Thread: Drill press height

I removed the table on my pedestal drill some time ago, made a spigot to fit where the table used to go and welded a small plate to the top. Once done I mounted one of those cheap 4" two way vices. The idea was to swap between the two way vice and table as needed, the table has never seen the light of day since. If I want a table I just clamp a piece of wood or a piece of angle iron in the vice.

I've also extended the handles on everything to make things a little easier. The table comes into it's own when you have a number of holes to drill in a line, makes it a lot quicker.

In case you're wondering, the 90mm PVC tube cut at 4° behind the chuck is a light.

Well, how about that, if you hold down the Alt key and type 0176 on the numeric pad, you get the symbol for degree - °.

another option to consider if you only have a bench drill press is to mount it on the edge of a sturdy bench, then when you wish you had a pedestal (due to daylight under the chuck) you undo the bolt holding the head on the pillar, and swing the head around so the chuck is over the edge of the bench. You then have to resort to blocks, boxes, etc to bring your work piece up to the level, but you can drill bigger items.
I have seen this same concept done with a purpose built "cupboard" under the bench drill base, and the cupboard bolted down. The cupboard gives storage, and the drill head swings over the side if needed.

I currently battle on with a bench drill, but do have a pedestal waiting on the shed build. That pedestal will have a cabinet under the table, with a swarf tray on top, and wheels to straddle the bolt down base. - 90% of my work is bench drill type work, so the cabinet will remain in place for that and give me storage. for the other 10%, the cabinet will roll out, the table swung or lowered further and the job done.

Des

It took some discussion but I got a couple of pictures.
So, as stated, the wheels sit either side of the base, with the removable chip tray under the table so that the chips that fall down/ through can be caught and dumped. The drawers pull out to the side and hold drill related items, with the bottom space for the drill vice and boards.

DSC00242.JPG DSC00243.JPG DSC00244.JPG

for large/ long items it just wheels out from under and it's all good.

Michael

Thanks Michael, I appreciate the photos to compliment the explanation.
Steve

Hi Steve,

I remembered to take a couple of pictures of my bench drill setup. The Fobco has an XY table fastened down to the base.

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Looks like a mill, or a mill/drill. I'd like a smallish one but I just can't shoehorn any more stuff into my workshop. The X/Y table was added after?

Yes the XY table was added because I needed to do some jigs that required coordinate drilling. I did think about milling with it, but thats not wise with a drill chuck on a Jacobs taper.

The drill is a bog standard Fobco Star, 1/2" four speed with 1/2 HP motor. It is actually the last one of four that I bought some years ago. The other three were floor standing and set up for production work. I couldn't get hold of a gang drill at that time so I bought four Fobco's.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions, they're greatly appreciated. I have now decided on a pedestal drill (thanks mainly to Sacc51 ) and I have been checking out the Hitachi B16RM. Does anybody have one, or has used one and can offer any feedback on them? I won't have the opportunity to touch one prior to buying as it will be an online purchase.
Thanks again all,
Steve

Sorry to reply to my own thread, but I have a follow on question about getting a vice for the drill press. Do I need a few different sizes of vice, say 75, 100 and 150mm to suit a variety of size material, or will the larger ones grip small material safely.
Thanks again,
Steve

The larger one will grip small parts quite safely.
Another couple of items I'd seriously look at is a Visegrip Clamp designed for drill press work, for that time you can't get that part in the vise. I've attached a couple of images of the Vise grip clamp and another that you might find handy, easy enough to make your self.
I also have a set of Milling Clamps that I've found to be most handy, mainly for clamping awkward items, sometimes they can be picked up at a reasonable price.
Otherwise various lengths of 1/2" or 12 mm allthread, some plates and packers, will do the same job and a lot cheaper.
Drillpressviseclamps.jpg
DCclamp1.jpg
Kryn

Originally Posted by Lovey71

I have a follow on question about getting a vice for the drill press. Do I need a few different sizes of vice, say 75, 100 and 150mm to suit a variety of size material?

It depends on what you are drilling but I would suggest one 75 or 100mm wide is probably adequate for most drill presses. Bigger and the vice starts to get heavy so you don't use it because it is awkward.

Michael

Hi Steve,

I agree with Michael. I have a 150 mm wide jaw vice that spend 90% of its time on the floor, simply because its heavy and awkward to use on the drill table. The one that you can see bolted to the XY table on my drill is 65 mm wide (2.5") and opens to 70 mm. It also has soft jaws fitted which can be quite handy if you need to grip a soft material.