General Drill Presses

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 17:14:25 GMT, "Upscale" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Anybody own a General drill press with their adjustable height head
>apparatus? The small picture in the link shows a sample of one. Because of
>my height limitations, I'm considering the purchase of one of these. If you
>own one of a similar type drill press, how easy is it to adjust the head up
>and down the shaft? Anybody know of other manufactures that can do the same
>thing? Thanks.
>
> http://www.general.ca/product/general/34anfea.html
>
>

My Powermatic drill press has the adustable head height feature.

<http://www.jettools.com/PMWood/Tools/DrillPresses/1200HD.html>

I'm glad that I bought the optional head-raising kit for it because I don't
have a forklift :-). The head-raising kit makes moving the head vertically
easy. On my drill press the head-raising kit is a a crank
on the side of the head that engages a toothed track on the column - it's
a clone of the table-raising mechanism. Once in position, there are two
locks that you tighten to keep the head from swinging side-to-side (or
up and down). The head-raising kit supports the head on on a ball bearing
so it's easy to move the head side-to-side when the locks are released; IOW,
it's hard to keep from moving it side-to-side and messing up your alignment
when you raise or lower the head but sometimes a little side-to-side motion
makes life easier.

Sometimes moving the head vertically makes the setup more comfortable. Since
my drill press is on a mobile base, being able to lower the head makes it
more stable and safer to move around.

It looks like both the table-raising mechanism and the head raising mechanism
are optional on the General. I'd think you'd want both, unless you're going
to set it up for large production runs or you like using jacks.

OTOH, maybe you're strong enough not to need such sissy accessories :-) The
heaviest General only weighs 300 lbs :-). I'm guessing that the table on the
big General (model 34-10) probably weighs 150 lbs. I'll SWAG the column at
50 lbs leaving 100 lbs for the head. That wouldn't be a problem for me - well,
20 years ago that wouldn't have been a problem for me :-(, now I enjoy the
sissy accessories.

Bob S

On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 00:32:10 GMT, "Upscale" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Thanks for the link and the reply. The link you gave also leads to other
>models of Powermatic drill presses. It looks like only the heavy duty line,
>any of 15", 17" or 20" has the adjustable head feature. At least, the
>pictures appear to show it that way. Is that your understanding?
>
>

That sounds right. I think it's only the heavy duty U.S. made models that
have the adjustable head.

Bob S

"Bob Summers" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 17:14:25 GMT, "Upscale" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> My Powermatic drill press has the adustable head height feature.
>
> <http://www.jettools.com/PMWood/Tools/DrillPresses/1200HD.html>

Thanks for the link and the reply. The link you gave also leads to other
models of Powermatic drill presses. It looks like only the heavy duty line,
any of 15", 17" or 20" has the adjustable head feature. At least, the
pictures appear to show it that way. Is that your understanding?

"Bob Summers" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 00:32:10 GMT, "Upscale" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >any of 15", 17" or 20" has the adjustable head feature. At least, the
> >pictures appear to show it that way. Is that your understanding?
> >
> That sounds right. I think it's only the heavy duty U.S. made models that
> have the adjustable head.

Sounds like the marketing team has been influencing the construction line.
An adjustable height head will be a must have for me. When I'm ready, I'll
have to price the Powermatic. It's likely that I'll go with the a General
model though since they're available in Canada and the Powermatic isn't, at
least not easily.