Drill Press Clearance Problem

I've got a small HF drill press; also have a small homemade mill. I'm having a clearance problem of a few inches. My project is drilling several 1/2" dia holes through a steel plate affixed to a HF anvil for later threading.

I have a short 1/2" drill bit but it still doesn't clear.

I do have a SB9A lathe and could probably somehow attach everything to a holding plate I designed, but the weight would be such that it would be difficult to do.

I did try hand-holding a drill, but the hole came out too big and it wasn't a clean diameter b/c of the inevitable diagonal drilling created when hand-holding.

Of course spending money on a DP with great clearance is one option, but my working space is small and outlaying the money for it is not in the cards

Another option I was thinking about is building some sort of drill holding device for the portable drill. Does this sound like an option and has anyone done something like this? Thanks

Is the Drill Press Table removable? If so remove it you will gain maybe 2" more clearance. If you cannot remove it, turn it to the back, out of the way.

"Billy G"

SE18 said:

Another option I was thinking about is building some sort of drill holding device for the portable drill. Does this sound like an option and has anyone done something like this?

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Sure. Another option is a drill guide. do you have some pictures?

I assume it's a bench model press that uses it's base as the table? If you can adjust the DP so that the quill is not over the base you can block up the base as high as you want over the bench and then drill something sitting right on the bench.

Build a riser block for the base of the drill press to raise up higher off the support table. You indicated you have the tools to do so

Unless the drill press is bolted one's bench, you cannot turn the head around the column and expect acceptable results-ask me how I know this.

If the head(quill) can be rotated, just remove it from the column and replace the column with a longer one.

"Billy G"

Ok, here's photos just taken, rotate or replace with a longer column. I'd not thought of that. Is there any disadvantage to making a longer column btw? Looks like the top of the column is held in place with 2 set screws (the top setscrew is hidden under the handle so cannot be seen). Maybe I can make or get a longer column and fill with concrete to make it even more sturdy? it's an 8" Central Machinery wonder btw.

Bill Gruby said:

If the head(quill) can be rotated, just remove it from the column and replace the column with a longer one.

"Billy G"

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While that would work, there may be some issues. First off, if this is the same Harbor Freight drill press that I have, there are no repair/replacement parts available from Harbor Freight-but curiously enough, they will refer you to Grizzly for repair/replacement parts. Secondly, the bench drill presses use a different diameter column than other Harbor Freight drill presses, and lastly, the diameter is a bastard size-although it's probably metric and common in that world.

I have a 48 X 20 steel table in my shop that I use as a layout/welding table. Wanting to build my own interpretation of a Stronghold table, I studiously laid it out in a 1" X 1" pattern (hint-to reduce the monotony of the job, lay a piece of peg board over your blued table and use white spray paint to lay out the hole spacing). I then proceeded to try to use my Harbor Freight drill press to drill the holes. This is where I realized that Harbor Freight tools are really only suitable for use as originally intended unless one wanted to (once again in my case) reinvent the wheel.

I made a column using a piece of Land Rover suspension tubing (2" OD/.25" wall) to make a column. I then came to my senses and obtained by hook and crook a nice Hougen mag-drill and proceeded to drill some holes-hint, I drilled far fewer than the 960 holes my original plan called for. But, in spite of the number of holes I drilled/tapped, there is NEVER a hole where you need one, thus, the mag-drill lives on the table along with a 1/2-13 tap. an added benefit of using the mag-drill is that my biceps do not resemble Popeye's which was going to happen if I continued to try to center-punch 960 holes, even if I alternated the hand swinging the hammer.

I learned many things in this activity, perhaps the most important being that a Ni-Cd 1/2" Snap-On Cordless drill will break a 7/16" drill bit and that cordless drills are much preferred when there is a risk of such occurring because they stop when you let go, unlike the corded variety which will continue to whip around breaking your wrist-please don't ask me how I know this as it is still a painful memory from 1992 or 1993. Some things the memory lingers longer than others.

That's the same one I have. I still think that making a riser block is your best course of action.

BUT, keeping in mind the mindset of most of us who frequent this board, why don't you go to Harbor Freight and buy a floor model drill press?

More machinery is always good, even if it comes off the Cornwell truck (did I just say that out loud?

There are portable drill "holders" to do just that....never tried one. U might be able to make a tube or thick block with the exact size hole in it and then fix it in place and use it to guide a hand held drill ? If going into thick cast, I'd think a smaller pilot hole would be needed though.