Wow! I never would have thought anyone would build a drill press without at least a depth stop. That is most of the point!
Dan, you might be interested with regard to setting the position of the drill, I bought a foot switch for my press from Lee Valley, a toggle which permits me to have both hands free to set and/or hold a piece and I can turn the press on or off without having to let go of the spokes or the work. Mine is a fifteen or seventeen or so year old Delta. Something has happened to one of the spokes, it no longer threads nicely into the hub. I also find the rack & pinion type worm geared crank device for raising and lowering the table is a bit of a nuisance, actually inconvenient to use and some day I think i would like to replace the crank with a reversible motor so I don't have to wriggle around there to work the crank and skin my knuckles. The table tilt too could be more convenient, there is a pin you have to pull that fits so tight you need to crank it out with a nut then loosen the central nut before you can rotate the table. There has to be a much better method. This is not a facility I have needed much but it is one I will use less frequently than I otherwise would. The machine is massive and pretty sturdy. I don't much like moving it partly because it is pretty easy to get the head beyond the center of gravity. This summer I bought a universal mobile stand on wheels so I can move it out to clean in and around and behind it. I probably never will but I can. Now if I could remember to turn off my compressor when I am done with it! ----- Original Message ----- From: Dan Rossi To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 9:55 AM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] drillpress locking mechonism I've been investigating drill presses recently. Apparently, not all presses have a quill lock. I don't think I would purchase one that didn't though. It would be very useful when setting up to have the bit right down near the wood so that you could line things up more easily. without having to hold it down with one hand. One Delta model apparently just has a brass set screw that you twist in against the quill and friction holds the quill down. Others use the depth gauge or locking nuts on the collar. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: [email protected] Tel: (412) 268-9081 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
