New rolling base for Delta drill press

[tarbellb]

Had my 15" vintage Delta (15-231) on a wooden dolly for awhile, decided to upgrade the base


With steel prices at the moment I picked up some pallet racking beams, clearly old Home Depot stuff. Interestingly they are composed of two pieces, interior w/ a step and the exterior C shape. Pressed together and tack welded every 10" or so. Plenty fine for racking, but a real pain to work with when trying to weld up clean (square) frames.

Anyways got it square enough for the job ( 1/32+/- overall), nutserts for the plate casters, man im loving those lately, and a custom cage for my foot pedal switch.

Built from 1/2" solid stock, was a bit concerned about the foot switch sticking out. I have accidentally stepped on it before. So decided to have the ability to slide it in almost flush. Drill mounts to the frame via 2 bolts in the back, full lock swivel casters are up to the task, and tighten everything back up.

Should last as long as I need it too. Love the height, puts the handles right at the shoulder and sight lines are good. Oh and mounted suicide type knob on the table assist.

 

[drs3317]

Tarbellb,
I like this a lot. I have been wanting to put casters of some kind on my press but was concerned for stability. Yours looks solid. Is it stable enough without locking the casters? The problem with casters is sometimes you have to roll them around to get to the locks.
Also, can you tell me about the chain hanging down the side of the collumn? It appears to be a table lift, correct? If so, what type of crank are you using? Thanks

 

[southalabama]

Better than any commercial movable base.

And an A Plus for Delta gray.

 

[tarbellb]

Tarbellb,
I like this a lot. I have been wanting to put casters of some kind on my press but was concerned for stability. Yours looks solid. Is it stable enough without locking the casters? The problem with casters is sometimes you have to roll them around to get to the locks.
Also, can you tell me about the chain hanging down the side of the collumn? It appears to be a table lift, correct? If so, what type of crank are you using? Thanks

I would only use full locking casters (locks both wheel and pivot action) on a application like this.

Thats the trick with mobile bases eh, mobile but still stable. I would consider this setup adequate for general use, but not for a mill or lathe tho.
Ive also found with locking casters that you can generally pivot them around to access the locking tab, or at least get 2 of 4 locked.

And yes, the chain is for the table assist, its a excellent system that came with the machine. Aluminum collar up top, full 360 rotation around the column for the ratchet mech, and a simple weight at the bottom. Works very well, havent seen many like it.

 

[captain14]

Very good job on the DP stand.

I think since you recycled the pallet beams from HD, this may be qualified to be in the repurposed thread.

The repurposing thread

I don't believe I've seen a thread like this so I thought I'd start one. Show off your repurposed items. Prefer "useful" things versus scrap turned into "art". I'll start with my plasma cart made from an old pressure washer cart. Welded some shaped round stock around various places to hold the...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[larry4406]

Nice job!

Is that table lift a factory job or someone's creation? Looks pretty clever.

 

[drs3317]

And yes, the chain is for the table assist, its a excellent system that came with the machine. Aluminum collar up top, full 360 rotation around the column for the ratchet mech, and a simple weight at the bottom. Works very well, havent seen many like it.

Thanks for the response. That is a really unique setup. I have never seen one either and it appears almost to me shop made. I think I would like to try and copy the crank mechanism. Would it be possible to get a photo of the gearing behind the bracket or at least a description. At this point I would guess a small gear/sprocket for the chain and then some kind of bracket for the chain to ride through to keep it engaged with the sprocket?

 

[tarbellb]

This is what I have for now, let me know if you need more details. Basic but well executed. Ratchet mech is plate with unidirectional cog, spring loaded pin for engagement. It releases and lowers by reversing the rotation of the handle. I believe thats done by the larger spring at the handle axis. The entire mech at the table clamps on by 4 set screws. Seems to use a common bike type chain.

Good luck, it a great system, but semi complicated comparted to others.

 

[drs3317]

Looks good. I think I can do it from those photos and description. Thanks!