Making a drill press table from a spare vise?

[yukon_rose]

I have a small portable drill press that uses a 1/2" drill motor as it's engine. The drill motor attaches using a pipe fitting and hand wheel.

The table is missing making the unit less than useful. I've been looking for a replacement for months without success.

So I looked around the shop and found a 4" drill press vise that might work if I invert it. The main problem with the underside of the (cheap) vise is that it is hollow. The vise itself is made by Irwin. It is a nice cast iron piece so it will be easy to machine away the parts I don't need and it will be light enough to not add any significant weight to the existing press.

So what I want to do is fill in the hollow underside with something castable and hard like epoxy.

Does that sound feasible? If so, I figure about a pint of filler material will be enough to fill up the cavity. What sort of filler would you use to do it?

Gary

 

[Janderso]

Pics please

 

[yukon_rose]

Pics please

Here are 2 pictures of the vise. The vise measures roughly 6" by 7" excluding the jaw screw.

Gary

 

[NC Rick]

I have a small portable drill press that uses a 1/2" drill motor as it's engine. The drill motor attaches using a pipe fitting and hand wheel.

The table is missing making the unit less than useful. I've been looking for a replacement for months without success.

So I looked around the shop and found a 4" drill press vise that might work if I invert it. The main problem with the underside of the (cheap) vise is that it is hollow. The vise itself is made by Irwin. It is a nice cast iron piece so it will be easy to machine away the parts I don't need and it will be light enough to not add any significant weight to the existing press.

So what I want to do is fill in the hollow underside with something castable and hard like epoxy.

Does that sound feasible? If so, I figure about a pint of filler material will be enough to fill up the cavity. What sort of filler would you use to do it?

Gary

Said drill-press attachment wouldn’t happen to be a Craftsman would it?

 

[yukon_rose]

The drill motor is a porter-cable unit from the 60's (guess) and the drill press itself is not marked. But it is also old and well made.

Gary

 

[NC Rick]

The drill motor is a porter-cable unit from the 60's (guess) and the drill press itself is not marked. But it is also old and well made.

Gary

Photos? I like that stuff. I have something similar which was last used putting a hitch on our then new F350 pickup. I inverted the drill motor and set the press on the ground to push up into the frame channel. It worked awesome. The mag drill couldn’t get a good grip.

 

[yukon_rose]

Photos? I like that stuff. I have something similar which was last used putting a hitch on our then new F350 pickup. I inverted the drill motor and set the press on the ground to push up into the frame channel. It worked awesome. The mag drill couldn’t get a good grip.

As I said, I've been looking for months for a table. In the interim, the drill press has gotten buried amongst a bunch of stuff. So I'm trying to avoid taking it's picture.

But I REALLY like your inversion technique. I'm sure it will come in handy one of these days.

Gary