What do you put under a drill press?

Hi,

If you happened to catch my previous thread about adjusting the height of the DP table you will know I had a bad time with that. The answer to that eventually came down to purchasing a new Delta with adjustable table (17-959L).

The instructions say bolt it to the floor or mount it on a sheet of ¾” plywood 28 x 21 inches. The Rockler sales person said do not use a dolly (Is this logical?). OK so I mount it on the plywood. What is going to happen to the plywood in a few years sitting on the cement floor in my garage? I foresee wood-rot.

I trimmed down a sink cutout to the designated size. I painted the plywood side with exterior primer (2 coats). I painted over the primer with two coats of exterior acrylic. Then I got chicken. Knowing me, I assume that the DP will get moved once or twice---scratching through the paint. Will that paint prevent rot even though scratched? I think not.

If I lay out a sheet of plastic under the plywood it will probably get scratched through the first time I move the beast. I could put a new piece under it after the move. However, that is one HEAVY piece of machinery. Tilting it to put plastic under it scares me.

I could lay the cutout so that the laminate is down against the cement. However (There had to be a however didn’t there?), the laminate is sure going to look better under the DP than the painted plywood. I don’t know why I am concerned about that; after all it is a woodworking shop. I suppose looking at some of your shop pictures makes me want to be “Not-ugly.”

Back to the dolly question. I would sure like to be able to move this beastie once in a while. However, I can understand the Rockler salesperson's concerns. This machine is tall and not only heavy but top-heavy. If I raise it on 4" casters, I am going to have to get a footstool to change the speeds.

I am, also, one of those, "If in doubt, build it stout." (Remind you of anyone?) type people. If it is going to have wheels, they will need to be heck for strong and the platform is going to have to be large enough to be a real base.

I can certainly live without wheels, however it will be inconvenient. Teflon skids? Whatevers? I sincerely doubt that it will ever be moved as much as six feet.

Enjoy and thanks for your help.

Jim
 
Jim,

I have seen people who put mobile bases under their DP. Not a lot, mind you, but several.

If you build a base somewhat like this, it'll only raise you up an inch or so.
jointer-base-2.jpg
 
Jim,

I've had my Craftsman DP since 1987 and it is sitting directly on the concrete floor with no bolts connecting it. I never noticed it showing any signs of tilting or wobbling. Maybe I've just been lucky.

For what it's worth.
 
I never put a base on my DP but I move it so seldom that I can slide it around when I need to. If you're going to move it on a regular basis, a base of some kind would be nice.

I don't have mine bolted down or atached to a sheet of plywood or anything else and I don't find the DP to be "tippy". You'd have to push pretty hard to tip it over.

Mike
 
The idea, Jim, is to get a bigger footprint for this very top heavy machine. I have mine bolted down, but then I don't plan to move it. In all the years I have had a drill press, the only time I moved it was when I moved the entire shop!

Another thought. You live in a part of the world where the earth shakes occasionally. So did I. If you put it on wheels, make sure your footprint is large enough to keep things from wobbling over when the shelf plates in the Pacific decide to move.
 
Jim

Is the floor actually wet or are you just thinking about damp coming through the slab? The truth is that unless the floor is actually wet it will be quite a few years before that cutout is suffering decay.

I'm not a fan of floor standing DP because they are inevitably a bit tippy. I use benchtops and bolt them onto a cart. I personally wouldn't leave it freestanding or put it on wheels. If you don't bolt it down definitely add the base and don't worry about rot because if/when it does occur you can just change the plate anyway.
 
I have my 17" drill press on a mobile base much like Greg's. When the wheels are retracted, it's plenty stable for my current needs. (If I was handling larger or longer pieces of wood, it might be a different story.)
 
Jim, I have found I can move my drillpress with a 2 wheel cart. Just lean it enough to get the wheels to roll. I don't think you should have much of a problem with the plywood rotting, unless water is running into your shop. I never thought about a quake tipping over a drillpresss, until I read this thread. We had a small quake here last month, maybe I should attach mine to something solid.
 
Is the floor actually wet or are you just thinking about damp coming through the slab? The truth is that unless the floor is actually wet it will be quite a few years before that cutout is suffering decay.

