I am thinking of concerting my table top drill press into a floor press by replacing the round column with a taller one. I can get a pipe that is clos e to the same size in stainless, but I would need to somehow turn the ends down where they fit into the top and base approximately .001 to .002.
Any ideas on how this could be done without a lathe?
Not much to remove really which is good. As an amateur glass blower I've done this type of thing on a number of occasions by rolling the tube on a couple of rails, normally a glass blowing bench, and holding an angle grinder with a flap disc against the part to remove the material and moving it along the section needing to be reduced. Lift the grinder before you stop and reverse direction to avoid flatting the tube, or start from the beginning again. As you're needing to remove so little best use a fine flap wheel. If this is a Chinese drill press you may find the tube drops straight in anyway if that close in size as in my experience with them the bores are not that accurate. I've used this procedure when fixing blowing iron heads that have cracked of back to the main shaft and cleaned the weld seam this way. Best in my experience to have the wheel grinding in the direction or near to the axis of the tube. If in doubt practice on some scrap tube.
Before going ahead, best check the table clamp will work ok with the larger diameter or you'll be needing to do the whole length (or at least as much as you intend to actually use).
I'd think you'd probably be better off just adding the lower section to the existing unless you really think you need that full height for the table (but virtually no floor models actually have the length of the post more than half the actual total length, anyway)?
And, you may need some more heft for the rigidity, anyway...
y replacing the round column with a taller one. I can get a pipe that is cl ose to the same size in stainless, but I would need to somehow turn the end s down where they fit into the top and base approximately .001 to .002.
It does not have a geard rack as a lot of them do. The table slides up and down on the shaft freely then tightens via a clamp by hand if that makes se nse.
No, I do not have a lathe. I am sorry I don't or if this is an over simplis tic question. My first thought was to use my belt sander on the ends of the pipe or a sanding disc on my die grinder. However, the reason for my quest ion was in case someone on here had a better idea I had not thought of that would allow me to get a more even thickness that a sander without risking making the ends flat instead of round.
My floor model Walker Turner works the same way. Watch your feet!
Belt sander, fine grit, go easy. Better yet, open up the sockets to fit the post. You can use a piece of wood with emery cloth wrapped around it. Don't taper it!
It does not have a geard rack as a lot of them do. The table slides up and down on the shaft freely then tightens via a clamp by hand if that makes sense.
No, I do not have a lathe. I am sorry I don't or if this is an over simplistic question. My first thought was to use my belt sander on the ends of the pipe or a sanding disc on my die grinder. However, the reason for my question was in case someone on here had a better idea I had not thought of that would allow me to get a more even thickness that a sander without risking making the ends flat instead of round.
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Before the modern metal lathe was developed around 1800, craftsmen turned metal the same way as wood, between stationary dead center points with the work turned by a belt wrapped around it. Here's what they could do that way:
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Holtzapffel's book "Hand or Simple Turning" may help:
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Google for free downloads, which I didn't waste my limited cellular megabytes checking. The print version I have is very good.
s by replacing the round column with a taller one. I can get a pipe that is close to the same size in stainless, but I would need to somehow turn the ends down where they fit into the top and base approximately .001 to .002.
nd down on the shaft freely then tightens via a clamp by hand if that makes sense.
listic question. My first thought was to use my belt sander on the ends of the pipe or a sanding disc on my die grinder. However, the reason for my qu estion was in case someone on here had a better idea I had not thought of t hat would allow me to get a more even thickness that a sander without riski ng making the ends flat instead of round.
My dad works for a pool supplier and can get it in stainless.
If you can get the pipe in SS then why can't you get it in regular steel? The SS must be expensive. Instead of trying to take the material off of the tube why not instead use a cylinder hone to open up the holes the pipe must fit in to? I bet it would be faster. More likely to end up with something round too. Eric
What's the wall thickness? My guess is it is too light for the job at hand. Drill press column is generally pipe (or DOM tubing with substantial thickness) not thinwall tubing as used for pool fittings.
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