Dealing with drill press column.

[capncarl]

Hack saw it.it won’t take too long as the tube isn’t going to be that thick, the tube cut off at the top doesn’t have to perfectly square, unless you are ocd and that is another problem. The rack gear will not be that hard either. None of these metals are likely hardened. You can clean up with sandpaper in a rotary sander if you don’t have a grinder. I use 220 grit without holes in an old B&D 5” oscillating sander when I don’t want to get out a grinder or metal sander.

[dbhost]

As many may know, a long time ago I picked up a somewhat abused Northern Industrial 13" 16 speed floor model Drill Press from a Craigslist seller. Guy was moving, house being packed up and the drill press had the belt lid all bent up etc... but otherwise worked well and it was cheap, like $75.00 cheap...

I bought it, took it home straightened out the belt cover / lid assembly via 2x4 dolly and hammer, and put it to use...

Fast forward to what I really wanted, and how I intend on changing up my shop.

I wanted / needed a bench top model, with drill, and drill bit storage cabinet underneath.

I LOVE the chuck throw of this thing, and literally all the new benchtop models I have seen just don't have the throw I want / need.

That is, except the HF 13" 16 speed benchtop model. Which other than paint and plastic colors, appears to be the same drill press with a shortened column.

I have toyed with the idea of shortening the column and worm gear.

I have no access to a metal cutting bandsaw, but I DO have an angle grinder and cutoff wheels.

I am wondering if it is worth it to try bobbing it via angle grinder / cutoff wheels, and then reinstalling to the shortened base...

This is going to be VERY important for maximinzing space utilization when I do the shed shop build and move...

Honestly my ideal would have been a Ryobi 12" but those have been off market quite a while, and finding them on the used market has been all but impossible...