If your drill press has a threaded depth stop - there’s a MUCH better way! And, it’s NOT very expensive to upgrade with instantly adjustable nuts that allow you to make drill depth settings in one quick motion.
#drillpress #drilling #machinery #woodworkingtools
We love our drill press - the Powermatic® PM2800 VS. This is a robust drill press with the woodworker in mind. It has an oversized table, adjustable fence with an integrated vacuum port, laser crosshairs, and speed adjustments on the fly with a very handy LED RPM indicator. We’ve further “tricked out” our press with a mobile base and a column-mounted bit holder.
A key feature any drill press has is a depth stop. This allows you to set how deep the drill or bit will lower - allowing for precise and repeatable holes, at the correct depth, to be drilled.
The later model of our drill press has another enhancement - an INSTANT adjustable depth stop. If your drill press has a threaded rod with opposing adjustment nuts, it’s possible you can convert your press to a superior instant stop set up. Sure, the original equipment works, but it’s clunky.
Dirtfarmer Jay demonstrates in this episode how to convert the Powermatic® PM2800 VS using M16 thread, 35mm hex push-button nuts. You’ll need to determine what thread size your machine is and acquire the right sized nuts for it.
These types of nuts aren’t exactly “off-the-shelf”, but they can be purchased from industrial bolt and nut suppliers locally or online.
We bought ours from Progressive Industries at [ Ссылка ]. Their product description is “Morton Machine Works - Hex Nut - M16 x 2.00 Metric Coarse Steel Right Hand Push Button Hexagon Nut.” The SKU number is 1097522, and the part number is 01376706.
We bought 2, each being under $15 each. With tax and freight, our investment was under $35! Two were needed to both create the depth stop as well as a bottom nut to set the drill at a fixed depth without having to use the handles.
Are there any trade-offs when doing this modification? Indeed, there are two small downsides.
First, the nuts themselves are 1-⅛” thick, so that takes out some of the adjustment range that you would have if you were using only the thinner opposing nuts that are supplied with the machine. The same is true if you add a nut at the bottom to lock the spindle.
Second, the size of the nut is such that it’s right against the side of the body of the drill press, so the nut can’t turn. That means the nut can only be set in increments that match the thread pitch (in our case, one thread every 2 mm). This precludes ultra-small adjustments. Even so, we feel these trade-offs are more than worth it because we tend to use a limited range of depth settings anyway.
Heck, you can get a great enhancement to your drill press for a reasonable price and JUST DO IT YOURSELF!
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