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On Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:33:27 -0500, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:

I gave blood this morning. All over my radial arm drill that I got a couple
months ago. The part snatched as the drill broke though. it rode up the
drill and then popped the vice grip holding clamp off and threw it. Then the
work made made a quick revolution before i could get out of the way.

I had a similar adventure in my youth. No serious harm done, but it
definitely gets your attention.

My favorite solution is a quick acting cam clamp that slides up & down
the drill press column. The shop I used to frequent at MIT had one, and
I bought one for my Dad's drill press and got one for the drill press at
work. Unfortunately, the last time I looked they had vanished off the
face of the earth. I've changed jobs & would love to have one on the
drill press in our lab, but there are none to be found.

They were black oxide coated, with a small (~ 1 1/2" square) aluminum
foot. There was a small round lever that activated the clamp. When it
was loose, you could slide the clamp up & down the column and rotate it
freely. Once you had the foot parked on the work, you flipped the lever
around and it simultaneously locked the clamp on the column and applied
considerable downward force on the work. I never had one slip on me.
You could also use it to hold a small vise to the table.

They probably show up on eBay occasionally, but I haven't looked
recently.

Doug White