Drill Press Table Woes

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Miles Baldwin

New User
Miles
Hi All,

After years of trying to drill wood projects on the small cast iron table of my Craftsman drill press I decided to build the table I found here: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Drill_Press_Table/

I had a piece of scrap formica counter top and the rest was scrap maple and a few dollars in hardware.

Unfortunately when I finished the project and set it on my drill press table I found that the table top interferes with the elevation crank. Bummer!

www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/10/medium/0351.JPG
www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/10/medium/033.JPG
www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/10/medium/0321.JPG

It appears that my only option is to extend the shaft on the elevation crank to where it clears the table on the right side. Any other ideas? Where to by the extension shaft (9/16")?

Have a great (COLD!) day!
 
gator

gator

George
Corporate Member
You probably don't want to hear my solution. I notice that you have T-tracks in and all, but when I made mine I made the right side of the table shorter (less deep) by the swing of the crank handle. You could do that but it would shorten the T-track on the right side. I personally think that adding a 12+" extension to the crank would not be a good idea. I think that without proper support, you would have too much (wobble, give, sway, what ever the right word is) in the extension shaft and it would be prone to breaking.

George
 
S

Sully

New User
jay
I saw a similar thing discussed in a WW magazine. The solution was to put an extension on the crank. The extension ran through a wood bracket attached to the back of the table. The bracket was drilled to match the shaft of the extension and supported it to eliminated bending/breaking. Don't remember which magazine it was tho.... :dontknow:

J
 
A

Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
Ok, since Bas is out of the net today, I'll have to respond with the AILW solution myself-

Remove the handle and mount a right angle drive, reversible gear motor, and wire it to a paddle switch. You would just need a coupling. Or if you have a spare 12V battery, use a car window motor from the junk yard:

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M

Miles Baldwin

New User
Miles
Thanks to all you guys for the quick response.

I like Joe's solution best since I seldom use the full depth of the press. I just need to build a substantial enough spacer so the table remains stable.

Cheers,
Miles
 
A

Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
Another AILW solution

All kidding aside, there is another solution I have actually been contemplating and which is somewhere on my long "to-do" list.

Since the crank (rack and pinion) only raises and lowers the table and does not really support it- a separate column lock does that- you really don't need the crank if you counter-balance the table.

(This is not my idea) To do this, remove the crank and pinion gear, connect a cable to the column collar. Add a pulley up near the headstock, run the cable through it to a counter weight (hidden inside the column.) Balance it so the combined weight of the table and add-on table are weight-neutral. Then to easily adjust the table height, unlock it, pull it up or push it down, then re-lock it. :wsmile:
 
M

McRabbet

Re: Another AILW solution

I had the same issue with my drill press table, so I added a pair of t-tracks running from front to back on the underside of the table (I made mine with 2 layers of 1/2" Baltic Birch with tempered hardwoard on top). Those underside track accept the toilet bolts that pass through the cast iron table on the DP itself and I just loosen them enough to pull the table out to clear the crank. Once I have the height I need, I reset my table where I want it and tighten the star knobs securing it to the DP table.

If this isn't clear, I can take some pictures of it and post them.
 
Canuck

Canuck

Wayne
Corporate Member
Miles,

Caution..........Mine ain't pretty!!!!!!!!!!!! But, I ran into the same issue when I finished my table.:kamahlitu:BangHead:

I wacked together this little box that would raise the tabletop enough to give me crank clearance. (Hasn't seemed to impact the table stability at all.)





The knobs in the bottom secure with bolts to the factory table of the DP. The upper two knobs secure the table to the top of the box with toilet bolts sliding in a horizontal piece of T-track that I added to the underside of wooden table.



I threw this together one morning out of frustration (scrap plywood and pocket screws) about 3 years ago and haven't gottn back to it to make it a little nicer looking!:embaresse:embaresse:embaresse But, suffice to say it worked for me!

Maybe you can "build" on the idea.

Wayne
 
Bigdog72

Bigdog72

New User
Geoff
Sully said:
I saw a similar thing discussed in a WW magazine. The solution was to put an extension on the crank. The extension ran through a wood bracket attached to the back of the table. The bracket was drilled to match the shaft of the extension and supported it to eliminated bending/breaking. Don't remember which magazine it was tho.... :dontknow:

J
Click to expand...

Does anyone remember which magazine this was in? I have searched (I remember seeing it) but can't find it.
 
K

Kicbak

New User
Wes
I did a simpler "fix" I cut a 4 point star on my scroll saw from 3/4" maple. Think of it as an oversized knob. The shaft on the dp is rectangle so I made a mortise and knocked it onto the shaft. I can raise and lower my table without it hitting the dp table I made. its not as fast I guess but it isn't something I do everyday.

Wes
 
S

Sully

New User
jay
Bigdog72 said:
Does anyone remember which magazine this was in? I have searched (I remember seeing it) but can't find it.
Click to expand...


Wood Magazine, Issue 188 Dec/Jan 2008/2009 page 18

Unfortunately I don't have a scanner and it doesn't seem to be online.
J
 
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