[Alan Sweet]

I have a Grizzly floor drill press (G7944) that I have had for about 5 years. I like it. Over the years it has drifted out of true. over a reasonable distance, the drill and table top must be out of square.

I've called Grizzly tech to try and square it up. They were not that much help. But I need to break loose a huge bolt under the table (See pic). This would allow me to correct for left/right tilt. (Getting to bolt is a real pain. Very little space for any type of wrench.)

Next I need to adjust for some front/back lean. I don't seen any adjustment for that. Any ideas?

 

[Dave Paine]

The bolts which mount the table to the post collar are big and may have been tightened by a gorilla, or the bolt seized over time with the same effect. You need the specific wrench to fit and a LOT of muscle.

Even if you are able to get the bolt loose, you are faced with trying to shim in the small area where the table swivels.

If you have the space, and likely do have since you mentioned floor standing, I would make a table top to mount on the table which can have screws to level. If any further movement, you want to be easily able to adjust.

Kenbo has a good thread on building a drill press table. He wanted to be able to drill angled holes without moving the table, so he knows how much of a PITA it is to swivel the table and then get it true again.

I think making such a table top may be a lot easier in the long run, and allow for more functionality.

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/drill-press-table-50222/

 

[woodnthings]

I see a small set screw by the bolt

That may be the adjustment for level, I donno?
See post by handy-dan:
http://community.woodmagazine.com/t5/Tools-and-Tool-Buying/How-to-level-a-drill-press/td-p/320517

I've never seen nor heard of shims to level a drill press table. Usually there is just a large, bored hole on the casting that has been machined perpendicular to the table face.
That bolt head does look difficult to access. Use a high quality wrench when attempting to loosen it , not a cheapie that is sloppy on the fit.
If you round the hex over you are in big trouble. :laughing:
When loosening a bolt, a sharp rap is always better than an increasing pressure applied. A snug fitting wrench and a rap from a dead blow hammer should do.
Grizzly has online PDF manuals and you should look yours up to see how it's designed.
http://cdn0.grizzly.com/manuals/g7944_m.pdf

 

[Alan Sweet]

It is called a location Pin.

I talked to techs about that and i got ...

"Tighten the location pin nut to draw the location
pin out of the hole. Note: The location
pin is friction fit in the hole to lock the table at
0°. When reinstalling, set the table to 0°, back
the nut off, and tap the pin back in the hole."

So I said if it has drifted off of 0° degrees, how do I get it back. They said undo the big bolt and then the small nut and then tap the pin back in and tighten both back up.

What size is the big bolt?.... Long pause, ... "use a crescent." Not enough room. "Then use an open end" What size?... Long pause... "I don't know"... OK have a nice day.

I am seriously thinking about an auxiliary table.

This kind of surprises me, because I know that there are thousands of drill presses out there and I bet there is at least one more than mine whose table needs to be tuned.

 

[woodnthings]

Ok I get it

The table can "tilt" so the location pin is used a t 90 degrees and possibly st 45 degrees to maintain those.
I'd bet that needs a 3/4" open end wrench on a 1/2" bole.... :blink:
Since it's an import, it may also be a 17 mm metric... :blink:
One you loosen the large bolt, find the 90 degree location by applying pressure inwards to the pin until it slips into the hole. Then tighten the bolt. It's meant to be used frequently since the pin the is means of registration, however it is not very easy to get to.

My old Craftsman has the same system for tilting the table.