anyone with a Craftsman 150 Drill press

i finally got tired of fighting with the adjustable table. Since there is no crank/gear mechanism for raising and lowering the table (and none available aftermarket), i came up with something almost as good, maybe better/quicker in my opinion. I put a counter weight (to offset the weight of the table) on it. I took the table off and weighed it and it was 24.9 pounds. Went to the local welding shop and bought a 33 inch length of round steel rod (1-7/8 diameter). According to my calculations, 33 inches would weigh just a bit more than the table so i could also use my small vice and still have it still move easily.
The round rod counterweight slides up and down inside the pole, so its out of the way. I attached a steel cable to the rod, then with two pulleys routed the cable out the top and over the belt, then down to the table, through the chuck key holder hole in the table, and clamped it off. I used 1-3/4 square tubing 1/8 thick and about 8 inches long to slide down in the pole. Welded a couple of stops on each side of it to keep it from sliding completely down inside, and a curved arm from a garage door opener to route the cable through the tubing, out and over the top with a couple of pulleys. With the counter weight, i still get over 2 full feet of table travel before the counter weight tops out (which is more than i have ever needed), and i can still swing the table completely around out of the way if needed.
I can now loosen the table knob, and move the table up with ONE FINGER! It actually takes more force to move it down now because of the additional counter weight i added to include the weight of my vice. No more fighting with the table!!! The best part about it is i didn't have to alter the DP in any way. No holes drilled, no welding done to the DP. Nothing is attached permanently and i can take it all off in less than 5 minutes. If you need better pics, i'll try and get some tomorrow.
Lemme know what you think!

Nice Job! I'll have to appropriate your idea for when I restore mine.

Very clever!
You Sir are a clever ******!
Now do mine!

airbuff

thanks Guys!
I've actually come up with an even cleaner, simpler way of making the bracket for the top. I'll get to it one of these days and post up when i get it done. thanks again.

FrankLee said:

That is one good idea! I'll have to copy it for my Dunlap (nearly identical).

Question: How wide is the split at the back of the table by the lock screw?

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Actually, there is no split on the rear of the craftsman table, that's why i used the hole already in the table to run the cable through on the right side (normally used to hold the chuck key). I put a piece of rubber tubing in a bolt hole at the top of the press (just above the top of the depth gauge), and screwed in a eyebolt to hold the chuck key.

airbuff101 said:

Very clever!
You Sir are a clever ******!
Now do mine!
airbuff

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thanks!
How far do ya live from Ky?
if you wanna do yours, let me know. I'd be glad to get some more detailed pix and measurements. There's really not much to it, it's much simpler than i thought it would be, and only cost about 25 bucks (17 of that was the round bar).

I beleive the drill chuck for that press is a Jacobs 633C with a #33 Taper and has a threaded back-end collar. I have a new surplus one for sale if you are interested for 100.00
Let me know if you ever need a new one.

michigan surplus said:

I beleive the drill chuck for that press is a Jacobs 633C with a #33 Taper and has a threaded back-end collar. I have a new surplus one for sale if you are interested for 100.00
Let me know if you ever need a new one.

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Thanks for the offer, but the chuck is fine, and i barely have 100 bucks in the entire press.