LONG REACH DRILL PRESS 1

[CoolContractor]

I am trying to find a complex hinge of some sort to make a long reach drill press. (see drawing). I would like to have the drill 72" above the floor and be able to move straight down to the floor level without arcing. I was thing of a car hood hinge or something like it. Not trying to reinvent the wheel, just trying to find out if someone has already accomplished this.

 

[MikeHalloran]

A used machinery dealer can probably find you a very large drill press with a long reach.
They commonly have power feed, to deal with big drills.
They don't usually have a six foot stroke, but I think some can be arranged so that the head and arm follow a straight trajectory down the column as the arm height is adjusted.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[berkshire]

If it does not have to be upright, a gun barrel, drill might work for what you want to do.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[ornerynorsk]

There are a number of straight line mechanisms more appropriate for maintaining position of a machine head than 4 bar linkage, Peaucellier's comes to mind. A little Googling around will give you some ideas.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[hendersdc]

A radial arm drill might meet your needs. Plenty of used ones around.

 

[Compositepro]

I have seen a number of used radial arm drill presses for sale on auction sites for amazingly low prices. Machine tools are all about rigidity and these things will weigh thousands of pounds. Here a couple examples:

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=110&acctid=2799

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=2914&acctid=1577