DITTO!

I have a big enough shop that moving my Drill presses are not an issue. But they are top heavy, so I wouldn't consider a mobile base a good option. When I do move mine, I just grab the dolly and move it.
 
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Another thought. You live in a part of the world where the earth shakes occasionally. So did I. If you put it on wheels, make sure your footprint is large enough to keep things from wobbling over when the shelf plates in the Pacific decide to move.
Very good point. I hadn't thought about that.

Mike
 
Jim,
I use this one from HTC and It works well.
The brakes are good and the Drill Press is stable.
It makes the drill press very easy to move when I need too. :thumb:

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http://www.amazon.com/HTC-HJCS-10-M...f=pd_bbs_8?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1210709809&sr=8-8

DT
 
Hi Jim,

I recently purchased a Delta 17-950L and mounted it to the plywood base per the instructions, I then mounted the plywood to an HTC2000 Universal Mobile Base. Works quite well thus far.
 
What to put under a drill press

I have a mobile base under my 17" Jet DP and have not had any problems
insofar as it feeling tippy whenever I move it, however, I generally guide it
by holding the table with both hands whenever I pull it forward. When I push
on it I push on the base with my foot while guiding it with my hands on the
table. I push with my feet against the base in case one of the wheels hits a
small piece of wood on the floor which, in effect, would cause the DP to trip
over backwards suddenly if I were to be pushing with my hands.
 
Hi All,

Thanks for your responses.

Art. That is a good way to keep the level as low as possible. I’m a short guy. If I raise the DP 4” I’m going to need a step stool to change the drill speed.

Lee. Between my father and me we have had a Delta DP for eons. It has never been fastened down. We have never had a problem. If either of us moved it, we did it VERY carefully (my dad was smaller than me) with a hand-truck.
The new beast is much heavier (all of the extra weight at the top) and taller than the old Delta...That’s why I am going, “Cluck, cluck, cluck! I don’t want to lay an egg.).

Carol. I can’t believe that I (a native Southern Calif. guy) never even thought of earth quakes and the DP. My wife and I have a friend whose upstairs ended up in her bed. We have friends whose houses have been totaled. My other son lost part of a roof and a small fortune in figurines at home and an entire wall of new computers, printers, etc. at his place of business. I have the hot water tank anchored for earthquakes, we have our “treasures” box to grab if we have a big one. We also have our earthquake agenda (turn off gas and electricity, where do we meet, etc.). But I’m too dumb to think about a top-heavy drill press.

Ian. The floor is not actually damp. What causes my concern is that I temporarily (5 months) leaned some plywood against the wall---the bottom several inches was ruined (stains, delamination, etc.). They do not build vapor barriers in garage floors in So. Cal.

Norman. The new DP is so top heavy it would obscotulate me if it even thought of going out of balance while being moved. I could not even begin to stop it from toppling.

Mark. My plywood base is approx. 22” wide and is exactly 28” front to back. I have a piece of steel that is 16” x 16” and one inch thick. I plan to store it on the DP base.

Dan and Kirk. My son, Glenn, has a HTC base on a machine (not DP). I may go that way mounting the plywood base to the HTC.

Robert. I really relate to the way you hold your DP when moving it. Many years ago I had a special piece of equipment made. It took almost a year to get it. It was mounted to an adjustable height, rolling table. An employee pushed it, instead of pulling as he should, a wheel caught and several thousand dollars and a year of waiting went totally splat.

A million thanks to all of you who responded to my question.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
If you know for a fact that you are going to have moinkeys in your shop, then yes bolt it down.:rofl::rolleyes: I think they put that in there for insurance reasons.
 
Al,

There will definitely be monkies in there---Glenn and Jim Bradley!

I'm sure it is similar to tags in clothing that say, "Dry clean only." that do not need to be dry cleaned. Heck, I run my leather jackets thru the washing machine on gentle and in cold water. Just don't put them in the dryer like my wife did one time. We had the nicest, perfectly proportioned jacket just the right size for a small monkey. The dang thing cost $175.00 too.

I'm little, but that jacket was rediculous.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
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