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Ever felt that your drill press was grossly underpowered for your needs. I did, when I discovered that it was unable to cut with a 2" hole saw through 1/2" plywood. Having more power not only makes you feel like more of a man, but you will break fewer drill bits, and make cleaner holes of all sizes. The press I use is a Craftsman 9" model 137.219090. It supposedly has a 1/3 hp motor, but if we assume that amps are a fair gauge of power, the 1/3hp motor that I bought from Grizzly for this one is 5.3A at the same voltage, so a pretty safe bet that this is twice as powerful.
To make this project I was fortunate enough to have access to a full featured machine shop at City College of San Francisco, anyone remotely interested in machine work should seek out their local community college and take a class, before budget cuts are the end of them.
If you aren't as lucky, you can make this project just with another drill press, or without any machine tools if you use an arbor adapter, or a NEMA 48 motor.
To make this project I was fortunate enough to have access to a full featured machine shop at City College of San Francisco, anyone remotely interested in machine work should seek out their local community college and take a class, before budget cuts are the end of them.
If you aren't as lucky, you can make this project just with another drill press, or without any machine tools if you use an arbor adapter, or a NEMA 48 motor.
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Signing UpStep 1Gather parts and tools
Tools you will need:
A second drill press with vise and vee block, or metal lathe
Metric socket set up to 24mm (though 15/16 seemed to work for t
2mm Allen wrench
19/32 drill and 5/8" hand reamer (Just a 5/8" drill will do the trick in a pinch)
Gear puller, or plumbing handle puller.
A welder would be very helpful
Vernier Calipers or ruler graduated in 32nds
Medium (14") Channel Lock pliers
Angle grinder with cutoff wheel, and abrasive brush.
Parts you will need:
New Motor you may use a more powerful motor, but if it gets much heavier, you may need to counter balance the press.
New belt This should work for any NEMA 56 mount motors.
New switch (This is probably optional, but being unsure of the amp rating of the stock switch, I elected to pay the additional $4. This will also allow you to run on 220 if your shop is so equipped)
A second drill press with vise and vee block, or metal lathe
Metric socket set up to 24mm (though 15/16 seemed to work for t
2mm Allen wrench
19/32 drill and 5/8" hand reamer (Just a 5/8" drill will do the trick in a pinch)
Gear puller, or plumbing handle puller.
A welder would be very helpful
Vernier Calipers or ruler graduated in 32nds
Medium (14") Channel Lock pliers
Angle grinder with cutoff wheel, and abrasive brush.
Parts you will need:
New Motor you may use a more powerful motor, but if it gets much heavier, you may need to counter balance the press.
New belt This should work for any NEMA 56 mount motors.
New switch (This is probably optional, but being unsure of the amp rating of the stock switch, I elected to pay the additional $4. This will also allow you to run on 220 if your shop is so equipped)
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When I was kid growing up on isolated farms/ranches in rural Texas, we often had to improvise merely because prior to the internet and fast world wide package shipping, it could take days or weeks to find needed parts and get them installed. Heck, just driving to town and back again could burn most of an afternoon in a critical time window.
When you farm, mother nature is your boss and she doesn't accept any excuses. You get things done on her schedule or you starve. My grandfather and uncle, both of pre-wwII vintage, could improvise like you wouldn't believe. In almost every case, there was a better store bought solution somewhere but we just didn't have the time or money to get it right when we needed it. Even today in the developed world, you can still find yourself in that situation e.g. if you don't come from money, you starve in college.
Besides, saying "Instead of hacking something, just go buy a new X for a few bucks more" leads you to spend a lot of money compounded over time and a lot of projects. Those savings mean you can buy more supplies and tools and do more projects in the long run.
First, I had already purchased this press long before coming across a project for which it was underpowered, and it wasn't worth much as a used press, so I essentially would have been throwing away a press that I paid ~$80 for.
Second, when you get past 1/2 (stated) hp, the presses tend to get much bigger. I have a small shop and generally do small jobs, so I wanted to keep it small.
Third, just now, I priced 1/2 to 3/4 hp presses, and they are over $300, so in addition to losing what I spent on the existing press, I would be out more than the $120 or so that this project.
Finally, I enjoy doing projects like this!