Need some ideas on modifying an old Drill Press

[Nemo]

Hi, Jim,

Make a collar from, say, 1"x1/8" mild steel stock that fits around the top of the column. Use a thumbscrew to tighten it so you can swing it round if you need to. Attach a length of bike chain to the collar. Weld/braze/silver solder a derailleur sprocket to a shaft. Make up a yoke that attaches to the drill table. Mount the sprocket inside the yoke. Pin a crank or handwheel to the end of the shaft.

The tidiest way would be with the chain lying flat against the column but you might have to extend the sprocket shaft a ways in order to clear the table or clamp. Alternatively, hang the chain with the rivets radial to the column and mount your yoke to the side of the table clamp. You'll need a guide inside the yoke to hold the chain against the sprocket, and a smooth outflow so the chain doesn't hang up when you're lowering the table.

Good luck!

Nemo

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[Kevin(Bluey)]

). It a great tool but has one problem, there is no crank to raise

This seems to be a good Idea ,probably easy to make your self.

[RonB]

That was probably me and I posted pictures on the binaries woodworking site too. That worked pretty well until I put a heavy woodworking table on the drill press then it go hard to handle again. Also the bungees stretch over time making periodic replacement necessary.

I saw a separate post with pictures of a solution using a simple trailer tongue jack. The fellow mounted the jack beneath the table on a block that put the jacing range within the usual adjustment range for the table. He also kept a second block near by for higher adjustments. This gets you closer to the ease of a cranking table adjustment and it won't drop if you let go.

RonB

[DanG]

I had a Rockwell that had the same problem. I installed a pulley back at the motor above the table clamp's back bolt. I used a piece of wire rope fastened to the bolt on the back of the table clamp, over the pulley, to a piece of pvc pipe (4" as I recall) that I filled with melted wheel weights. Play around with quantity of lead until you find a reasonable counterbalance to the weight of the table. I had made a large table top with built in "rip guide" so it took a lot of weight. It worked fairly well, but when I replaced the dp I made sure I did get a crank up table set up.

[Just Wondering]

). It a great tool but has one problem, there is no crank to raise

Could you just put an automotive scissors jack under the table?

[Stuart]

However the above is useless because: 1) Mine has a solid 2.3/4"diameter column 2) That weight looks no where near heavy enough. Especially with the large compound table and 6" machine vice on top.

Drill press is a very old "Progress" floor stander I picked up on ebay for 56 quid.

[Stuart]

I been looking for a way to arrange that too but it needs a lift travel of around 2'6"

[Lew Hodgett]

-------------------------------- "Stuart" wrote:

-------------------------------- Two approaches come to mind.

1) A hydraulic jack and a series of interlocking shoring blocks that are about 4"-6" tall or whatever the jack stroke is.

A little slow but it will get the job done.

2) An automotive bumper jack (AKA: Suicide jack), the kind that hooked on the fender. Basically a screw jack that is maybe 30" long.

#1 would be safer IMHO.

Lew

[clare]

A wimsheild wiper motor geared (chain drive) to the handcrank rack and pinion originally installed.

[CW]

The lack of rack and pinion is the problem. Many drill presses used to be made its way.

[Stuart]

Indeed and that is the problem.

[jtpr]

Thanks all.

I did come up with an idea, abeit a slow process. I took a piece of pipe with a flange on the top that will go under the table. Then I run a threaded rod inside of it. On the bottom of the threaded rod I put a washer larger then the OD of the pipe and a nut below it. I mount the bottom of the threaded rod to a 4x4 to raise it up. By running the nut up and down the threaded rod I lift the pipe and table up and down. Now if I could just find a very course thread rod and nut.

-Jim

[basilisk]

>> ).  It a great tool but has one problem, there is no crank to raise

[knuttle]

Have you tried your local hardware store or big box store. They have several sizes of rod with thread sizes nearly the same as pipe thread.

[Stuart]

The easyriser is useless to me because my drill has a 2-3/4" D /solid/ column and that weight doesn't look heavy enough but your suggestion has given me an idea. I wonder if something like this:

be modified in some way to work

[clare]

Put a boat winch on the top of the prill-press post and hook the cable to the table - or better yet put the winch at the bottom, and a pulley at the top.

[Morgans]

wrote

Good idea! I may use that!

I didn't know you hung out on this group! Good to see you over here.