Full size Drill Press mobile base

Don Taylor

Former Member (by the member's request)
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I want to build a "safe" mobile base for my Steel City drill press.
Would you folks please share any pictures/ideas with me?

Thank you in advance.

DT
 
Don

I made a mobile base for my 70/80's era craftsman drill press. No pictures, but hopefully my description will give you some ideas.

I made a rectangular base frame out of red oak. The dimensions were about 4 inches x 2 inches and between 18 and 24 inches long. I used a lap joint initially cut on the band saw with cleanup and fine tuning with the stacked dado blade, block plane and sand paper. The joints were glued together, but no nails or screws.

On top of this frame I glued and nailed 3/4 inch plywood. The edges of the plywood was trimmed using a router and a round over bit. To this frame I attached some Grizzly double locking swiveling casters with screws. The mobile base is about 3 ½ inches larger than the drill press base on the sides and about an inch larger on the front and back. The top of the mobile base is about 5 to 6 inches off the ground. The drill press base is bolted to this base using ½ inch bolts with nylon insert lock nuts.. There are washers both at the bolt head and the nut.

So, how did it turn out? Not too bad. It is almost completely immobile when the wheels are locked and not too unstable because of a top heavy piece of equipment. One down side that I didn’t really think through is that the base raised the drill press a good 5 to 6 inches. The new height isn’t too much of a problem, but it does need to be dealt with on occasion.

Good luck

Greg
 
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Hi Don,

Here is the one that I built. For the base I used two layers of 3/4" plywood and four double locking casters. Quick and easy to build and is very stable, not to mention inexpensive. It moves easily with one hand.
 

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One down side that I didn’t really think through is that the base raised the drill press a good 5 to 6 inches. The new height isn’t too much of a problem, but it does need to be dealt with on occasion.Greg

I like it Greg! However, this is a major problem for me. I am 5' 3" tall!!!
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

DT
 
Hi Don,

Here is the one that I built. For the base I used two layers of 3/4" plywood and four double locking casters. Quick and easy to build and is very stable, not to mention inexpensive. It moves easily with one hand.

Thanks Allen.
That is EXACTLY what I want to do.
Tell me why I can't pop the head off that pole,
cut a few inches off it and replace the head? :dunno:

DT
 
I bought some clothes line pulleys and some 3/4 by 3/4 angle iron and tap-conned them into the concrete slab....This gave me a set of tracks that my drill press rides on.

Most of the time my drill press stays tucked away against the wall, but for the occasional times I need to drill a long board, its effortless to pull my drill press out. In fact I can pull it out with two fingers its glides so easily. Running on tracks as it does, there is no effort to move it, and I don't have to steer it or try to keep it from tipping over either.
 
Don, I'd mimic Greg Cook's set up, I'd want to cantilever the casters out to the sides and drop the base of the dolly and the drill press as close to the ground as possible, like 1/8" or maybe 3/16" max. This gets your center of gravity close to the ground, which is good and it also make a tip over, front to back (assuming the casters are out on the sides) just about impossible, as the bottom of the dolly would rotate into the ground if it was tipped much at all.

Do you have a welder? If you do, some stout angle iron, I'd say 2" wide or so is all you need for the frame of the dolly, make it just a hair wider than the base of the drill press, and if the drill press is NOT exactly square, that is what a 4" angle grinders are for :D

For the cantilever parts that the casters bolt on to, some 4" wide channel would work.

Might be too much work for you if you don't have the tools etc, so maybe just buying the Fox Mini mobile base would be easier?

119_stand1.jpg

This is the mobile base I built for the Phoenix, sure it is WAY over kill, but the motor is right on the floor, and the whole saw is VERY stable with this set up.

gm_working_position.jpg

Here is the base I built for the Green Meanie, my jointer, again, I know, over kill, but I also know that I'll not be having to build a better base at some point :D

I think you get the idea, get the wheels cantilevered of to the side, so the weight of the tool rides as low as possible.

Cheers!
 
Don, I use the Shop Fox too. Stable, rigid, low (@ 1/2" clearance), fairly priced.
I should mention that the brake mechanism is screw-down feet which are not difficult to use, but some people prefer foot operated types using cams and such.
 
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Tell me why I can't pop the head off that pole,
cut a few inches off it and replace the head? :dunno:

DT

I do not see a problem with that. In fact I may do the same thing as time goes on.

I like Stuart's base if you have a welder and some extra time. If you buy one or make one I would keep the base as large as possible. I like the approximate size that I made mine. The extra few inches really make the whole thing a lot more stable.
 
I wanted some stability and a little elevation. The mobile part of this base could be whatever you decide. As Stu and Greg mentioned, my caster set to the outside for stability while moving and allow the base to squat to the ground once in position.

The HTC universal base, although rated at 600lbs, would not be my choice if I did it again. It is the poorest base I have but, I already had it and I rarely move the DP very far. If I were planning on running it from one side of the shop to the other on a regular basis, I would get a heavier mobile-base-frame than I have used here. The ballast has worked out very well and gives me a rock solid platform when dealing with longer (or shorter) boards:

http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3684
 
I bought some clothes line pulleys and some 3/4 by 3/4 angle iron and tap-conned them into the concrete slab....This gave me a set of tracks that my drill press rides on.

Most of the time my drill press stays tucked away against the wall, but for the occasional times I need to drill a long board, its effortless to pull my drill press out. In fact I can pull it out with two fingers its glides so easily. Running on tracks as it does, there is no effort to move it, and I don't have to steer it or try to keep it from tipping over either.

That sounds really neat Travis, could you perhaps take a few pictures of that for us?

DT
 
"I like it Greg! However, this is a major problem for me. I am 5' 3" tall!!!"

So what did you do with those high heals you used to wear when you were trying to impress the ladies.:eek::):D:rofl::rofl::rofl::thumb::wave:

Here is a pic of my Radial DP on 1 1/4" MDF in a Rockler 3 wheel base similar to the Delta base. It is plenty stable for this DP. I moved this DP the length of my 24' long shop without any problem when I re-arranged the shop.

Don I am only 5'9" tall & don't have any problem with reaching the DP handle.
 

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