Drill press table counterweight.

Re: Drill press table counterweight.

Is that a defenestrated sash weight?

1018 Cold rolled steel.

Defenestrated to the scrap bin from some machine shop job pre 2003...

If you want to reinvent the wheel

I added a counterweight to this Delta a few years ago, but hid the weight in the column. 2-1/2" steel round, I think. It works well except that to get the necessary weight the round had to be longer than would have been ideal, and this limits the table travel. So far, I've never needed to lower the table beyond that limit, but if I were to do it over I'd probably just go with the way you did it. It may be a bit hard to figure what you're looking at, but the round plywood plug is covering the top of the column.

Re: Drill press table counterweight.

My previous drill press (sold about 4 or 5 years ago and replaced with a Voyager), was modified in this way. The weight ran down the steel column, and so was invisible. It worked well at the start, so much so, that I removed the winding mechanism. Over time, however, it became stiffer and, in spite of constant cleaning, would regress enough that it was not pleasant to adjust. Of course I had lost the winder mechanism by them (well, I had it for 25 years). The small amount of adjustment height needed each time was enough to put up with it.

But this was the primary reason I finally tired of the drill press and upgraded it. Moral of the story - winders rule. Virgil, in your situation find one to add on.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Drill press table counterweight.

I have the same drill press and raising the table is a pain.  I've often thought of adding a counterweight, but I have no welder and have no real idea of how much weight is needed... I'm interested in these questions and other solutions to this poorly designed problem.  Thanks to all -Howard

Re: Drill press table counterweight.

Many years ago I found some five pound blocks of lead on the roof of a house I was inspecting.  They had obviously been in the weather a long time, abandoned, so I asked the seller if I could have them.  Years later I decided to use them as counterweights on my Delta Rockwell DP.  Attached a pulley to the motor mount frame and threaded the 1/8" cable around the bolt that secures the table to the column, up and over the pulley, down to the weights.  No welding required.  Drilled a hole through the lead and ended up stacking up four of them (20 lbs) and the table seems to have neutral buoyancy.  A wonderful thing.  I also polished up the column with some 400 grit sandpaper and waxed it.  Big improvement.  

Yours looks great.  The main point to my decertation is that its fairly easy to do without welding, which I can't do.

Re: Drill press table counterweight.

Howard, I would think that a suitable bracket to hold the pulley could be made from laminating layers of hardwood or from suitable plywood. Glue and screw fabrication and bolted (sandwiched to the column) The pulley bolt could be all thread rod.?. The pulley..? Maybe a garage door cable pulley? The weight is only 25 lbs or so. I could have done this 35 years ago but was not motivated until now. 

Re: If you want to reinvent the wheel

I was too lazy to consider this style of modification. It took a long time to get motivated do my hack.

Re: Drill press table counterweight.

I have the same old Craftsman.  I solved the problem with a trailer jack from Harbor Freight. I found one of the pictures from 2003.

Re: How Much Weight?

I have a few different accessories I attach to my drill press table. The heaviest is a milling table to which I sometimes add a vise. The weight of the work being drilled also can vary a lot. For example, I've drilled mortises in 6x6 lamp posts. Therefore, the in-post weight doesn't work for me. I might suggest a design methodology that might work for some of us: Go to your local gym and study the methods built into their weight lifting machines to easily and quickly change the counterweight. Different machines use different methods, so see if you can find one that you can easily adapt to the scrap you have in your shop.

Another picture from 2003

Sorry - not a very high quality picture.

Re: How Much Weight?

The 2" diameter steel rod I used  is 16#. It is lighter than the table. When I need to drill anything heavy I use the mill so once I get a satisfactory weight I don't see the need to adjust it. I plan on clamping steel chunks to the rod until I get the desired weight. Then either get a heavier piece of steel or weld on this one.