Drill press table lifter ideas?

[rossow (mn)]

I've studied a lot of creations to raise and lower heavy tables on floor-model drill
presses. Some are sort of simple, others require machining equipment and skills most people
(myself included) lack. I can cut and grind and weld but don't have a metal lathe. What have
you found that can be made without specialized skills and equipment?

 

[PJH]

I use a side crank trailer tongue jack for a table lift.

 

[Dan in North Houston]

Here's how I solved that problem with the same model drill press. Cheap boat winch from Harbor Freight, small pully from Home depot, some leftover cable from garage door springs, a U-bolt clamp and a bolt. Drilled two holes in the winch bracket for the U-bolt, attached the pully to the stop collar below the drill head, and put the eye on the end of the cable through the bolt that I screwed into the back of the table. Works like a charm.

 

[Steve@Advance]

Probably the simplest would be a pulley up top, with a cable and counterweight.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Buying some of the old heavy drill presses have a threaded screw to the table already on them so just turn the screw for up and down. If not, I would find some acme threaded shaft and a matching nut and use. nut on table with rod/shaft against bottom with a pocket and a crank on top. This would let you go way down close to the floor so you could drill big stuff that is tall like holes in a platform. Or if drilling out bolts in a transmission case things of similar size.

 

[miangus]

Maybe a small hydraulic jack and a few hard wood blocks. My somewhat ancient drill press has a screw with a counterweight inside the pedestal common on older line shaft drill presses.

 

[DaleinWV]

I like both of the last ideas.

 

[PJH]

Good thinking Dan!

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Think I'm going to have to steal that jack idea. I've been looking for a way to add a "knee" to my Harbor Freight drill press. Even though it's the second-heaviest drill press they offered (only one level below their "production" model) the table flexes a lot when drilling hard material, and it ends up drilling crooked holes.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

rossow, check out "Workshop From Scratch" and "Made in Poland" on youtube if you'd like some inspiration on what is possible with nothing more than an angle grinder and a welder.