Drill press table - ideas?

[JollyJim]

Hi everyone

I have a bench mounted drill press which I use a lot. It's the type that has a post without
the 'teeth' on it , therefore adjustment has to be made via the clamp. I've always found this
quite difficult but having had a recent accident with my right hand, it's become more of a problem
to the point where I am shying away from the drill press and finding other ways to drill, which
I really don't want to do.

Has anyone built or seen a home-made table that rises and falls with a rotational handle, lever
or whatever ? I've seen these on Youtube but they all use the 'teeth' on the post.

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated - thanks

Best wishes - Jim

 

[wm460]

Easy Riser (if they are still around . . . .) Easy Riser' Drill Press Conversion Kit | Online Tool Reviews

 

[wm460]

Still available in Aust.

https://www.timbecon.com.au/drill-press-easy-riser-kit

 

[flexi]

A bit Heath Robinson but what about a squeeze clamp/spreader fixed between the table and the base??
I use Wolf clamps for their proper jobs but you might be able to convert......the only thing which does spring to mind is that the non toothed presses use the pinch clamp not only to rise and lower the table but to also secure it too, so this will have to be slackened and tightened still

 

[JollyJim]

Hi chaps and thanks for replying.....

Mark(Australia)... I had a look at that but coud'nt find it in UK but I
don't think it's what I want as I am trying to get away from the
table that it comes with, but, thanks again.

Mark(Kent) ....again, thanks...not exactly what I had in mind, but it
made me think and I had a look round and came up with this :-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminum-Router-Lift-Table-Adjust-Woodworking-Engraving-Lab-Lifting-Stand-Rack/233312208389?hash=item36527dc605:g:GkIAAOSwX7BdUp7e[/url]

and do away with the unwieldy standard table and build my own on top of
this contraption. It looks like it might be a bit wobbly, but I can prob
get some sort of steadying device. Also it would give me the
basis for a depth control which I don't currently have. Anyway,
it's not an awful lot of dosh and if it does'nt do this successfully, it
will find another use. So, I wonder if you've got any thoughts on
this idea....and thanks for giving me a direction

Best wishes - Jim

 

[flexi]

Hi Jim, I just had a quick Google and that looks a good compromise/idea in fact it's giving me other ideas

 

[Bill Mooney]

Adapt a small bottle jack to lift & lower the table.

 

[Penpal]

These drill presses are legendary ,more mods than most have been applied. I do remember wrestling with the best and worst of them. In my workshop i generally have settled for dedicated presses to overcome my problems,in normal circumstances they should last a lifetime,then it comes down to space,footprint allocation as well.One of the surprises of my life came from the simple lightweight Dremel press to find great advantage using tiny drills easily and well.

Peter.

 

[JollyJim]

Thanks Mark - all ideas are worth sharing...

Thanks Bill - I had'nt thought of that. It's maybe an alternative, I'll keep it in mind

Thanks Peter - I just read in one of your other posts about 'the design
of mathcboxes' and how it made you consider other designs....my continuing
wonder is the power of the simple thread - just amazing.


Thanks all.I think I'll order the table anyway and see where I get to but
Bill's idea could be very usable....I'll let you know

Cheers - Jim

 

[Dalboy]

Looking at the lift I think I would go with Bill's idea of a jack and keep the original table. Stability would be an issue and trying to cure it will be a bigger problem than you have now

 

[Lons]

That lift is small and looks very flimsy so I seriously doubt it will cope with pressure of drilling and will just collapse, that said it's a pretty simple contraption and the design would be easy enough to copy using steel angle / bars to anyone with basic skill and a few tools. I could fancy having a go at that for mine but as I already have an unused small jack I might give that a go on my old Meddings drill first

I'd agree with Bill and Derek and retain the existing table for stability and use the smallest bottle jack you can find, there are loads at less than a tenner so not much lost to try. The main issue I can see is that it will raise the table by the height of the jack so probably 6 - 8" loss of travel.

 

[Penpal]

The thing this raised was just how I have forgotten over time the method of recalling previous pics. I have and use a really HD Taiwan Mill Drill I have modified no end.And a large floor model Radial Drill that I do most of my work on. I am getting less able to wrestle adjustments on these drills. The most disturbing feature of the big mill drill was the holding,locking method in the original two flat sided steell locking plates. I reefed them out and fitted two half moon shaped ones for a definite clamping lock on the Quill..

In conclusion I am in debt to Engineering,Model and full size sites for the number of brilliant ways to achieve better mousetraps.

Kind regards Peter.

 

[JollyJim]

Thanks everyone for your input,

I rather think that the table is going to be a bit unstable but I've already
ordered it and I'll see how it is when I get it,
In the meantime, I've checked on bottle jacks on eBay and it seems I can get
any number for £7 or so. They stand just under 6 inches at their lowest
and if I go that way, there's probably no problem in making a base
for the pillar drill that is 6 inches hign so that the jack can 'hang'
off the back on the worktop thus avoiding losing drilling height.

Either way, I'll let you know how it gets on and, Peter,
all you need for a brilliant mousetrap is a hacksaw blade
and a piece of cheese !!!

Best wishes - Jim

 

[Phil Dart]

I like the sound of Bill's idea too - great thinking.

Not sure stability comes into it Derek. My understanding is that the table rises up a pillar, but that the pillar has no teeth on it - the table just clamps on. Muscle over gravity or gravity over muscle. Bill's jack sorts that and fine tunes the table height. Is that right Jim?

 

[JollyJim]

Hi Phil and thanks for your post...

Yes, I think that is exactly what Bill means and the more I think about it, the more the idea appeals. I think I might just order
the jack anyway cos, the item that does'nt get used might then become the basis for a pen press!!! Your comment ' Muscle over gravity or
gravity over muscle'....in my case, it's the latter. I find trying to adjust the table up or down is absolutely cumbersome
and to try to get it to an accurate postition is nigh on impossible even with a good right hand. I am somewhat surprised that
some bright spark has'nt designed a viable system with electric lift and swing using it's own table rather than the original.
I would'nt have thought that would cost an awful lot to produce and there's possibly a big market !!!! See you on Dragon's Den'!!!

Thanks again Phil, best wishes - Jim


Pen Kits | Pen Blanks | Woodturning Pen kits | Fountain Pen Nibs

 

[Lons]

just as an aside Jim although I'm going to try the jack I rarely adjust the table on my drill press. I have a number of 18mm thick MDF squares, keep the table at a low level and just use however many I need to raise the height of the workpiece to a suitable level.

 

[JollyJim]

HI Bob, thanks for the reply,,,

The MDF sounds a good idea - simplest is best, I'll keep it in mind but if you
are going to try with the jack, please keep us informed of progess, I'll be
more than interested

Thanks again, best wishes - Jim

 

[Bill Mooney]

I used the jack system a few years ago & it solved a problem. As Phil says, the table is clamped around the pillar so is stable when clamped. The problem is getting the table to the right height, once there it can be clamped to the pillar. The jack will do this fine. I hope I’ve got this right Jim.r

 

[Dalboy]

I like the sound of Bill's idea too - great thinking.

Not sure stability comes into it Derek. My understanding is that the table rises up a pillar, but that the pillar has no teeth on it - the table just clamps on. Muscle over gravity or gravity over muscle. Bill's jack sorts that and fine tunes the table height. Is that right Jim?

In post #5 talking about not using the drill table hence my comment about stability

 

[wm460]

Here is another idea, I like very much.

How to make a drill powered drill press table lift - YouTube

couple other ideas.