Floor drill presses- bolted down?

[wreckwriter]

Does a floor mount drill press need to be lagged down to the floor or are they stable enough to just stand on their own?

[Turaj]

I am not an expert but I don't think they need to be bolted down! I have mine (16 1/2" Delta) on a home made mobile base about 24" wide and have not have any problems. I feel the drill press is very stable by itself!

[LarryG]

Depends on the conditions.

A floor-model drill press is the most top-heavy stationary tool I can think of, offhand. But I wouldn't call them inherently unstable, provided the head remains more or less centered over the foot. It would take a fairly substantial shove to get most of them tipped far enough to topple over.

In machine or metalworking or auto shops, where long and/or heavy workpieces are being slid across the table, there's a very real risk of pushing the tool over if the workpiece catches on the table or column. I've never known of a woodworker (or any other home-shop owner) who had his floor-model drill press bolted down, however.

[wreckwriter]

thanks guys!

[gary]

I have my bolted to a 24x36" piece of 3/4 plywood per the instructions.

[Tom Miller]

There are plenty of easy and/or common sense things you can do short of bolting the thing down to give you a measure of security. A lot depends on where your DP is located in the shop, too.

I keep my DP in a corner, so if it did tip over, it likely wouldn't hurt anyone because it doesn't have room to fall all the way. Also, it's not near a pathway, so it's not likely to get bumped into.

I also like the idea that Turaj and Gary posted. You could also quite easily bolt 2x4 outriggers to the top of the base.

Regards,
Tom

[LCHIEN]

I put some 2x4 outriggers below the base, they add about 4 inches to the sides and 1 or 2 inches front and back. Also they have wheels under them and I have wedged blocks that just barely lift the wheels so the thing won't move.

Fortunately a DP most of the force the user applies is to drive the quill down so there's not much side load wnating to tip it over. unlike other power tools where you can push a large beam into it from the side.

[wreckwriter]

There are plenty of easy and/or common sense things you can do short of bolting the thing down to give you a measure of security.

Actually bolting it to the floor would be the easiest and cheapest solution IF it were needed. 2 minutes works to drill holes for a couple lag shields, couple bucks in hardware..

Just trying to do some pre-delivery research; guess I should just wait til it arrives and see how stable it feels.

[Tom Slick]

I have never neen one bolted down and I have seen alot of them.

[Tom Miller]

Actually bolting it to the floor would be the easiest and cheapest solution IF it were needed.

Yeah, no argument there. I didn't mean that other solutions were easier, just easy, and they would be less "final" (in terms of tool placement). I can just imagine my floor turning into swiss cheese as I constantly reconsider where I want the thing.

Regards,
Tom

[wreckwriter]

I can just imagine my floor turning into swiss cheese as I constantly reconsider where I want the thing.

Regards,
Tom

Yea, I can see that too. The mobile base might be the ticket. After I get the press I'll see how big the base is and consider options. Thanks for the advice!