OCtoolguy

Really cheap!

Thanks Jerry, I stand corrected. I thought that I had checked it out and it was 1/4 x 20 but I may have been thinking of something else.

I was drilling in douglas fir that was a 2 x 4 in it's previous life. The bit I'm using is cobalt and I seriously believe that for it to flex that amount would cause it to snap first. Thanks for your suggestion. I think I have figured out what my problem is after reading all the info above. I feel pretty silly to have even had to post the question but it was late in the day and I was pretty frustrated at not being able to figure it out myself.

Ok, ok, lets all back up a bit. We have encountered that age old problem of the written word not "sounding" the same as the spoken word. I totally understand everything each of you has written. I keep coming back to the place where I feel that the problem is in the table height. That is the main reason I sort of dislike most all of the drill presses on the market nowadays. My old Craftsman had a "quill lock" and I haven't seen another press since that has that feature. I used to set my quill all the way down and lock it in place. Then I could make all the adjustments necessary with spacers, bits, etc. Now, it's a matter of having to hold the quill down, hold the table and unwind the table lock. I only have 2 hands and this task requires 3 or more. I do like Kevin's idea of using blocks under the table for different spacing but I just don't have room for all the stuff that most of you folks do. So, coming back to my issue, most everybody has all the correct ideas in their minds and I have to give all of you credit and thanks for taking the time to try to help out. I'm going to make sure that I have no slippage. I do have some of those hex shanked bits but I had forgotten all about them. I'm not sure if the 1/16" has enough bit length to it but I will check that out too. I have read and reread all of your suggestions and put them in my head so that I can re-enter my shop loaded with a ton of help. I love you all for your kindness and for taking the time and effort to chime in on this, for lack of a better word, silly problem. Now, let's all take a deep breath and move on to things that may be more important in life.

I understand what you are saying Kevin. It seems that as soon as I add the thickness of the backer, that's where the problem comes in. There is some magic combination of table height, backer thickness, drill bit length and quill capacity that I'm missing.

Kevin, You have touched on a subject that is of interest to me. I don't want to hijack this thread so I won't go into it here but I might shoot you a PM and we can go from there.

YES Kevin! I checked that. I have a bunch of new bits and they are all the same length. It's really weird though. I could make it work if the jaws of the chuck didn't protrude out so far when they get down to that small of a bit. I tried all different combinations of table height, drill bit protrusion, backer boards, you name it. I tried it. I know there is something I'm missing but I just got so frustrated, I gave up and just drilled the holes and didn't worry about the back side.

I had an odd situation happen today and I'm not sure what the "fix" is for it. I'll try to explain. First of all, I'm using a Delta 8" drill press. It's a little feller. It has about 3" of quill travel. I was trying to drill 1/16" holes in some 1 1/2" stock for a compound cut and I was using a 1/2" piece of pine as the sacrificial surface beneath the 1 1/2" piece. No matter what combination I tried, I couldn't get the drill bit to go all the way through the wood. It seems that even if I mounted the bit with as little shank as possible in the chuck, by the time I drilled down into the wood, the jaws of the chuck would contact the wood before the drill bit exited the back side of the wood. I took the sacrificial piece out of the equation and still couldn't do it. I finally had to increase my drill bit size up to 7/64" to get the length I needed but still wasn't able to use a sacrificial board. Is it simply that I'm limited because of the small drill press or what? I did mess around with the table height too but I just couldn't come up with the combination that I needed. I'm confused and stumped. I finally got all the holes drilled but I'm not happy about the back side of the piece. Luckily it won't show but there has to be a fix for this problem. Can any of you shine a light on this for me?

Not sure but you might try Steve Good's free pattern site.

There is one like that on C/L for a long time near me.

Just be aware of fine dust floating in the air around you and the open flame. It could turn into a "bomb" of sorts like a dust explosion in a silo.

You folks are NUTS!. If I can't wear shorts, I'm staying in.

If you haven't already fixed your dishwasher, check out the model/serial number on youtube. There is an easy fix for many of them with that problem. I had to fix one myself, that's how I know.

UPS and Amazon are just as bad. It's not the company, it's the drivers who are either overworked or not fluent in the language.

It sounds like when they reassembled it, they either didn't get the wedge in correctly or the plate that the wedge slides against fell out. Either way, that's something they should have discovered if they did a proper test run on your saw. Shoddy workmanship is the order of the day.

Thanks for a great idea Bill. I had never heard of that before.

If Ray didn't mention it, the new Pegas blade clamps will make a great addition to your saw. They are much lighter, easier to work with and cut some of the vibration down on my saw. I'm going to add the set designed for the EX to my Dewalt because I like the tension lever. Good investment.

I have been carrying on a short email conversation with Richard at QTE. It seems that he and I grew up very nearly at the same time here in So Cal. We frequented many of the same old establishments near where I live. He is going to join SSV and may even become a contributor. It's nice to know who you are dealing with.

If the saw has just been sitting without being run, the grease in all the bearings has probably gotten dried out. You may have to do a bearing/grease service on it. There is no other reason for it to develop a vibration from just sitting. If it had a drive belt, I'd blame that but it doesn't. You might give Ray at Seyco a call or email and see if he suggests anything else. That's where I'd start.

My point exactly. I have only had one flat tire in 50 years and it was on a slushy, muddy unlit country road at 8500 ft. elevation about midnite. Color me "not happy". Oh, and we had been out that evening to a formal get together requiring me to be dressed in a suit and tie with my best pair of Tony Lamas. I HATE snow! Big

Agreed Les. This forum SSV, has so much to read, I'd never get anything done if I read it all on a daily basis.

Did ya ever notice that your car never breaks down until the ground gets "slushy"?

We lived in it long enough to realize that it's really only good for skiing and now we are too old for that.

I had to save it to my computer. It downloaded. Then I clicked on the file and it gave me a menu of what program to use to open it. I chose Irfanview and got an error message that said it was a .jpg file with the wrong extension. Did I want to correct it? I said yes and it opened. Computers are very strange animals.

JT, you have read my mind. My suggestion was only to keep the overall cost to the buyer down. Make whatever optional equipment just that. Let the user decide on what they want to buy. Me, I'd opt to buy the saw with the system incorporated as you suggest but some folks, obviously, are cost conscious and would rather buy and entry-level saw than to spend the money on a better tool. I very seldom buy new. I always look around for something that is lightly used. So far, I've been very lucky. But, if Excalibur was to bring out a saw as you say, knowing now what I know about their product, I'd probably have to step up and buy one with the dust system already built in.