Drill press rack modification

[Robert Hayward]

I am looking for a drill press column rack modification I saw some time back on the internet. The mod had a bearing affair on the bottom of the drill press column rack. Supposedly this made rotating the table around the column very smooth without the rack catching or dragging in its bottom groove. Does anyone recall seeing this modification how to ?

[Bill Dufour]

My Walker Turner 20 dp does this with two cast iron rings. They use loose balls between the two. I suppose you could buy a ballbearing with a big enough bore and fit it over the column.
Bill

[Robert Hayward]

The mod I am trying to find was a retrofit, or kind of a one size fits all. Looked like it would be doable on most drill presses with a rack and pinion table. It used two small bearings in the bottom of the rack. It required drilling and tapping and other minor metal work. Not that big a deal. I saved the URL and now cannot find it.

[Frankie Hunt]

Another option is to remove the rack and add a counter weight / pulley system to offset the weight of the table.

[Mac McQuinn]

Before trying the bearing option, I would try to improve upon what you have in place. I would remove the rings and have them machined to a smoother, bearing surface. I would then file and smooth the top and bottom portion of the rack which rides in the rings. I would then apply a high bearing point grease between these and adjust the mechanism for a smooth action. While it's certainly not going to act like a bearing, it should be much improved over the original set-up.
Good luck,
Mac