This is the second iteration of this project. I began by cutting the bottom storage area off of an old craftsman bottom box I got back in 2000. Its a basic box; no ball bearings or anything. Its fairly beat up and I had put anything of any value in it in years. So I thought "this would make a decent start to getting my 3/4 height drill press mobile. Plus it would free up some space by moving some fab tools out of my mechanic box and into a dedicated area.
Originally I put the bracing on the bottom of the box (that's still there) a rough caster layout and tried bolting the press to the top of the box. That proved to be WAY to flimsy even after reinforcing the area with 1/16" plate.
So that leads me to yesterday....
I hacked up the original design and started over again after work! The only thing I kept was the 1/8" plate and bracing on the box.
I tore apart my failed weld table (that rebuild will be a whole other thread) and modified the side members to be smaller and luckily they were already a pretty decent depth for the project. It was probably overkill but I tied those on angles into a 4"x4" center section from the original design. This gave me a spot for casters and the triangulation ensured a very rigid base. It also gave the bottom box a cool "floating" look. Now comes the drill press mounting.
I knew I wanted to have it centered side-to-side and offset toward the rear. I laid some 1.5" angle across the uprights and then tied some 2" tube across to create a base for the drill press. I removed the cast base that came with the press and balanced the press on the tube so I could mark the bolt centers. Once that was done I had to bolt the press back onto the base so that I could drill and tap the holes for the base to thread into. I happened to have a bunch of M6 bolts from an Audi V8 block (rod caps) that were a good length and had a nice shoulder on the cap.
I placed it and bolted it up and even though everything is simply tacked in it's pretty rigid all around and I think it should fit the bill. The box is tad a low but the height the press is just about perfect for me.
Tuesday work: To much time spent grinding/cutting and a little fitting/welding.
Today's work:
Like I said; everything is still tack welded in place. My goal is to also get my Motor/Grinder mounted to this thing as well as an eventual belt sanding set up (gotta keep my CL eyes open for the sander) so I may not finish weld some things for a bit but for the most part I am done with the drill press section. It has worked out well. The only thing I might change is going from angle to 2" tube on the top but so far I have done this whole thing with scraps!
Any comments/suggestions are definitely welcome and take it easy on my beads I am still in the beginner stages on my Millermatic 180.
Originally I put the bracing on the bottom of the box (that's still there) a rough caster layout and tried bolting the press to the top of the box. That proved to be WAY to flimsy even after reinforcing the area with 1/16" plate.
So that leads me to yesterday....
I hacked up the original design and started over again after work! The only thing I kept was the 1/8" plate and bracing on the box.
I tore apart my failed weld table (that rebuild will be a whole other thread) and modified the side members to be smaller and luckily they were already a pretty decent depth for the project. It was probably overkill but I tied those on angles into a 4"x4" center section from the original design. This gave me a spot for casters and the triangulation ensured a very rigid base. It also gave the bottom box a cool "floating" look. Now comes the drill press mounting.
I knew I wanted to have it centered side-to-side and offset toward the rear. I laid some 1.5" angle across the uprights and then tied some 2" tube across to create a base for the drill press. I removed the cast base that came with the press and balanced the press on the tube so I could mark the bolt centers. Once that was done I had to bolt the press back onto the base so that I could drill and tap the holes for the base to thread into. I happened to have a bunch of M6 bolts from an Audi V8 block (rod caps) that were a good length and had a nice shoulder on the cap.
I placed it and bolted it up and even though everything is simply tacked in it's pretty rigid all around and I think it should fit the bill. The box is tad a low but the height the press is just about perfect for me.
Tuesday work: To much time spent grinding/cutting and a little fitting/welding.
Today's work:
Like I said; everything is still tack welded in place. My goal is to also get my Motor/Grinder mounted to this thing as well as an eventual belt sanding set up (gotta keep my CL eyes open for the sander) so I may not finish weld some things for a bit but for the most part I am done with the drill press section. It has worked out well. The only thing I might change is going from angle to 2" tube on the top but so far I have done this whole thing with scraps!
Any comments/suggestions are definitely welcome and take it easy on my beads I am still in the beginner stages on my Millermatic 180.
