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,