

I bought a Delta 17-965 16.5" drill press, put it together, and am experiencing
unacceptable vibration (the head shakes, the table shakes, everything shakes)
that didn't exist on the cheap Craftsman some electrical engineers put in
lab space I shared.

Belt tension makes some change but does not appreciably reduce it. With the
belts off there's a tiny amount from the motor. The belts are oval shaped as
shipped but don't seem to have a real set. Regardless of belt tension the
idler pulley bounces arround a lot. A straight edge across the pulleys shows
the spindle and motor pulleys are level but the idler pully is significantly
(1/4"?) below them. I have not yet put a dial indicator on anything to
look for runout.

Help!