Deadeye
Established Member
I have an elderly, bench-mounted pillar drill that I'd like to floor mount - which should be as trivial as fitting a longer steel pillar, except the pillar is imperial: 2.75" diameter.
So some questions:
I can get thick walled 70mm tube relatively easily. I'm unconcerned about the fit to the base, table and safety collar as these all have a split and get clamped by bolts. However, the current tube is a snug fit to the head casting... so I'm not sure the extra 0.15mm will go in? I thought of cooling the tube and warming the head. If I did manage to make that work, would the head then jam on so hard I couldn't move it/ever get it off again? Might it damage the head casting?
Assuming it won't fit when warm, and that force fitting is a poor plan, anyone know a source of true 2.75" thick wall steel tube? I see some suppliers claiming to have it, but closer inspection shows they mean 70mm.
Any other suggestions?
So some questions:
I can get thick walled 70mm tube relatively easily. I'm unconcerned about the fit to the base, table and safety collar as these all have a split and get clamped by bolts. However, the current tube is a snug fit to the head casting... so I'm not sure the extra 0.15mm will go in? I thought of cooling the tube and warming the head. If I did manage to make that work, would the head then jam on so hard I couldn't move it/ever get it off again? Might it damage the head casting?
Assuming it won't fit when warm, and that force fitting is a poor plan, anyone know a source of true 2.75" thick wall steel tube? I see some suppliers claiming to have it, but closer inspection shows they mean 70mm.
Any other suggestions?