Drill Press Easy Lever

My drill press lever had a good workout when I made my Wood pipes

 and wood scroll holder. I used a hole saw and cut plenty of circles. It took 

some  time  and I was forever holding the lever and applying pressure. I 

thought what if I could add a weight and let the lever do most of the work

 by itself!

To start I will first make a handle and  this will hold some weight.
 I found this pipe in my shop and cut a piece off with my angle grinder.

Because cutting free hand is not that accurate I put it on the belt sander

 and squared it up. It was very easy to do and it turned out perfect.

Then maple end caps are made with a hole saw.....

       I did not have a hole saw to match the inside of the pipe handle 

    so I cut a larger circle and will sand it down to get the right fit. 

                   Now I am sanding the edge of the cap and testing it frequently to get the

    right size. It has to be a tight fit because it will be holding lead.

The cap is on, I used a vise to compress it in the pipe.

                               Now it's time to add some lead, when it was full I used a pipe  and

                               tapped down the end cap. I place a  washer on top of the cap so 

                               when I tapped it the maple cap would not split.

                             The threaded rod I used is 3/8", this is what fits the drill press. To 

                             cut it I placed it in the vise and used my vise jaw liner so I would

                             not mark the threaded rod.

The handle is finished and a wingnut is put on, it can be adjusted
to different lengths along the threaded rod to change the weight.




The drill press at work. I was able to do other things in my shop while
it was cutting.


















I tested many pieces of wood and saws and found no problems.
This would work best with hole saws and  I did not try it with
 regular drill bits because they would drill too fast.



See Also:

Table saw clamp                    Circle cutting jig                      Table saw with safety feature

                                          

Dust collector                        French Cleats Plus                     Making Dowels