Let’s see where were we.  Oh yeah I called Shop Fox and I found out that shop fox does not handle their parts they gave me the info on the company that does.  I gave them a call and they were pleasant to deal with.  They helped me with ordering the part.  They only had three left in stock, so I ordered two.  If I didn't order the second part the 1st part would fail, and I would not be able to order a replacement part.  That’s just how my luck rolls.

The part got to my house in 5 days shipped UPS Ground.  I opened up the box and pulled out the bag.  I took out the two spindles and compared them with the original.  Everything matched so I proceeded with the repair. I took one of the two new spindles and set it aside.  The other I put back in the bag and put a little motor oil in the bag and made sure the spindle was covered.  I then sealed the bag. I think that this would do a good job of preventing the part from rusting.  I had already taken the small spindle out of the spindle holder I lubed up the new spindle.  I placed the spindle holder in my face vice and hammered the spindle into the bearing.  When I did this, the top bearing (located on the bottom the spindle is upside down in the vise).  I was not able to get the bearing in easily.

I had to devise a way to reseat the bearing.  My solution was to drill a hole in an MDF block for the shaft to slip through.  I used my face vice like a hydraulic press squeezing and tapping the bearing into place.  This worked.  Once the spindle and bearing were back in place, I could reinsert the clip ring; the clip went on with no problem now that I had the right spindle.

Inserting the spindle assembly back in the press was pretty straightforward.  I attached the spring and gave the handle a try.  I did not have enough tension on the spring to lift the assembly back up after lowering it.  I tightened up the spring and all good. 

I powered up the drill press and hooray a working drill press.  I did without a drill press for quite some time before I bought this press.  Now that I own a drill press it was really difficult to do with out...

I was working on a 35mm lens adapter for a short film I was working on called Two of Hearts.  A romantic comedy about four poker playing friends.  As I was working on the adapter, I was using a drum sander on my shop fox 16-speed bench top drill press to sand a PVC fitting.  I was in a hurry because production was two days away, and I needed to get the adapter up and running as soon as possible.  I was sanding pretty aggressively at high speed and had the drill press table down and was sanding pushing somewhat hard and the chuck and arbor fell out of the spindle.  The chuck and arbor got caught between table and the spindle bending the spindle by the bearing and scaring the crap out of me.

I called grizzly to order the part and customer service was very helpful.  Going back and fourth between the tech people and customer service, we were able to track down a part from another drill press that would work with my machine.  I bought my drill press last summer and have not had it for a year.  So, I was a little surprised that they were no longer making the drill press, and even more suprising, that parts were no longer available.  I just hope nothing else breaks because I might not be able to get parts.

The shipping was straightforward and came to my house in a couple of days.  The part that they sent looked like it would work with my drill press, and was packed in a plastic bag.  I pulled out the part and it looked like it would work in my drill press.

So, I went ahead and started the repair.  I got out my manual, which had the exploded diagram.  I like to think that I am a pretty technical kind of guy.  It took me a while to find the best way to take this thing apart. I realized that taking out the arm assembly first was the best way to go. I undid the screw and removed the spring.  Once the spring and nut were removed the arm assembly slid right out. Leaving the main shaft only being held in place by the depth adjustment screw, once removed the assembly came right out.Removing the spindle from didn't seem difficult but I needed to get the ring clip off the shaft.  I did not have ring-removing pliers so it was off to the big box store.

I had a hard time finding the tool but when I did I treated my self to a foot long hoagie (sub sandwich to the rest of you).

When I returned I was able to get the clip off no problem, and the spindle came right out.  I sat the two spindles side by side to compare them, and everything matched exeped for the length.  I didcided to try it anyway I put the spindle in the shaft and was not able to get the spring clip back on, and the spindle did not go high egnof in the drill press to engage the pulley.

So now what are my options.  Well according to Grizzly I should try calling shop fox directly,  and that's what I did.  So I will leave it there for this week.  Yes this is a two parter.   ( In Batman announcer voice) So tune in next week for the exiting conclusion of My Drill Press Repair! On this woodworking Blog! At the Same Woodworking Time

I bought some goodies yesterday from Rockler.  I used the Rockler Gift Card I won from doing the 2009 Fall Build Challenge.  the sawdustcronicals.com  I bought a combo water stone 1000/6000 ( was reading around and people are saying that this is a good grit to start with, if you can only afford one),  and a jig to hold the blades while I give honing a try.  I also got a nice Shop Dust Collection Expandable hose and a good system for hooking it up to my machines.  Lets face it, looks really neat. it expands from a couple of feet to clear across my tiny shop.  Now if I just could afford a dust collector.