Help a new guy- Dedicated drill press
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 8:34 pm
Hi everyone. New guy here.
I have a new to me circa 1995 Shopsmith model #510. I inherited it from my Dad. He probably used it 100-200 hours. After cleaning it and lubing it based on recommendations from YouTube videos, I am wondering if the best use of it is a dedicated drill press. I already have a band saw and I am certainly not interested in making furniture. I have used the drill press multiple times since getting the machine tuned up a month or two ago. It works much better than drilling by hand. The table does not lock tight, which seems to be a problem other users have encountered as well. I should also mention my carpentry skills are rudimentary, although I would love to get better
All that being said, do you have recommendations for how long to cut the tubes? I would like it to be as small a footprint as possible, while remaining steady. I know I need to flip the hinge joint to the other side so the drill press is over the table instead of off the back. Any other recommendations? Someone use the small table and some ball bearing to stabilize the main table (viewtopic.php?t=23764). Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Karl
ps: Attached is my astronomical cross stick that I made using the drill press. It allows you to measure the angular distance between stars and/or planets. Could not have made it freehand.
I have a new to me circa 1995 Shopsmith model #510. I inherited it from my Dad. He probably used it 100-200 hours. After cleaning it and lubing it based on recommendations from YouTube videos, I am wondering if the best use of it is a dedicated drill press. I already have a band saw and I am certainly not interested in making furniture. I have used the drill press multiple times since getting the machine tuned up a month or two ago. It works much better than drilling by hand. The table does not lock tight, which seems to be a problem other users have encountered as well. I should also mention my carpentry skills are rudimentary, although I would love to get better
All that being said, do you have recommendations for how long to cut the tubes? I would like it to be as small a footprint as possible, while remaining steady. I know I need to flip the hinge joint to the other side so the drill press is over the table instead of off the back. Any other recommendations? Someone use the small table and some ball bearing to stabilize the main table (viewtopic.php?t=23764). Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Karl
ps: Attached is my astronomical cross stick that I made using the drill press. It allows you to measure the angular distance between stars and/or planets. Could not have made it freehand.
