Moving a Clausing 15" drill press

[Zachary Hoyt]

I bought this through an online auction in a town about an hour away. I'll be going to pick it up soon and am wondering how hard it would be to take it apart enough to put it inside the Subaru Outback, or if I'd be better off just putting it on the 5x8 trailer. The benefit to being in the car is that none of the bits can fly away en route, but if I take the trailer I can just roll it on with a hand truck. I'll be on my own to load it either way. I haven't been able to find any information about how much it might weigh, and I don't know for sure what model it is. I'll be grateful for any advice.

https://www.auctionsinternational.com/auction/22054/item/clausing-drill-press-135404

[Tom M King]

I've loaded similar by myself in a pickup, but the tailgate is a higher pivot point than a trailer bed. I'd use the trailer, and find some help to lay it down.

I'd be scared moving one with a hand truck. Most of the weight is up high. I just walk drill presses on their base, not letting it tip over very far.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thanks for the advice, I'll plan on the trailer. I should be fine with the hand truck, I may tie the drill press to it if that seems necessary. I'm 7 feet tall so I don't have to worry too much about it being top heavy, I'll still be up above it. I have a ramp on the trailer, and once I get it on I won't have any trouble laying it down by myself. The drill press I've been using all these years is a Jet of similar size and I've moved it around enough to be comfortable with it, but I couldn't lift the whole thing like I'd need to to get it in the back of the car.

[Tom M King]

They're pretty easy to walk. You use the back two corners of the base. I'll walk one any day over using a hand truck.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I don't think they'd like me walking it all the way out of the school building, I'd probably mark the floor tiles. If they've already put it outside when I get there then I can walk it.

[Bill Dufour]

Lower the table then the head as far as you can to lower the cg before moving.
Bil lD.

[Charlie Velasquez]

I bought this through an online auction in a town about an hour away. I'll be going to pick it up soon and am wondering how hard it would be to take it apart enough to put it inside the Subaru Outback, or if I'd be better off just putting it on the 5x8 trailer. The benefit to being in the car is that none of the bits can fly away en route, but if I take the trailer I can just roll it on with a hand truck. I'll be on my own to load it either way. I haven't been able to find any information about how much it might weigh, and I don't know for sure what model it is. I'll be grateful for any advice.

https://www.auctionsinternational.com/auction/22054/item/clausing-drill-press-135404

Regardless of whether you go subaru or trailer, I would remove the motor. Takes all of 2 minutes and may be just seconds if all you need to do is pull a pin.

Saves stress on that pivot spot.

[Tom M King]

One of my Powermatic 1150's came from a school. It has a nice radius of extra holes drilled through the table.

[Matthew Hills]

This drill press is heavy.
As mentioned, you can drop the table and head down to reduce the top-heaviness.
This may be a bit difficult if there is rust on the column and these haven't been used.
Which table is on the drill press? And the head is very heavy

I moved one with my mini van, with a friend helping to get it loaded.
I had scrap plywood set as a ramp to the back of the van, then we leaned the press back against that, and lifted the platform in.
You will want to watch for knobs and other things that are prone to breaking/bending.
(I rotated the table and had one side of the press against the plywood)
I don't recall what I used to prevent shifting during transport (normally I'd put in some cleats on the plywood)

439638

[Phillip Gregory]

You can do either. I have the 20" version of that press and it dismantles into five modest-sized and easily hand-carryable pieces with only a couple of wrenches needed. The motor detaches from the head, the head lifts off the column, the table slides off of the column, the column comes out of the base. Alternatively, you can lower the head as far down as you can to lower the center of gravity and strap it upright to that trailer. (My 20"er's head was initially frozen to the column so it had to ride in my truck bed standing up.) I tried to look to see what a 15" Clausing weighs but unfortunately the literature I have only lists the weight of the 20" units, and not the 15" units. The 20" units weigh 600-640 pounds for a standard floor-mount unit with the oil table. A 15" unit is quite a bit smaller, I'd guess 400-450 pounds for that Reeves drive floor model with the tilt table in the link.

