Advice on quietening my Boxford Union Drill

[mikej460]

I've posted a couple of times on my recent purchase of a Boxford PD4 Union Drill Press which, after a bit of fettling, I am very pleased with. However there is still a bit of noise and I would appreciate some advice on how to resolve it. Here is a short video of it with belt attached:

I would add that the motor is pulled quite a way out on its trunnions which I suspect is due to the belt being too long as it looks in good condition. This video is with the belt removed and there is some noise from the motor and when running down after switching off:

There is slight play in the quill which I thought might be the chuck but it's still there with the chuck removed. I'm not sure if this is acceptable play or not?

 

[Sandyn]

I'm not familiar with that machine, but are the pulleys tight on the shafts? does the noise reduce when you load the drill?

 

[mikej460]

Yes the pulleys are tight. I'll double check tomorrow if it's any noisier under load.

 

[mikej460]

I tested it under load and the noise was exactly the same so I looked again at the belt and noticed it was sitting proud. in the pulleys. I have always wondered if this belt was just an old fan belt or the like, so I had a rummage and found a toothed belt I had on my tractor. It was a bit too long so I pulled the motor all the way out and it was a lot quieter so belt is causing most of the noise and the rest sounds like the metal cover is resonating. I then measured out the required size by pushing the motor all the way in and using a length of string it measured at 1127mm long by 12mm wide with the belt narrowing to 3mm (just off the bottom of the pulley. Can anyone recommend a good replacement?

 

[Sandyn]

Are you sure that is the correct length? it might be too short and would be difficult to fit the belt. You need a bit of slack to fit the belt, then adjust to the correct tension. According to Lathes.co.uk it should take a standard A section belt, these are easy to source in different lengths example here (no idea if those are good quality) I would look again at the belt length. There is a calculator here. worth trying.

 

[mikej460]

Are you sure that is the correct length? it might be too short and would be difficult to fit the belt. You need a bit of slack to fit the belt, then adjust to the correct tension. According to Lathes.co.uk it should take a standard A section belt, these are easy to source in different lengths example here (no idea if those are good quality) I would look again at the belt length. There is a calculator here. worth trying.

Many thanks. I pulled the motor out by 20mm and entered the details into the calculator and it came back as 1138mm OD so I bought this AX43 Cogged V Belt (Dunlop) - BearingBoys

 

[Sandyn]

I hope that sorts the problem and you have a lovely quiet drill.

 

[mikej460]

New toothed belt fitted today.. Aw yes!
It may sound overly loud (it does through my headphones anyway (wife watching Master Chef) but in reality for an old drill press it's as smooth as it gets to me.