I have one of those inexpensive small bench top drill presses. It's
worked pretty well over the last 2 years since I bought it at a local
auction. Yesterday I had to drill a 1/2" hole in some 1/8 steel. I
was drilling when suddenly the bit got stuck. I rasied the lever, and
the chuck fell off the shaft.

The chuck and shaft are tapered, but there is no flat side. It's
basically just pressure fit due to the taper.
So I put it back on the shaft and tapped the chuck upward with a
hammer. I started to drill again, and once again the chuck fell off.
This continued to happen. I finally took a heavy hammer and really
beat the chuck onto the shaft. 30 seconds later it fell off again.
I repeated, hitting even harder, and once again it fell off.

At that point I said the hell with it and used a hand drill.

Is there some trick to this, or something I am missing? There is no
screw inside the chuck (like the hand drills), no pin, no threads,
nothing like that. How the hell is it supposed to stay on, and stay
tight on that shaft?

Either it's badly worn, or I am missing something. It does not look
to be worn....

Anyone got any suggestions?
I am seriously considering using JB weld, but I know it will never
come off again. However, the press is useless as it sits now.

It even fell off before when I drilled a 1/4" hole in a 2x4 scrap,
while I was trying to fix it.

Thanks