The model number should be 1670, 1671, 1672, 1673, 1688, 1689, 1690, or 1691.
- 1670 is a 3/4 hp 1 phase 1725 rpm motor with a JT33 1/2" keyed chuck
- 1671 is a 3/4 hp 3 phase 1725 rpm motor with a JT33 1/2" keyed chuck
- 1672 is a 3/4 hp 1 phase 1725 rpm motor with an MT2 quill
- 1673 is a 3/4 hp 3 phase 1725 rpm motor with an MT2 quill
- 1688 is a 3/4 hp 1 phase 1140 rpm motor with a JT33 1/2" keyed chuck
- 1689 is a 3/4 hp 3 phase 1140 rpm motor with a JT33 1/2" keyed chuck
- 1690 is a 3/4 hp 1 phase 1140 rpm motor with an MT2 quill
- 1691 is a 3/4 hp 3 phase 1140 rpm motor with an MT2 quill.

Clausing makes a very nice drill press, you should be very happy with your purchase. They are also still in business and made your same press up until about 5-7 years ago, and they still make the 20" version. If you need a manual, e-mail them and they'll e-mail you a PDF. You can also order any parts you need as well, but do note that this was about a $3000-4000 machine at the time they quit making them so parts are a bit rich.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thank you all very much for your help. I've never taken the head off a drill press, but if I could that would be ideal. I can lift and load up to 190 or 200 pounds, but I don't like to go much over 160 for comfort and convenience. It's hard for me to guess how rusty it is from the pictures, there is clearly some but I don't know if it's enough to make the head and table stick. It's great to know that parts are still available. I can see from the pictures that a number of holes have been drilled in the table, but I'll probably want to make some kind of wood cover for the table anyway so I hope it won't matter. I'm hoping that being from a school it may have been used less heavily than it would have been if it had come out of a more commercial setting.

[Matt Day]

I guess at 7’ tall you’ll have more leverage that i did a 6’1”. I moved my PM1150 (same class DP) with a hand truck and put it in my old Subaru Forester (‘14). I lowered the table all the way down and the head about half way down. If you go all the way down with the head then it’s near impossible to lever it into the trunk. Put a piece of plywood in the trunk and over the bumper to make it easier to slide and reduce damage.

That being said, I’d use my trailer now that I have one. Reduces the chance of possible damage and just easier.

[Jon Nuckles]

I have a 15" Clausing (without the variable speed) that I bought used. The seller had a forklift and put it in my small SUV with the head removed IIRC. I was able to unload at my shop without any human or mechanical help, though it is heavy. After replacing the bearings and cleaning it up, I managed to lift the whole thing onto/into a wheeled cart I built to move it around inside my shop. That was a struggle. I'm 6'3" and your additional 9" would have helped the process. I'd have no hesitation moving yours on a hand truck, particularly if you can lower the head and table. Good luck.

[Bill Dufour]

My brother the auto mechanic taught me to throw a old tire or two under stuff like this to cushion it and prevent it from sliding too hard against the load straps. Tire only, no wheels allowed.
Bil lD

[Tom Bender]

Fix the holes in the table with auto body filler.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thank you all for all of the ideas. I picked it up last Saturday. Before I went I found a sales brochure on vintagemachinery.org that said it should weigh 310, and that seemed plausible once I handled it. At the school a man helped me stand it up, and I put it on the hand truck. He walked along to steady it if needed, and gave a push to help me onto the trailer tailgate ramp and then onto the trailer bed. Once I had it on the trailer I was able to lay it down by myself. I got caught in a shower about halfway home and had to put a tarp on it. I didn't tie the drill press down at all, the bottom of the trailer has 1x6 pine on top of the steel mesh so it kind of dug in and didn't shift at all on the way. Once I got home I just stood it up, put the hand truck under and rolled it down onto the gravel floor of the barn/outbuilding where it is sitting for now. It's got a new looking 1hp 3 phase motor on it now, I don't know how to tell what it came from the factory with. I removed the motor and the Reeves drive seems to all be in working order. I had to tap on the table lock lever with a hammer to get it loose, someone had really tightened it hard. I'll have some questions to ask about either converting it to single phase or getting a VFD, but I need to get some pictures and information together before I start a new thread with my questions. Thank you all very much for your advice.

