Proof of Concept Powered Drill Press Table

[wizard69]

If people have well reasoned arguments on why it could hurt my drill press, I will drop this line of development. But if the community feels it is safe, it could be a rather cool way to power my drill press table.

Thanks,

Rick

Hi Rick;

I'm thinking this the first idea of yours that I don't like. Here are a few concerns:

• Morse tapers and even a Jacobs taper really don't like to be pulled. In the lifting mode you are pulling on those tapers, potentially breaking one loose and spinning it. This could lead to taper damage.
• What happens if you forget to lossen the table Clamp? In any sort of solution for table lift that involves a motor I'd really would like to see some sort of slip clutch or other over load mechnism.
• I suspect you will have greater reliability by adding a lift aid that is close to the clamping collar as possible. My great fear is snagging something and snapping a casting.
• If something where to break loose you run the risk of the table dropping a considerable distance and that is a big safety issue in my mind. Getting hit by dropping cast iron is never fun even if only a few inches.

One approach that might work would be a chain or belt drive with a separate motor to drive the collar up and down. Yes a bit of fabrication work but it should eliminate any potential damage to the taper that might happen. If you need to maintain table rotation then it gets a bit more involved because you need another collar to lift the table collar.

In any event my big concern is pulling the arbors out. Having had this happen with sanding drums and other tooling I can say it is more excitement than you will want to have in the shop.