Greetings,

I'm interested to see if anyone has come up with a retrofit that will
motorize the the rack and pinion crack on a drill press. My specific
drill press is the Delta DP-350 which is a benchtop. It has the R&P
and I know some floor models do as well.

I'm interested in this as I have low hand and upper body strength and I
try and motorize and automate everything I can. I've not figured out
how to do this yet although I do have an idea.

My idea would be to use a DC geared reversible motor mounted either on
the head of the drill press or to the base that had a heavy duty
flexible drive shaft with appropriate couplings from the motor shaft to
the keyed shaft that the R&P handle fits on. That, and a switch
mounted up on the head.

Seems simple in my head but I don't know what sort of motor and DC
control to look for (it would need to be high torque VERY low RPM). And
I'm don't know where to look for the coupling shaft.

I'd appreciate any ideas you have on this. Please post or email
" if so,

kcleere wrote:
Greetings,

I'm interested to see if anyone has come up with a retrofit that will
motorize the the rack and pinion crack on a drill press.

What about mounting a geared-down motor right to the table where the
hand-crank would go? That way you wouldn't need the flexible shaft.

Chris

I drilled and mounted a 5/8" nut to the shaft that the crank
handle mounts on. I did this because my auxiliary table
interfered with the crank. Now I can use a socket and
ratchet or speed handle. I might try to use my 1/2" right
angle, reversible drill with an adapter to fit the socket.
Thanks for the idea to power it.

Look at
http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPR...ARTNUM=130-229
or
http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPR...ARTNUM=114-086
either one has the ability to be changed to low speed, high
torque by reversing the right angle adapter. Mount it to
under the table and it would be very accessible.

They would probably be cheaper and easier to adapt than any
other type of drive system.

Let us know how you make out.

Frank

"kcleere" wrote in message
oups.com...
Greetings,

I'm interested to see if anyone has come up with a
retrofit that will
motorize the the rack and pinion crack on a drill press.
My specific
drill press is the Delta DP-350 which is a benchtop. It
has the R&P
and I know some floor models do as well.

I'm interested in this as I have low hand and upper body
strength and I
try and motorize and automate everything I can. I've not
figured out
how to do this yet although I do have an idea.

My idea would be to use a DC geared reversible motor
mounted either on
the head of the drill press or to the base that had a
heavy duty
flexible drive shaft with appropriate couplings from the
motor shaft to
the keyed shaft that the R&P handle fits on. That, and a
switch
mounted up on the head.

Seems simple in my head but I don't know what sort of
motor and DC
control to look for (it would need to be high torque VERY
low RPM). And
I'm don't know where to look for the coupling shaft.

I'd appreciate any ideas you have on this. Please post or
email
" if so,

I think the site onlinereviews did a review of a counter weight system
that allows you to move the table with a minimal amount of effort.

Also I would think an air cylinder could be used to raise and lower the
table directly.

Alan

I'm interested to see if anyone has come up with a retrofit that will motorize the the rack and pinion crack on a drill press.

I don't have a rack & pinion system on my DP, so I recently added a
cable (attached to the table) and a pulley (attached near the motor)
with some barbell weights on the other end of the cable to
counterweight the table. Not quite perfect, but a heck of a lot easier
than heaving up the table + auxiliary table + fence + clamps, and
trying to have a soft touch with that. Anyway, one of the things a
friend suggested when I was working on that was to get a winch from a
boat trailer or come-a-long, and then do the same pulley-cable thing I
did. From there it wouldn't be too hard to motorize the winch or buy a
motorized one, but even without a motor, a winch handle or come-a-long
should be easier to move than the little handle on your R&P.
Good luck,
Andy

home machinist volume 18 number3 page 24 shows a drill press with a satelite
positioner or linear actuator used to raise a delta drill press table, looks
very easy to do
Brian


"kcleere" wrote in message
oups.com...
Greetings,

I'm interested to see if anyone has come up with a retrofit that will
motorize the the rack and pinion crack on a drill press. My specific
drill press is the Delta DP-350 which is a benchtop. It has the R&P
and I know some floor models do as well.

I'm interested in this as I have low hand and upper body strength and I
try and motorize and automate everything I can. I've not figured out
how to do this yet although I do have an idea.

My idea would be to use a DC geared reversible motor mounted either on
the head of the drill press or to the base that had a heavy duty
flexible drive shaft with appropriate couplings from the motor shaft to
the keyed shaft that the R&P handle fits on. That, and a switch
mounted up on the head.

Seems simple in my head but I don't know what sort of motor and DC
control to look for (it would need to be high torque VERY low RPM). And
I'm don't know where to look for the coupling shaft.

I'd appreciate any ideas you have on this. Please post or email
" if so,

On 23 Jun 2006 08:43:45 -0700, "kcleere" wrote:

Not motorized, but Ken has a counter weight on his DP.. might be worth a look..

http://home.earthlink.net/~kvaughn65/drillpress.html

He also used a trailer jack... interesting idea!


Greetings,

I'm interested to see if anyone has come up with a retrofit that will
motorize the the rack and pinion crack on a drill press. My specific
drill press is the Delta DP-350 which is a benchtop. It has the R&P
and I know some floor models do as well.

I'm interested in this as I have low hand and upper body strength and I
try and motorize and automate everything I can. I've not figured out
how to do this yet although I do have an idea.

My idea would be to use a DC geared reversible motor mounted either on
the head of the drill press or to the base that had a heavy duty
flexible drive shaft with appropriate couplings from the motor shaft to
the keyed shaft that the R&P handle fits on. That, and a switch
mounted up on the head.

Seems simple in my head but I don't know what sort of motor and DC
control to look for (it would need to be high torque VERY low RPM). And
I'm don't know where to look for the coupling shaft.

I'd appreciate any ideas you have on this. Please post or email
" if so,

Mac

https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
On 23 Jun 2006 08:43:45 -0700, "kcleere" wrote:

Not motorized, but Ken has a counter weight on his DP.. might be worth a
look..

http://home.earthlink.net/~kvaughn65/drillpress.html

He also used a trailer jack... interesting idea!

I counter balaced with cable, pulleys and a heavy rubber bungee. The cable
attaches to the back of the table; goes up to a pulley attached to the drill
press head and down toward the base. I attached the big bungee between the
base and the cable. It helps a lot to keep the post of your drill press
clean and lubricated.

This works fairly well but still causes a little wrestling at the upper-most
travel. I was also intrigued by the boat trailer jack mentioned in the
referenced web site and might try that some day.

RonB