Lorlin, I responded quite a while back that the drill press sounds like a
radial arm press and now I see that Jim Harvey has also commented on this
and that the Sears unit looks a lot like the AMT unit. I haven't seen an
AMT unit, although they do advertise in the various woodworkers magazines,
so I don't know what an AMT press looks like. However, I do have a Sears
radial arm drill press that I bought back about 1976 and I still use it for
drilling grand blocks when drilling in the piano instead of on my ShopSmith
drill press.
A suggestion for you if you decide to use either of these approaches
for drilling pinblocks. Both my radial arm and my ShopSmith Mark V have too
much flex when drilling into pinblock material. The support systems flex
considerably, and then as the drill exits the far side of the block, it
jumps significantly. Naturally this is unnerving - but more importantly -
it also means that the angle is changing twice. Fits it changes as the drill
starts to enter the wood and the system flexes backward, then it changes
again as the bit exits the wood and the system relaxes back to the angle
you thought you would be drilling along when you originally set your drilling
angle. Not nice!
The solution for both is really quite simple. With the radial arm
press,the flexing (at least with mine) is in the joining of the horizontal
tube to the vertical tube. To stop the flexing I simply place a wooden
block of wood between the motor housing and the table on which I have mounted
the drill. When so set up, there is no noticeable flexing and the system
is very rigid.
On the ShopSmith Mark V I have leave the end support for the lathe
on the tubular ways and then I have cut a 2X4 support with a dowell in the end
to fit in the hole in the lathe support. The other end of this 2X4 support
goes up under the table to support the table. I have cut this end of the
support to match the tilt of the table (approximatly 7 degrees). It has a
large circle on this end which engages the round (drilling) table insert
which comes with the ShopSmith. In this way the table is supported very
firmly directly under the point in which the drill is pressing on the table.
I have also attached a long board with a waxed formica-type top
on it to support the length of the pinblock. It too needs support at the
ends to the floor to keep things rigid.
And then, to keep the pinblock from wanting to slide forward off this
large table, I place the legs of the ShopSmith under the drill up on a
platform so as to level the table. Makes handling the pinblock much easier.
This of course would work on any drill press with a large enough base so as
not to tip over. The ShopSmith, in the drill press position, has about
a 5 foot base so it is easy to do. But do be sure to lock the pivot point
with the screw provided for that purpose!
Lastly, for now, on the Sears radial arm drill press. I found that boththe shaft and the
supplied chuck were not accurate enough for my liking and
so I took the shaft and bearing assembly to a local machinist who made me
a new shaft and fitted it with a better bearing. I thn purchased a better
Jacobs chuck and find now that the accuracy is dramatically improved, with
virtually no run-out. the orginal had quite a bit. Perhaps that has been
improved over the years.
Oh yeah, (so much for the lastly!) for those considering a ShopSmith,
I also have an old ShopSmith model 10ER which dates back to 1949. It was my
Dad's and I got it after he died. It is much more ruggedly built than the
newer Mark V series. It doesn't flex in the drill press mode and is much
quieter with the belt system rather than the newer continusously variable
speed design. ShopSmith still has some support for these units and some
attachments, but not all. If you can pick one of these units up inexpensively
with the original attachments you won't be sorry. The one I got from my Dad
has had plenty of use in these past 47 years and the only repair it has ever
needed was the replacement of the power cord which dried out and became a
electrical hazard. That's mighy good reliability in my book! Even the drive
belt is original and the machine runs great! Of course, with this type of
drill press you will have to drill the block outside of the piano, but then
that's just a matter of choice as to which way you prefer to work. I drill
blocks both ways and find both give good results.
Good luck with your drill press search!
Ed Hilbert, RPT
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC