Motorized Drill Press Table Lift

Greetings,

I'm interested to see if anyone has come up with a retrofit that will motorize the the rack and pinion crack on a drill press. My specific drill press is the Delta DP-350 which is a benchtop. It has the R&P and I know some floor models do as well.

I'm interested in this as I have low hand and upper body strength and I try and motorize and automate everything I can. I've not figured out how to do this yet although I do have an idea.

My idea would be to use a DC geared reversible motor mounted either on the head of the drill press or to the base that had a heavy duty flexible drive shaft with appropriate couplings from the motor shaft to the keyed shaft that the R&P handle fits on. That, and a switch mounted up on the head.

Seems simple in my head but I don't know what sort of motor and DC control to look for (it would need to be high torque VERY low RPM). And I'm don't know where to look for the coupling shaft.

I'd appreciate any ideas you have on this. Please post or email " snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com" if so,

Reply to
kcleere
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What about mounting a geared-down motor right to the table where the hand-crank would go? That way you wouldn't need the flexible shaft.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Friesen

I drilled and mounted a 5/8" nut to the shaft that the crank handle mounts on. I did this because my auxiliary table interfered with the crank. Now I can use a socket and ratchet or speed handle. I might try to use my 1/2" right angle, reversible drill with an adapter to fit the socket. Thanks for the idea to power it.

Look at

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one has the ability to be changed to low speed, high torque by reversing the right angle adapter. Mount it to under the table and it would be very accessible.

They would probably be cheaper and easier to adapt than any other type of drive system.

Let us know how you make out.

Frank

Reply to
Frank K.

I think the site onlinereviews did a review of a counter weight system that allows you to move the table with a minimal amount of effort.

Also I would think an air cylinder could be used to raise and lower the table directly.

Alan

Reply to
arw01

the the rack and pinion crack on a drill press.

I don't have a rack & pinion system on my DP, so I recently added a cable (attached to the table) and a pulley (attached near the motor) with some barbell weights on the other end of the cable to counterweight the table. Not quite perfect, but a heck of a lot easier than heaving up the table + auxiliary table + fence + clamps, and trying to have a soft touch with that. Anyway, one of the things a friend suggested when I was working on that was to get a winch from a boat trailer or come-a-long, and then do the same pulley-cable thing I did. From there it wouldn't be too hard to motorize the winch or buy a motorized one, but even without a motor, a winch handle or come-a-long should be easier to move than the little handle on your R&P. Good luck, Andy

Reply to
Andy

home machinist volume 18 number3 page 24 shows a drill press with a satelite positioner or linear actuator used to raise a delta drill press table, looks very easy to do Brian

Reply to
brian c

Not motorized, but Ken has a counter weight on his DP.. might be worth a look..

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also used a trailer jack... interesting idea!

Mac

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Reply to
mac davis

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