Lifting drill press table questions

Re: Lifting drill press table questions

Jerry Nicholson

Several years ago I adapted a trailer jack from Harbor Freight to move the table on my old Craftsman drill press up and down. I don't know if a similar jack is available now or not.

Jerry

Re: Lifting drill press table questions

Larry verhff

I have one of the Craftsman drill presses and pretty much like it, in other words it allways does what I want. I got one of the trailer jacks from harbor and it works well after the second one I bought. The first one I bought one I bought, lasted about 7 months and it pretty much twised itself apart. It just wasn't built very heavy enough. So I went and bought the next heavyest jack they had. So got it home and took it apart redid it somewhat and greased it up a little put it back together and it doing good since and that's been something like 4 years. Larry in Northwest Ohio

Re: Lifting drill press table questions

Ron in Sterling, CT

I saw a video on You Tube about a year ago about using a trailer jack from Harbor Fright. Might give you some insight.

Ron

add a counter weight

Dick Coers

Re: Lifting drill press table questions

Jerry Nicholson

I have been using my Harbor Freight jack on my old DP for about 20 years.

Jerry

Clever!

Hidden counterweight

Henry Higginbotham

I had the same problem (extra weight) whenever I used a vise or right-angle fixture or such. I bought a length of steel round, the largest that would slide inside the drill press column, and of a length based on what table elevations I was likely to use.

I cobbled together a frame with two pulleys and mounted it as best I could (I think that's what the extension toward the front is all about--that's where there was an existing bolt I could anchor to.). The round wood piece is a flanged cover on top of the column, and you can just barely see the 1/16" wire rope going through it and down to an eye in the steel round. The other end runs down the back outside of the column and ties off as seen in the second picture.

The length of the steel round limits how low the table can go before the round hits the flanged wooden cap, but so far (5 years?) I've never needed to lower the table beyond that anyway. A lead cylinder would afford more travel if you could find or make one, since it could be shorter.

Re: Hidden counterweight

Michael van pelt

Thanks guys for greta suggestions. My woodworking buddy owns a machine shop. I believe we can solve the problem. Again thank=you!

Re: Hidden counterweight

Bruce, a MN Galoot

That is a great, unobtrusive solution to the same problem I have. Thanks for posting.

Re: Hidden counterweight

Henry Higginbotham

Whatever you end up doing, please report back with pictures and your assessment of how well it works.

Re: add a counter weight

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

I have a counter weight as well. It runs down the shaft of the pillar.

There is a kit available in OZ. I installed it many years ago ...

Link: https://www.timbecon.com.au/drilling/drill-presses-accessories/drill-press-easy-riser-kit

This has a picture of the parts.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Is that enough weight?

Henry Higginbotham

By my calculations, the counterweight in that kit would weigh a bit over 8 pounds. The one I used (see below) weighed, IIRC, 27 pounds, and it just about balances the table on an old 15" Rockwell with no fancy auxiliary tables, vises, or such.

Granted, 8 pounds of help is 8 pounds of help.

Re: add a counter weight

William Duffield

The OZ setup, with 2 cables supporting the table, has a 2 to 1 mechanical advantage, so it counterbalances 16 lbs. Your setup lifts the table with only one cable, so it counterbalances 27 lbs. Both setups are very clever, especially with the hiding of the counterweight inside the column.

I have another problem, which makes the "weight inside column" method impractical. I have several different auxiliary tables that mount on the drill press. For example, one is flat MDF with a fence, a bunch of dog holes and a couple of t-tracks. There are also a milling table, a cross slide vise, an angle vise, a setup for drilling into the ends of long, thin stock, etc. There is a substantial difference in weight among them. So, it makes sense for my situation to hang the weight outside the column so I can add and subtract weights when I change the weight of the table.

These are great ideas, and I'll use them to work out a personal solution. Thanks, everyone.

You have a Rockwell Drill press?

Barry Irby

I thought I was the only one. I bought it and my TS, Shaper, and Jointer in the very early 70's. Also have a 6" grinder with a cross slide on it to sharpen tools. I would have to look, but some of them may say Delta/Rockwell.

I am wondering about that counter weight inside the column. I have about forty pounds of plumber's lead in five pound blocks. This may be what I was saving it for. Now if I just had a way to cast it into a cylinder.

Re: You have a Rockwell Drill press?

Henry Higginbotham

I assume you were replying to me, as William didn't mention Rockwell.

