Drill Press Table

[Scott C. Williams]

Does anyone make an after market drill press rack and pinion for raising the table?

[Lee Schierer]

All the drill presses I've seen with rack and pinon set ups to raise or lower the table had extra metal and special machining in the clamping mechanism. I think it would be difficult to add this to an existing table. However, I saw an idea in a wood working magazine a few years ago where a guy used a pulley a cable and an old window sash weight to counter balance his drill table. The pulley was hooked to the top of the column under the motor,the cable attached to the table went up and over the pulley to the window sash weight. I think he had the sash weight enclosed in a piece of PVC pipe so it wouldn't swing around. The table height was adjusted in the normal manner, the sash weight made the table easier to handle.

[Robert Reece]

I have an old drill press with the same problem. I used a trailer jack which I bought at Harbor Freight while on sale (I got the idea here from somebody else). I think I paid $20 or something. My dad recently cut off the handle part and attached a 1/4" bolt so I can just use my drill to raise and lower it. Removing the handle also gave me more range with the jack since I didn't have to leave room for the handle to swing.
I'll post you a picture when I get back to the shop (Friday probably).

[glenn bradley]

I vote for the modified trailer jack but: http://www.onlinetoolreviews.com/reviews/easyriser.htm

[Bob Willey]

I have a Craftsman drill press that is probably about 50 years old without a rack and pinion. Joe Warren from Virginia gave me the idea. He used a winch from Harbor Freight. I paid less than $25.00 for it. I used a muffler repair sleeve on the post with a muffler clamp to allow the table to move up and down. I tapped a hole in back of table to aid in attaching winch. It works great even with the heavy drill press table of MDF on top of cast iron original table.