Adding a morse taper to drill press.

[tonyfoale]

My drill presses all had chucks on them, but all my drill bits above 13mm have morse taper 2 mountings, as do both tapping heads that I have. I could use these in the mill but that is not always as convenient as a drill press for quick jobs and for some time I thought that I should convert one of the drills to MT2 by making a new spindle. Of my drills I decided that the floor standing Craftsman drill was likely to be the best candidate for modification. I dismantled the spindle and quill with a view to just measuring up to order some material for the spindle.
However, when it was apart I saw that it would be relatively easy to modify an R8 to MT2 sleeve to fit on the end of the existing spindle. However, the original spindle is only 5/8" diam. and the sleeve would have a lot of overhang from a small bearing on a thin shaft. Not good. I then had the idea of extending the quill (much more rigid than the spindle) to hold some larger bearings to support the MT sleeve. Then the only overhang is in the quill and new larger bearings would support the MT sleeve, leaving the spindle to only do the driving and not the supporting.
I had two spare R8 to MT2 sleeves, one was properly hardened but the other was softer and could be machined. So I machined that to take much larger bearings, and the shortened spindle. All in all the job only took a few hours and I was able to use stuff that I had here. I am very pleased with the finished item, particularly the overall rigidity.


Here is the original spindle and chuck, note the small bearings on the shaft and the new larger ones. Next the modified R8-MT2 sleeve is shown alongside an unmodified one. Finally the original shaft is shown without the chuck ready to accept the extension sleeve, note that the lower original bearing is no longer needed.


Here we have the new quill extension with the MT2 sleeve fitted with bearings. Secondly, the original quill ready for the add-on.


Quill and spindle with extensions fitted, then assembled.


Original chuck only drill press compared to the morse taper version.

Now I can use it for my large drill bits as well as a chuck for smaller bits, but the reality is that most of the time it is fitted with a reversing tapping head. In practice large holes are usually make on the milling machine, smaller holes often done with another drill press and tapping with the modified one. A near perfect arrangement.

[PJs]

Wow Tony you are gonna fit right in here! This post particularly hits home to me as I picked up a 49'-50' King Seeley/Craftsman bench press about a month ago and have been restoring it...all the while wondering how this might be accomplished. Your press looks to be 70's vintage but the 5/8" spindle and rack are almost identical.

Unfortunately my spindle has a stop at the taper end that appears to be blind pinned. This pic is not long after I got it apart with only minor clean up.



The pin doesn't show on the opposite side and I might assume it's either tapered or maybe a splined pin??

The impressive thing about your R8 version is it doesn't add too much to the original length with the chuck which would be important for a bench model. I rarely get anything over a 1/2 bit and have used Silver Demmings once or twice in my current press but not much room for work after that. Mine has the original Jacobs 6A "0"-1/2" chuck but someone along the way spun a few bits in it so it's only good down to 1/32-3/64 now. I may see if new "0" jaws aren't prohibitively expensive. Ultimately I think the runout would be better with a good R8 but somehow really appreciate the beefy vintage of it.

I am curious what kind of clearances you left between the rack throat and your quill extension and does it just butt up to the bottom of the old bearing recess?

Thanks for sharing this great mod that a lot of us have thought about!! ~PJ

[tonyfoale]

I am curious what kind of clearances you left between the rack throat and your quill extension and does it just butt up to the bottom of the old bearing recess?

Pressed together with an interference fit using the press in my previous post. I probably also used high strength Loctite on the surfaces but I don't remember for sure. I don't usually make any notes about such things but I do take lots of photos normally, so for these posts I have to write the text from memory.

[Paul Jones]

Tony,

Thank you for excellent and labelled photos, and the systematic approach and explanation. Your HMT presentation is one of the best I have seen this year and a very useful project, as PJs said, for the viewers.

Regards,

Paul

[PJs]

Pressed together with an interference fit using the press in my previous post. I probably also used high strength Loctite on the surfaces but I don't remember for sure. I don't usually make any notes about such things but I do take lots of photos normally, so for these posts I have to write the text from memory.

Thanks Tony, Good memory! In thinking about this last night I was thinking that adding a shoulder to fit the old 6202x5/8" bearing housing on the rack and using a bearing locker during assembly. It will however require removal of the blind pin and short of drilling it out I'm not sure how to do that yet. Then there is the quill stop set up which will require mods also. I sure like this idea and build you did...more pondering I think. Thanks again for posting this great idea.

Your HMT presentation is one of the best I have seen this year and a very useful project

Agreed Paul and that is High Praise considering the quality of your presentation!

Thanks, ~PJ

[tonyfoale]

Tony,

Thank you for excellent and labelled photos, and the systematic approach and explanation. Your HMT presentation is one of the best I have seen this year and a very useful project, as PJs said, for the viewers.

Thanks Paul. What is HMT?

[tonyfoale]

What is HMT?

Forget that, I have realised what it means, dummy.

[DIYer]

Thanks tonyfoale! We've added your Morse Taper for Drill Press to our Drilling and Drill Presses category,
as well as to your builder page: tonyfoale's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Morse Taper for Drill Press by tonyfoale

tags: drill press, taper

[tonyfoale]

What exactly does changing the category mean? Is it no longer part of Homemade tools? Did I post in the wrong place first?

[Frank S]

No that is a way of locating it in the future.