I actually have two Rockwell drill presses--a 15-350 (with the counterbalance) and a 15-081. I expect to sell both once I finish refurbishing a 20" Clausing that's currently sitting in pieces. I'll also still have an Asian Powermatic, an old King-Seely Craftsman, and a really sweet Record RPD 12. It's a disease, I guess.

Back in the '50s, my father and his fishing buddy once set up in the back yard and melted a bunch of scrap lead, which they poured into whatever was handy that looked vaguely like it might make a boat anchor. I was about 6, but I seem to remember they had a fire underneath and a couple of blow torches above. Probably not EPA-approved and may have contributed to my drillpressius nervosa.

Re: You have a Rockwell Drill press?

John in NM

You need my old South Bend that I left with a friend in Tucson last time I moved. Only one I ever saw, should have kept it!

I have a Rockwell too, a 17-600. Nice drill press.

Mine lacks....

Barry Irby

anything to help with the raising and lowering of the table. No trunnion, nothing.

I have thought for a long time about adding a counter weight, but I never thought of dropping it down the center column. Things that make you go Hmmm?

I was moving mine and lost control of it and it fell and broke the yoke that goes around the column. Took it to a machinist and he welded it back together and trued it up. Work as well (or bad) as ever. I thought that might be the end of it, but it carries on.

I bought a new Delta recently at auction but it got such bad reviews, I sold it and kept the one I have had for all these years.

Re: Mine lacks....

John in NM

I would look for a steel slug for a counterweight. There has to be an industrial supplier around your area that could provide one. Doesn't even need to be round, a square would do so long as it fit inside the column.

Lead is appealing, but it'll take a lot of heat to melt your 40#'s and then you need a melt pot and mold of some kind - bit of pipe cut in half for example. You might find a hobby caster in your area who could help you out. One place to look for a hobbyist is castboolits.gunloads.com/. Bullet casting is remarkably popular, and a lot of those guys are pretty friendly and willing to help out. Might have to trade away some lead though

Re: You have a Rockwell Drill press?

CharlieL

I have a Rockwell 9" Contractor's table saw that I luv. It's about the size of todays job site table saws, but American made and mostly made of steel, it doesn't take up much room in my small hobby shop.

Re: Hidden counterweight

Alan Schaffter

I've got a number of issues with my Delta-

• As discussed here, the table is too heavy

• The elevation crank is located in an awkward location

• The crank is hard to turn- I suspect it has buggered pinion gears

• Even with a 4" extension on the table collar lock handle, it is still is a pain to lock and unlock the table

• Since there is a lot of play in the column-mounted rack gear, after lowering or raising the table, the work and the bit were never aligned the same- a real pain if you are changing bits to drill a deeper or concentric hole.

I came up with with a system to solve all these problem that requires just a few mods.

First I used a counter-weight system like a few of you are considering. If you plan to do that, you need to remember that to reduce the need for a large counterbalance weight (especially if you want the table neutrally balanced) you'll need a weight that is half the weight of the table and a 2 to 1 pulley arrangement. However, you'll likely end up with a long weight (mounted inside the column or not) so you will limit the vertical travel of the table since the counterweight must travel twice as far as the table. On my Delta that equates to about a maximum of 25" of table travel- fine for most projects, but questionable if trying to drill a hole in the end of a table leg.

I planned a couple of other mods to improve the ability of the table collar to slide on the column:

• Remove the existing rack and pinion crank assembly

• Remove the column-mounted rack and replace it with a specially designed rail.

• Disable the existing table lock (spacer and bolt)

• Totally change the design of the table lock

• Locking/unlocking and lifting the table would be done using a simple lever mounted at the front of the table.

• Regardless of elevation, once the table is locked, a bit would always precisely align with the same spot on the table. (For offset drilling the headstock is rotated- which what I do now anyway.)

I had planned to attempt to license my design but was discouraged when I thought more about it. It would be difficult to sell as an after-market modification kit, if I could even find a manufacturer, since there are too many different drill presses on the market, requiring too many different mod kits. I would need to deal with one of the usual suspects. Although it would be a totally different table it would be part of a larger machine and unlike stand-alone products like the I-BOX and Lock Miter Master. Negotiating royalties could have been tough. I haven't decided whether to publish any more details.

I like this and might add,

Keith Newton

You could easily add another block where your fastened to the table, then go back up to the top to tie off for a 2-1 ratio.

But it doesn’t have to end there. You could add another block and come back down for a 3-1 ratio. I’d suggest using a jamb cleat, with plenty of extra nylon line that would allow you to drop on down without having the tag end run out through the blocks.