drill press column extension.

taycat

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my drill press is tad short for couple of jobs i want to do.
can't afford floor mounted one or the space.
it as got 3" column.
as i have an offcut of 4.5" solid that as been kicking rd for few years plan is boring one end to sit over column with grub screws to hold in place as head is held on now and turn od of top end to fit in head of top.
only need 2" which will give me plenty of extra but can gain 4" doing it this way.
anyone see probs with this?
would just do it but my 10 yr old wants to help with the drilling so want to be extra safe obviously.
 
Sounds like a great project.
Martin
 
lolly columns are 3" dia. and cheap at Lowes or Home Depot. I used one to repair a couple rotted cross members on a truck frame.
 
I'm building a drill press from scratch, so modifying one is easy.
 
About 25 years ago, I modified my drill press to give me a 2-1/2" offset. This increase my swing to 18" and gave me an additional 5" of working height. My column was 80mm and I used a piece of heavy walled pipe bored out to the correct I.D. A piece of 5/8" plate made the transition and a piece of solid round was used for the new column mating with the head. I made a table extension to center my table on the spindle by casting and aluminum slug and turning to final dimensions.Drill Press 1 .JPG Drill Press 2 .JPG
 
About 25 years ago, I modified my drill press to give me a 2-1/2" offset. This increase my swing to 18" and gave me an additional 5" of working height. My column was 80mm and I used a piece of heavy walled pipe bored out to the correct I.D. A piece of 5/8" plate made the transition and a piece of solid round was used for the new column mating with the head. I made a table extension to center my table on the spindle by casting and aluminum slug and turning to final dimensions.View attachment 241672 View attachment 241673
now that idea i like a lot.
 
I have my bench drill press bolted at the edge of a bench. For stuff to drill that's too tall, I swing the head to the side and then I have all the distance to the floor. Mounting the work can be a bit ghetto, but it works.


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unfortunately can't do that as drill in centre of bench and got adjustable height supports either end for the longer pieces i drill.
 
I would turn one end down to press fit the ID of the column and turn the rest down to the OD. Either set screws, pin, or plug weld through the column.
 
I'd use an inserted tube and press the three inch over the tube inserted in the drill column . Or just make a whole new length like Bill said lolly columns are cheap.
 
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