Drill Mods Make Table Moves Easy

Drill Mods Make Table Moves Easy Tony Foale says the Startrite drill press he’s owned for years has always performed well, except for one frustrating feature: raising and lowering the table is always difficult because the press lacks a rack-and-pinion table lift. “After all those years, I finally got fed up with using two hands to raise the table and let it down, so I built a counterweight system to fix it.” Foale says his counterweight is simple, but integrating it onto the press had two issues. The table would quickly jam going up or down if there was too much weight on it, and if the counterweight was too heavy, lowering the table would be quite difficult. Foale solved the problem by inserting a long, round counterweight inside the drill column. He attached a metal cable to the top of the weight and ran it over a pulley that he mounted on top of the column. He connected the other end of the cable to a metal bracket, about 6 in. long, that he attached to the back of the table. Now, when he loosens the lock, the table lifts easily with one hand. The counterweight helps with the upward movement. To lower the table, he loosens the lock and gently presses on the top of the metal bracket while slightly raising the front of the table. The table then slides down slowly without dropping. If he’s working with heavier parts on the table, he’ll add a one or two-pound counterweight to the bracket on the back of the table for better balance. Foale is an accomplished engineer who’s invented more than 100 shop-made parts and tools. He says the counterweight system is a great improvement for moving the table, and he wishes he had thought of it years ago. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tony Foale (www.motochassis.com).

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