BEC Drill press loose bearing

[OllyO]

Hi all,

I've been trying to get to the bottom of why my BEC press doesn't drill straight. I removed the small round cover that fits around the part that holds the chuck arbour and a bearing fell out. The bearing seems to be in fairly good nick but it is obviously loose in it's housing. Any tips on what to do here? Could I get away with some loctite bearing fit or is that just too much of a bodge?

I'm also thinking that perhaps the Jacobs 34 chuck is partly at fault since I can detect no runout in the area mentioned above but the bit has around 1mm. The chuck crtainly has some stiff points when trying to adjust it.
Has anyone had a chuck that doesn't properly self align?

 

[OllyO]

Pic of drill at bottom of this page'

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/elliot-progress-2s-pillar-drill.43054/

 

[piman]

Hello Olly,

I see no reason not to try bearing fit, as long as the slack is not too much. You will need to cure or replace the chuck though as that won't do the drill any good.
You really need a press to dismantle the chuck, The rotating sleeve will push off towards the top then the rest can be dismantled and cleaned. Possibly it's been dismantled before and assembled wrongly, the three ends of the jaws should be level.

Alec

 

[OllyO]

Cheers Alec, I know the drill has had a lot of use in its life so I may just buy a new chuck. Seen some NOS Jacobs items online

 

[gordon stephenson]

Used properly Loctite bearing fit is great stuff. Also their high strength retainer, but removing the bearing at a later date if required could be a bit of struggle.

 

[Flathead_Dave]

Cheers Alec, I know the drill has had a lot of use in its life so I may just buy a new chuck. Seen some NOS Jacobs items online

If you get a new chuck,get a new arbor with the correct Jacobs taper for it,the old chuck may have been forced off line on the old arbor.

http://wiki.vintagemachinery.org/JacobsChuckRebuild.ashx

http://www.jacobschuck.com/keyed-drill-chuck-repair-guide

 

[rtbcomp]

I bought a chuck from RDG. It came with the correct arbor (I just had to specify the taper on the drill) and it was much better quality than the one fitted to my Clarke drill press.

 

[OllyO]

I just gave RDG a call and got a 1-16mm keyed chuck and arbour for good money. I will get a new bearing and try the bearing fit and see what happens from there.

 

[rtbcomp]

You should be OK with that - I think mine came with the key as well.