Little Machine Shop Drill Press

[Highpower]

(06-10-2021, 05:59 AM)rleete Wrote: The column mount IS skimpy.  I bought a base and mount for use as a tapping machine.  Tapping the column in, I cracked the mount (split right in half!), resulting in no way to hold the column square to the base.  Not so good for a tapping machine OR a drill press.  I started making a new mount, but other projects got in the way.

I bought my drill press a long time ago after Sears had put them on sale. Had to drag it home hanging out of the back of my little Toyota Tercel hatch back. Opened up the box and saw the column mount pre-split into 3 pieces. The box had obviously been dropped hard on that end because the Styrofoam lining inside the box had exploded as well. I called Sears and asked if I could just bring back the mount flange and exchange it for one in another box. NO - of course not! Had to re-box the whole thing (320 lbs.) and drag it back to the store to exchange the whole box.

On the other hand, the column for my Harbor Freight pedestal stand I bought for my carbide grinder fit in its base like a hot dog thrown down a hallway. Several useless pinch bolts in the base are supposed to hold the column in place but it still wobbled all over the place. I ended up filling in the gap between them with epoxy and clamping the column square to the base until the epoxy cured then re-installed the pinch bolts.

Ed is right. It's always an adventure.