cam-lockdepthstopfordrillpress

My inexpensive drill press came with a threaded rod and two jam-nuts for the depth stop mechanism. Initially I improved on this by adding a rubber grommet between the two nuts. This let me avoid having to use a wrench to set the depth stop.

Recently I purchased a 7X10 metal turning lathe, and as a first project I built a replacement depth stop for the drill press (this was my first real project on the metal lathe).

The original threaded rod type depth stop was replaced with a smooth section of 3/8 inch OD rod.

A block of aluminum was cut to appropriate size for the drill press, and drilled to slide up and down on the stop rod.

A section of 5/16 inch OD iron rod was chucked off-center in the lathe's 3-jaw chuck (you do this by shimming one jaw with an aluminium scrap), and the eccentric turned to 1/4 inch diameter by 1/4 inch wide. NOTE: This leaves a depression all around the 5/16 rod with the eccentric part being 1/4 inch OD.

Then a 1/4 inch OD hole was drilled from the outside through the cam-rod hole and into the stop-rod hole. This was fitted with a short section of 1/4 inch OD steel rod, cut to length to make everything hold together without any C-rings, press-pins, or other fixing screws. Remember that groove around the cam rod? The push-rod slides in it and prevents the cam-rod from being pulled out of it's hole.

Install the 1/4 inch push-rod first, push it part way into the depth-rod bore, then install the cam-lock rod next and push the 1/4 inch rod back against the retracted cam. Now insert the mounting block assembly over the stop-rod.

At this point the cam rod cannot be removed without removing the block from the stop rod, so everything fits together like a puzzle.

The bottom edge of this cam-lock body block serves as a pointer for using index markings on the drill press body.

My email address can be found by going to <http://www.qrz.com> and doing a callsign search for "K7HKL".