Quill Questions

[DLB]

I checked a second quill and it measured ~0.012" runout at the splines. This one is unmodified and not recently rebuilt. In my case I would say that this is characteristic of the relatively loose fit of the outer race of the inner bearing, same thing I tried the above modification for though I did it primarily so both bearings would share in the axial load. These are both one-piece spindles, 6003 inner bearing. Both have < 0.001" runout at the business end.

- David

[CreekWood]

David,
Thanks for checking; that gives me a lot of assurance that mine is behaving as should be expected. Your mod with set screws is interesting.
Without disassembly, can one tell a one-piece vs two-piece quill shaft? Looking down the barrel, all I see is the inner bearing sitting at 4.25" inside the barrel.
I'll investigate my 520 table play later (gotta get some projects done). I probably should go through the table system alignment again anyway. Something sounds loose, like I failed to lock down all the trunion bolts...and, yes it moves less when tied to the extension table via tubes. In the meantime, drill press precision has already improved....I just have to keep my hands off the table while locating holes.

[DLB]

Without disassembly, can one tell a one-piece vs two-piece quill shaft? Looking down the barrel, all I see is the inner bearing sitting at 4.25" inside the barrel.

There is probably more than one way to tell the difference. But for sure if you can read the 4 digit number on the inner bearing 6002 is one of the two piece versions, most likely the one that can be taken apart with a roll pin. 6003 is the larger bearing from the 'new style' (probably 20+ years of production by now) one-piece spindle. If you can see it well enough, the ID on the 6003 bearing is also slightly larger than the spline diameter and the 6002 ID is a bit smaller than the spline diameter.

- David