[Matt Day]

For future reference, you should ALWAYS strap down your load. Whatever it is it will become a projectile if you slam on the brakes or get into an accident. Glad you got it back safe though.

[Tom Bain]

You should check out previous threads on the 3phase vs single phase question ... the short answer is keep it 3-phase and get a VFD. It will effectively give you infinite speed control. My old 1967 Powermatic 1150 only goes down to about 450 RPM with the Reeves Drive, and with the VFD I can dial the speed down even further when using really large bits.

[Phillip Gregory]

Thank you all for all of the ideas. I picked it up last Saturday. Before I went I found a sales brochure on vintagemachinery.org that said it should weigh 310, and that seemed plausible once I handled it. At the school a man helped me stand it up, and I put it on the hand truck. He walked along to steady it if needed, and gave a push to help me onto the trailer tailgate ramp and then onto the trailer bed. Once I had it on the trailer I was able to lay it down by myself. I got caught in a shower about halfway home and had to put a tarp on it. I didn't tie the drill press down at all, the bottom of the trailer has 1x6 pine on top of the steel mesh so it kind of dug in and didn't shift at all on the way. Once I got home I just stood it up, put the hand truck under and rolled it down onto the gravel floor of the barn/outbuilding where it is sitting for now. It's got a new looking 1hp 3 phase motor on it now, I don't know how to tell what it came from the factory with. I removed the motor and the Reeves drive seems to all be in working order. I had to tap on the table lock lever with a hammer to get it loose, someone had really tightened it hard. I'll have some questions to ask about either converting it to single phase or getting a VFD, but I need to get some pictures and information together before I start a new thread with my questions. Thank you all very much for your advice.

The unit would have come with a 3/4 hp motor from the factory as all of the Reeves drive 15" Clausings did. The model number denotes if the machine came from the factory with a 1 or 3 phase, 4 or 6 pole motor. A 1 hp motor would not be original but since Clausing used a standard mounting pattern motor, somebody was able to easily replace the factory motor.

Keep your machine 3 phase with a VFD as that will allow you to not only use your existing motor but also to get some other nifty features such as reversing and a lower minimum speed than what you can achieve with the Reeves drive alone. At only 1 hp, you can use a VFD that takes standard 120 volt single phase input and outputs 208-240 volt 3 phase if you don't have 240 volts in your shop.

[Zachary Hoyt]

With the drill press lying on its side the furthest it could go if I hit the brakes would be to slide about a foot forward till it hit the front wall of the trailer. In an accident anything can happen, and I suspect I would have other problems.

I've read some threads on VFDs, but I didn't know they could be powered by 120. That will make the decision a no brainer, I wasn't sure if the bother of running a new wire and putting in a 220 breaker and outlet would be worth it for the potential low speeds I might need someday, but if I can just plug it in I'll be very happy. I'll get some pictures and ask some specific questions before I buy a VFD, I just need to get caught up on some backlogged work before I can justify taking the time to tinker with it. I wanted to get it bought while the auction was going on, but I may not get to work on it till sometime in the fall. This is the problem with having a "day job" and another part time occupation, I get distracted easily. Thank you all very much for your help.

[Phillip Gregory]

One such VFD is the TECO L510-101-SH1. This is the new and improved (L510s) version of the L510 VFDs that I use and have been happy with. The 1xx versions have a voltage doubler so they can run on 120 volt single phase. The 120 volt versions go up to a 1.7 kVA/4.3 amp output, which TECO says is about 1 hp rating and should be suitable for your drill press.