Help with machining sockets

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Hello

I have treated myself to a shiny new drill press - a Nova Voyager dvr - that is very nice (and clever).

My previous drill press was a Record Power model that I was happy with for years.

The Voyager has more power and lots of electronic wizardry that is great, but one change I am less attuned to is the table height adjustment - on the Record, this was a simple clamp on the column that was very quick to adjust, whereas the Voyager has a hand crank driven rise and fall mechanism - this is awkward for my situation, and so I want to add a powered linkage so that I can raise and lower the table.

(I have done a similar thing on my large planer thicknesser where I can drive the thicknesser height adjustment with a cordless drill and 13mm socket, so it will be most convenient to have a corresponding 13mm hex spigot to adjust the drill press table).

I have assembled bits that work, including a right angle adapter that will bring the 13mm hex spigot out through the (yet to be built) supplementary table (which will avoid reaching around/underneath.

I now want to rationalise the linkage assembly which will shorten it and should reduce any slop. This requires some machining that I don’t have the capability to do, so would like to know if anyone could do this.

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So the ideal (if feasible) would be to:

a) turn the 1/2” socket in the large lower socket into a 19mm hex socket that would take the 19mm hex spindle on the right angle adapter; and

b) make the hex bit at the top fit in the 1/2” socket of the small upper socket. The hex bit is 13mm on the top end and 14mm on the bottom; it is the 14mm I want to reduce down into the square 1/2”. The 14mm hex is not big enough to fill the corners of the 1/2” square, and I am hoping that this would not matter if it was machined down to a tight press fit - alternatively, I guess a 1/2” square x 13mm hex would need to be machined out of some bigger stock - I have looked for such a thing but have failed to find it.

what do the experts think?

cheers
 
I look forward to seeing your modification.

The hand crank works well, but is large and needs a cut out on the table I added ...

DP3a.jpg


I have used the Nova fence with a sub-fence ...

fence2.jpg


The round insert allows for an infinite number of holes (just turn it a little). It is a little more work to do, but worth it ...

I turn this in seconds on a lathe ...

DP2a.jpg


Add a Wixey for laser crosses ..

Wixey1.jpg


.. and a rechargeable bicycle light ...

bike-light2a.jpg


Regards from Perth

Derek
 
The trouble with machining sockets is that they are hardened - will require carbide tooling and a sturdy mill for the rigidity. I think the approach I'd take is to get a 19mm socket, cut the square drive portion off and weld it to the back of the 36mm, and probably surface grind the 14mm hex down to 1/2" square and weld them together.
 
I wonder if the application needs that heavy duty corner drive? I can't imagine it needing as much torque as a stubborn nut.

So if you leave that bit out, you could have a much simpler setup. You could use mild steel but hard wood would be ok. Get a length of decent rubber hose, enough to go round a gentle corner. Make a pair of pegs, square to fit into the sockets, round to fit into the tube. Actually only one end would need a square end if the other was gripped in the drill chuck. I think you'll find that hose will transfer enough torque to raise and lower the table.

If not, then you could start with a proper flexible drive.
 
The trouble with machining sockets is that they are hardened - will require carbide tooling and a sturdy mill for the rigidity. I think the approach I'd take is to get a 19mm socket, cut the square drive portion off and weld it to the back of the 36mm, and probably surface grind the 14mm hex down to 1/2" square and weld them together.

Having machined HSS using CBN coated carbide on a bridgeport (successfully, but with a big "lightshow"), I'd be inclined to say this is the best option.

Heating the sockets up and cooling, then machining, then re-hardening would be a good secondary option, but is dirty, messy, faffy and can run into shrinkage issues.

(I once neglected shrinkage from hardening when building a high speed spindle for an engraver, only to find my interference fit became a "flying shards of outer shell" fit as the bearings warmed up from shrink fitting, 30+ hrs of work down the pan.)
 
I wonder if the application needs that heavy duty corner drive? I can't imagine it needing as much torque as a stubborn nut.

So if you leave that bit out, you could have a much simpler setup. You could use mild steel but hard wood would be ok. Get a length of decent rubber hose, enough to go round a gentle corner. Make a pair of pegs, square to fit into the sockets, round to fit into the tube. Actually only one end would need a square end if the other was gripped in the drill chuck. I think you'll find that hose will transfer enough torque to raise and lower the table.

If not, then you could start with a proper flexible drive.

OTOH, I was wondering if he would have ENOUGH torque to drive the table up and down AndyT! I'm definitely NOT saying you're wrong (or that I'm right - I just don't know), and of course it all depends on the weight of the table - and of course, on the gear ratio of that right angle gearbox if he decides to use it.

I would only add that on my Rexxon pillar drill, which I modified to add a "proper woodworking" table, the mods necessitated shortening the handle for the UP/DOWN mechanism (to fit the new table addition - I didn't even contemplate adding a powered UP/DOWN drive). The handle mod was basically to roughly halve the length of the handle, and my goodness, you don't 'arf feel "the increased weight" of the table - even though it does still work manually OK.

But I DO like your idea of the "temp flex drive (rubber hose) though.

"Just saying" - no idea if I'm right or wrong.
 
Thank you for the comments and input.

I have concluded that it was fanciful to machine a hex recess in the hardened socket, so will go with Plan A which is to link another socket with a double 1/2” square drive connector.

For the hex spigot, I just ground the 14mm down to fit the square drive socket - did this on the bench grinder, then squeezed it into the socket in my big engineers vice (including a bit of scaffolding tube to add some welly to the handle; I was trying to make it a tight fit and keep it as square as possible, but it was really very tight, so added some heat! it‘s not pretty, but it’s done.

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The deep socket will be replaced with a standard length one - £2.64 from Toolstation

This works, holding the assembly firmly, so it is going to need some good bracing under the table - the torque is high, but the cordless drill handles it fine. The right angle gearbox was a (new, unused) £1.99 bargain on eBay and is a 2:1 gearing - I have it in reduction mode.

There will be a little delay before any update: I am away for a bit and need to resolve a mobile base of some sort first. I had not really figured on doing all this when I ordered the Voyager rather hastily and one thing is leading to another...

Cheers
 

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