I have an old belt drive floor standing drill press that failed and found a DP head that I’d like to put on the column. Problem is the column of the floor standing DP is 2.9” and the head is 3.1”. Anyway to make this work?
I have an old belt drive floor standing drill press that failed and found a DP head that I’d like to put on the column. Problem is the column of the floor standing DP is 2.9” and the head is 3.1”. Anyway to make this work?
From your dimensions you need to add 0.1" to each side of your tube. Purchase some 0.050" shim stock and put two wraps around the tube.
Lee Schierer
USNA '71
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What failed on the older press? Anything that can be taken off the newer one to replace the failed part(s) of the older one?
Chuck Taylor
Franken-press Lives!!! I'm with Lee on the shim stock. You will want the shim stock to be wide enough to be present over the entire contact area between head and column. That is if the column makes contact 2-1/2" deep into the head you do not want a 3/4" strip of shim stock around one section.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
Good idea for Mr. Goetzke^^.
For the sake of speculation, I'd assume the head has some tolerance in what size post it will clamp onto ... could it clamp on the smaller post as-is? The 0.1" per side might be too much for the post clamps I've seen, but worth an eyeball.
0.050" Steel shim stock is a bit too stiff to hand bend smoothly to the column's 3.1"D - IMHO. Brass might be a better choice if you go this route?
Or, have a sheet metal shop roll a piece of 12ga (0.105")* to the proper diameter. It might be easier to install this single layer in the head and drop them together on the post?
*- 13ga is 0.090", but probably not as common as 12ga.
I got the quote for the DP head and it's about $500 to my door. Super tempting.
(I did find a supplier with a steel tube with 2.87ID and 3.00OD (my need is 3.07" OD and 2.88"ID.)
Last edited by Mike Goetzke; 02-24-2022 at 3:40 PM.
I needed some shim stock for my router lift because the motor was just a little smaller than the clamp body. I found some of the correct thickness on Amazon that just happened to be the exact right size. It was less than $10, probably closer to $5.
Another option is to have someone "spray weld" the column, tten turn to correct size on the lathe
Probably easier to have the head bored out.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
It seems to me that the easiest approach to this is what has been mentioned..very lightly shimming in the recess as long as the top of the column bottoms out on something inside the drill head. You just need to make it secure so it stays "in plane" in use and getting a snug slip-fit followed by securing, maybe with some set screws, will do the trick. I could be wrong, but the KISS method could be a great approach here.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...