20" Jet Drill Press Table

[wierdscience]

Ordered in a 20" Jet Drill press for a customer this week. Nothing to write home about, typical China, runs okay, decent power, decent runout, sharp edges everywhere........but the absolute worst table slot layout I have ever seen. I don't know if it was done by the factory, or by Jet, but it is basically useless if you want to bolt a vise down and be able to reposition it easily. Even though this was a 6" vise, only one bolt would ever line up with one slot in any position. I ended up making a subplate with slots.

On the bright side, the vise is a Yost 6D, made in Taiwan and pretty nice.

[vectorwarbirds]

Yep that is one weird slot layout! What the hell are those two parallel ones in the back for? This looks like some CAD cubical guy thought it looked cool never having stepped foot on a shop floor or ever used a drill press.

[redlee]

I had a made in Japan Jet press twas a nice machine, but as most things now its all the same crap.

[Tim Clarke]

I ordered a 20" Jet for work probably 25 years ago, and it had the same worthless t-slot pattern. Looks like they still haven't figured it out.

[vectorwarbirds]

Seems they made different tables, wonder why?

[The Metal Butcher]

That pattern is a copy of the classic Rockwell/Walker-Turner pattern and maybe others. Yes it sucks.

-Not Doozer

[vectorwarbirds]

That pattern is a copy of the classic Rockwell/Walker-Turner pattern and maybe others. Yes it sucks.

-Not Doozer

Not Doozer......that's funny man!

[Doozer]

By balls hurt.

[Paul Alciatore]

That looks EXACTLY like my HF, Central Machinery 20 inch DP. Except for that plastic shield which mine does not have.

The slot pattern is the same and I have not had any trouble using and bolting down a vise on mine.



As to why they have different tables, they are just buying the various models that the Chinese factories offer. Each importer can request different changes to the standard model but those changes will cost $$$. So, unless there is a real reason to change these features, it is probably not done. I suspect that the table slots are in the pattern for the table casting. A new pattern would be needed and that surely will cost $$$. So one model has the stupid X pattern and the other has the parallel slots. These two models may actually come from different Chinese factories so interchanging the tables may not be a simple job. Changing something like the motor or the pulleys is a lot easier. And just adding something, like that plastic shield is dead simple and cheap because nothing else needs to be changed. The chuck is probably another area where a change is easy to make.

Look through the various web sites for Grizzly, Jet, HF, and others and you will see great similarities in the 20" models. And some of them actually have two different 20" models.

Seems they made different tables, wonder why?

[J Tiers]

You guys might want to think about that before you just hate on that setup.....

While I agree about the two at the back, the 4 coming in corner-wise have their uses...

Parallel slots force you to place the vise one direction, unless the slots happen to be spaced to line up with the vise bolting spaces. So you end up with the vise sideways and both bolts in one slot, whether you wanted that or not. Or the vise at a strange angle. My X-Y is at an angle because that is how the base bolts fit the table. It works, but is a bit odd.

Radial slots on a round table, or the corner-wise ones on that table will fit almost any spacing somewhere along them, so long as it is at least the minimum space between slots. You can have it straight in, cornerwise either way, or straight in the other way. You can put the bolts in the nearside slot pair, or the far side slot pair, and nearly any square setup of bolting spaces should fit.

There are more options than you might think.

And NO table slot setup will fit every possible arrangement of bolting spaces on a vise or other fixture.

[pinstripe]

Maybe intended for use with something similar to this?

[challenger]

That looks EXACTLY like my HF, Central Machinery 20 inch DP. Except for that plastic shield which mine does not have.

The slot pattern is the same and I have not had any trouble using and bolting down a vise on mine.



As to why they have different tables, they are just buying the various models that the Chinese factories offer. Each importer can request different changes to the standard model but those changes will cost $$$. So, unless there is a real reason to change these features, it is probably not done. I suspect that the table slots are in the pattern for the table casting. A new pattern would be needed and that surely will cost $$$. So one model has the stupid X pattern and the other has the parallel slots. These two models may actually come from different Chinese factories so interchanging the tables may not be a simple job. Changing something like the motor or the pulleys is a lot easier. And just adding something, like that plastic shield is dead simple and cheap because nothing else needs to be changed. The chuck is probably another area where a change is easy to make.

Look through the various web sites for Grizzly, Jet, HF, and others and you will see great similarities in the 20" models. And some of them actually have two different 20" models.

Throw that POS out in the road...

[Doozer]

Round tables that swing and spin are the best.
You can bolt down a vise and leave it there, and
just line up the pinch mark with the bit by moving
the table.

-Doozer

[Doozer]

Just like this round table.
Clamp the work anywhere
and move the table to line up
the punch mark.

-D

[The Metal Butcher]

Yep that is one weird slot layout! What the hell are those two parallel ones in the back for? This looks like some CAD cubical guy thought it looked cool never having stepped foot on a shop floor or ever used a drill press.

So yeah, to reiterate in a slightly less Doozer-esque post, that table design is old as dirt. I don't understand the reason for it either, you'd have to ask some real old timer why they did that and he might not even know. Definitely not a Chinese dumbass inventing something dumb, just copying. Here is a pic of Dad's Rockwell probably from the 60s, though this model is a copy/continuation of the Walker Turner model dating back to the 40s or before. As you can see, the slots are exactly the same.



It's not very useful at all if you try to bolt a vise directly down. But, if you use hold down clamps, especially on long stock out the side, it's pretty useful. That may be what the two rear ones are for. Having hold down clamps directly to the right and the left of the drill hole. In fact I'd bet money on it now that I'm thinking about it.

Just like this round table.
Clamp the work anywhere
and move the table to line up
the punch mark.

-D

I have to agree with Doozer that a round table is the best for exactly that reason. The disadvantage is that they usually aren't seen with coolant trays, although there is no reason why they can't. The one on my Royersford has a bit too much sticktion to line it up perfectly by spinning the table, so I tend to center drill my precise hole location on the Bridgeport or whatever, then rough center it by spinning the table, loosen the vise and use a 60 center to bump it inline. And that's close enough for any large drilling work.

Also worth trying is a simple rotation-stopper.