I need advice on my options for upgrading my drill press

[kingav120]

I have have the 8 in cheap Harbor freight benchtop press. I recently extended the column bc I was having problems with my jig fitting on my xy table with a vise. I want to upgrade my spindle, arbor and everything but I am new to this and don't even know where to begin. How do I figure out what spindles and arbors and everything are even compatible? I would really appreciate some advice/help

[Sleykin]

I don't think you can buy any off-the-shelf upgrades. I think any upgrades you could do would cost more than a bigger machine.

[th62]

Arbors are Morse Tapers, MT2, MT3, MT4 and so on, but why do you want to upgrade it? The other end of the arbor that fits in the drill chuck is usually Jacobs Taper, JT6, JT3, etc, or B10, B16, etc. MTs are sized to suit the spindle and spindles are sized to suit the drill press body.
You can't 'upgrade' them, assuming you want a bigger diameter spindle, or longer stroke, the only way you can upsize that is to buy a bigger drill press, same for an MT. If the column is too short, you can extend the column, that's an easy job, but realistically you'd be better off upgrading to a pedestal drill.

[motorhead]

Take the arbor to a tool store and buy one tha will allow you to mount a smaller)larger chuck. Add a a DRO of some sort. I drilled and tapped the front of the head on mine and installed a locking device so I can bring the bit down to the work and hold it there during set up. I also added a 18 inch x 18 inch .375 th plate to the table to gain some more surface area. I drilled holes for threading every inch. I then numbered the ensuing grid.