Shorty Drill Press not perpendicular to floor, any ideas?

[RFGuy]

I'll challenge you as well. With your Mark V in the drill press mode, position a flat washer or two in the landing zone and double check your readings as you remove the spacers. This was an interesting exercise for me. I ended up using a half dozen or so washers just to see what would happen.

The Main Table alignment is really part of a totally different discussion because it is adjustable.

Dusty,

Mine is very slightly under-rotated (89.5°), so what would be the point of putting washers there? I mean it will just cause more under-rotation, would it not?

[dusty]

I'll challenge you as well. With your Mark V in the drill press mode, position a flat washer or two in the landing zone and double check your readings as you remove the spacers. This was an interesting exercise for me. I ended up using a half dozen or so washers just to see what would happen.

The Main Table alignment is really part of a totally different discussion because it is adjustable.

Dusty,

Mine is very slightly under-rotated (89.5°), so what would be the point of putting washers there? I mean it will just cause more under-rotation, would it not?

I do not believe that is the case.

Putting washers there would show you that you have already passed through 90 degrees (vertical/over rotated) and are on the other side. If you do this fastidiously you will find the 90 degree point is about a half degree back from where you are. and if you do it a little more you will find another 89.5 degree point (on the other side of vertical).

[RFGuy]

I do not believe that is the case.

Putting washers there would show you that you have already passed through 90 degrees (vertical/over rotated) and are on the other side. If you do this fastidiously you will find the 90 degree point is about a half degree back from where you are. and if you do it a little more you will find another 89.5 degree point (on the other side of vertical).

Okay, I tried this using the thinnest flat washers that I have in my shop. Each time I added a washer, the angle reduced 0.5°, so 89.5° -> 89.0° -> 88.5° -> 88.0°, etc. After about 4 washers, it started dropping faster, so the jumps started getting larger than 0.5°. I even tried to carefully raise/lower from drillpress and observe the Wixey. At NO point did it ever go above 89.5°, so I can't get to 90.0° on mine without grinding the base. I think this confirms that mine is very slightly under-rotated.

[JPG]

I think THEE need go do that washer thing again. Use the angle cube. I predict all those readings will indicate under rotation(ALL readings top side up on the cube) As for exchange with Mike, he was correct all along. Just be sure to place the cube on the way tube and leave it there after taking the level reference as you recommended.

[dusty]

I do not believe that is the case.

Putting washers there would show you that you have already passed through 90 degrees (vertical/over rotated) and are on the other side. If you do this fastidiously you will find the 90 degree point is about a half degree back from where you are. and if you do it a little more you will find another 89.5 degree point (on the other side of vertical).

Okay, I tried this using the thinnest flat washers that I have in my shop. Each time I added a washer, the angle reduced 0.5°, so 89.5° -> 89.0° -> 88.5° -> 88.0°, etc. After about 4 washers, it started dropping faster, so the jumps started getting larger than 0.5°. I think this confirms that mine is very slightly under-rotated.

If this is exactly as you state it means that when going into the drill press mode you never got to vertical (under rotated) and this is contrary to what I have been advocating. I wish I could touch and feel myself.

[RFGuy]

If this is exactly as you state it means that when going into the drill press mode you never got to vertical (under rotated) and this is contrary to what I have been advocating. I wish I could touch and feel myself.

Yes, this is exactly what I am saying. I have tried carefully observing the Wixey while I move it in and out of drillpress mode, but I also tried the washer technique. Unless my washers are too thick causing me to pass over 90.0° and never see it, I do believe that mine never hits 90.0° and is slightly under-rotated when fully in drill press mode (resting on landing zones).

[JPG]

I have reviewed ALL the pix in this thread with a CURRENT CORRECT understanding of what these angle thingies(spirit level included) indicate. ALL indicated under 90° rotation in drill press mode in all machines pictured.

Yes it is contrary to earlier 'understanding'! Rejecting that misunderstanding is not easy. However this thread demonstrates it WAS a misunderstanding.

We need to thank MIKE for his persistence. Without it we would not have arrived at this point of enlightenment.

I think some have not yet reached it.

[DLB]

If this is exactly as you state it means that when going into the drill press mode you never got to vertical (under rotated) and this is contrary to what I have been advocating. I wish I could touch and feel myself.

Yes, this is exactly what I am saying. I have tried carefully observing the Wixey while I move it in and out of drillpress mode, but I also tried the washer technique. Unless my washers are too thick causing me to pass over 90.0° and never see it, I do believe that mine never hits 90.0° and is slightly under-rotated when fully in drill press mode (resting on landing zones).

Your Wixey appears to be the same as mine and would indicate angles greater than 90 degrees in numbers greater than 90. (Up to 180.) So at 89.5 degrees indicated it is not passing 90. (For sure, but ignoring the whole accuracy/resolution/repeatability thing.) This is one of the differences between the AngleCube and the Wixey. For a 0.5 degree difference, a bubble would confirm. You can also pull it gently back toward horizontal and see whether the numbers change toward 0, or toward 90.

- David

[dusty]

I have reviewed ALL the pix in this thread with a CURRENT CORRECT understanding of what these angle thingies(spirit level included) indicate. ALL indicated under 90° rotation in drill press mode in all machines pictured.

Yes it is contrary to earlier 'understanding'! Rejecting that misunderstanding is not easy. However this thread demonstrates it WAS a misunderstanding.

We need to thank MIKE for his persistence. Without it we would not have arrived at this point of enlightenment.

I think some have not yet reached it.

Upon that you can bet.

[RFGuy]

Your Wixey appears to be the same as mine and would indicate angles greater than 90 degrees in numbers greater than 90. (Up to 180.) So at 89.5 degrees indicated it is not passing 90. (For sure, but ignoring the whole accuracy/resolution/repeatability thing.) This is one of the differences between the AngleCube and the Wixey. For a 0.5 degree difference, a bubble would confirm. You can also pull it gently back toward horizontal and see whether the numbers change toward 0, or toward 90.

- David

Yeah, I agree. I thought about adding this somehow in my previous post, but I didn't want to create more confusion if I didn't word it correctly. I am not familiar with the AngleCube, but I know my Wixey goes 0 to 180°, so if it shows 89.5° then it MUST be under-rotated there. Still, the washer experiment double confirms it. If it had been over-rotated with my Wixey it would have shown 90.5°, not 89.5°. So, the AngleCube only displays angles between 0-90°, is that correct?