damagi wrote:jsburger wrote: I would like to see a picture with the shorter tubes. I thought I might have to do that.Yeah, that was my feelings too. It wasn't horrible, but I felt like it could be better. In theory, having the two sets of legs almost touching is probably the best setup in terms of foot position. However, my concern was instability. What I have now seems to be a good compromise.jsburger wrote: I used the 18" pieces of bench tubes I cut off when I made my shorty. My initial feeling was that they may be a little too long given the front leg sticks out past the table a bit and would interfere with standing at the drill press. As it turns out, when I stand at the drill press I tend to stand a bit to the right and my left foot fits under the opening in the leg and my right foot sits to the right of the leg. It works quite naturally so I haven't felt a great need to disassemble the machine and shorten the way tubes.
Since I have done a lot of repairs and such of older units, I had the fixed table from a 500 just lying around. Right now I am using it as-is, but have considered adding a small chunk of wood on top to prevent damage to the table itself and perhaps add leveling capability.jsburger wrote: I see you are using a set of fixed table tubes with the connecting bracket for front table support. I used the main table tubes that are replaced when you do the MK 7 double tilt upgrade. The problem was that if you move the table you need three hands to adjust both tubes and tighten the lock.I ended up using a 1/4" dowel through the original attachment pin holes in the end of the tubes. Works great.
Interesting. I had considered picking up the table raiser. I am younger and more physically fit compared to your average SS user, so the weight isn't really the issue...moreso a convenience factor.jsburger wrote: I don't move the headstock (yet). I installed a SS table raiser cylinder and move the table instead. The headstock is set a bit high (an inch or two) for normal drilling. Then if I use a longer bit I just move the table with the table raiser. 90% of the time I don't have to move anything. Because the headstock is reversed on the way tubes the table raiser brackets don't mount according to the instructions but the mount just fine anyway.
I also toyed with using a lead screw attached to the tie bar and the headstock casting. I think it is perfectly doable but I am not sure it is worth the effort since I almost never move the headstock.
That's the same setup I used a while back. The guy had left his 500 outside in the pacific northwest in a carport...ugh, that was an adventure. I like your wooden plug. I ended up using a rubber plug from NAPA that was the right size. I got one for the way tubes, one for the bench tubes. Worked great.jsburger wrote: Yes I was cleaning some 10ER tubes for a dedicated 10ER drill press for a friend. Got the 10ER for $50. There was no bench or accessories but that was all that was needed for a dedicated drill press.
You had an old 500 with different sized bench tubes. That is the way they were when they first came out. I am not sure how many years they were different but my guess is it was only a few.
The wood plug works fine. I turned it from popular which is a little soft. It didn't take long to ware a groove in it and it wouldn't hold. Now I just wrap it with a couple layers of masking tape each time I use it and it works fine.
One thing I did find is that the large drum sanding mandrel from the SS drum sanding kit fits the MK V tubes perfectly and tightens right up but I was doing 10ER tubes.
