A Speedy Drill Press Depth-Stop

From the "Why didn't I think of this a long time ago?" department comes this speedy depth-stop modification for an old threaded-rod-style drill press depth-stop.

Pictured above is the depth-stop on my venerable Beaver drill press as the factory supplied it. It works fine, but it's a tedious thing to use. It takes a lot of knurled nut twirling to set and reset it.

The other day I needed to use it and I asked myself, "What's the diameter of that threaded rod that's so conveniently flattened on two opposite sides." It turns out it's 1/2"; just the sort of diameter that I'd be likely to have a shaft collar for in my 1/2" diameter stuff bin.

Sure enough, I had a 1/2" shaft collar, and a nice 5/16"-18 x 1 1/2" hex socket head screw to use for an extended-reach setscrew. I spun off the two knurled nuts, installed the shaft collar and now I have a quick-set depth stop, like so:

I wonder what's the sum total of time I've spent over the years twirling those two knurled nuts. It's probably just as well that I have no way of knowing that.

# # #

FEEDBACK

# # #