Built entirely of home-made castings and standard hardware items, this drill press will make a valuable addition to your shop. It drills to the center of a 12" circle with a quill feed of 2 1/2". Both its spindle and countershaft are mounted in ball bearings. A single lever belt tension mechanism changes speeds quickly. A low speed of 260 RPM enables you to drill 5/8" holes in steel. Its table is adjustable radially for angular drilling. Quill feed is by cable winch or roller chain so there are no racks or pinions to make or purchase.

The machine is carefully planned and designed with the home built 7" swing lathe in mind. All of the castings are within the one quart pot capacity of the charcoal fondry. There is still no need to have any work done at the local machine shop and still no need to purchase any expensive tooling or accessories.

Though building a drill press may be the most difficult project in the series to justify, considering that a very serviceable imported machine can be purchased very cheaply, these operations have great training value as you build your shop and develop your skill. It is very likely that you will value the experience far more than the machine. It will certainly repay you for your labor and patience as you use it for some of the exacting jobs still left to face as you finish building your shop.