Craftsman/Palmgren Rotary Indexing Table Centering Plug

[Rocky Rotella]

I recently acquired a Craftsman 8" Rotary Indexing Table to complement my Craftsman 15-inch drill press. I found the unit list on eBay and upon winning the auction, I made arrangements to pick it up. Upon pickup, I learned that the seller is a member here.

The Craftsman unit was made by Palmgren, and from what I can tell using vintage Palmgren catalogs, the Sears unit is identical to the Palmgren No. 83.

I also found in those catalogs that Palmgren offered a centering plug to index the table to the drill press quill (or lathe head stock).

I'm trying to reach Palmgren to see if the plug is still available, but am having difficulty contacting the appropriate person(s). Does anyone know if Palmgren stills offers it? If not, I can certainly make one on the lathe.

 

[matt_i]

I would just make that on the lathe.

Since you have a lathe, you might have this tool: Put a dial test indicator mounted in the chuck, with tip in the center hole and indicate the bore.

 

[jjkrjh]

Is that a trailer tongue jack for adjusting table height-in your first picture?

 

[Rocky Rotella]

Is that a trailer tongue jack for adjusting table height-in your first picture?

It is!

I couldn't find the "correct" adjuster that Sears offered and I really wasn't in love with the design. A friend here in Omaha that has the same drill press (he steered me toward mine) came up with this method for adjusting the table and it works pretty slick.

 

[jjkrjh]

I like it. We have a heavy table at work that takes two guys to raise and lower it with the vise on it. I'm stealing the idea- thanks

 

[Rocky Rotella]

I wish I could claim the idea as my own, but you're welcome to steal it.

I bought the screw-jack at Northern Tool. We extended the shaft to give the table plenty of up/down travel. If you need more detailed pics of it, let me know.

 

[larry4406]

Nice score on the rotary table and good idea on the trailer jack to lift the table!

 

[crguy]

I never found a need for a rotary table on a drill press. I certainly hope you're not planning on trying to do milling work on that drill press.

 

[Rocky Rotella]

No, certainly not looking to perform any milling with the drill press. I don’t think the quill bearings would like the side loading!

I’ve always been interested in the Craftsman rotary table since I saw it in vintage catalogs years ago. I’ve kept my eye open for one and happen to find this one on eBay and it was relatively close by, so I snagged it. Looking forward to just playing around with it.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

It is!

I couldn't find the "correct" adjuster that Sears offered and I really wasn't in love with the design. A friend here in Omaha that has the same drill press (he steered me toward mine) came up with this method for adjusting the table and it works pretty slick.

Could you please show some more pictures of this jack set up?? I would love to make one for my craftsman 100. I know the factory lift is super rare.

 

[Rocky Rotella]

You bet. I’ll snap a few shots tonight.

 

[Rocky Rotella]

Here are some images of the screw jack for adjusting the table. My friend Jim Mazzei is responsible for its design.

We originally planned to use split collars to secure the jack to the post and raise/lower the table, but they'd probably be tough to weld on, so we used the original clamps included with the drill press for those purposes and I secured the head's position onto the post with a split collar I purchased.

The original threaded rod included with the particular jack I purchased didn't provide (what we felt was) enough travel, so we cut it off leaving a stub behind and found a longer section of threaded rod that we connected to the stub using a pinned collar. We then reused the original captured nut that came with the jack.

The clamp used beneath the table has small spacers that keep it just loose enough that it can slide up/down the post, ultimately raising/lowering the table. I do "help" the table by taking a bit of weight off while raising it to make it go quicker, but the jack works well in either direction without assistance. And as you'd expect, I lock the table into position as originally intended once it's at the desired height.

Hope that helps!