By Noel Whiting
My Drilling Machine has a rather heavy table that is difficult to raise or lower to accommodate different heights of work piece and length of drills.

To avoid the need to adjust the table, I kept several blocks of wood handy on which to balance the machine vice, but occasionally this was not effective and it was necessary to release the clamp and waggle the table from side to side while trying to raise or lower it, hoping that it would not crash down.

Whilst engaged in this procedure, I noticed a handy looking bolt which clamped a little tray to the column on which the chuck key and taper drift are stored and I began to picture a pulley and counterweight which would solve my problem – no sooner said than done and adjusting the table is now bliss. 20kg of lead now give exact balance. A nippy vice causes the table to sink slowly and one hand is sufficient for complete control.
Spurred on by this success, I could not resist making a similar modification to my son’s machine which is at present in my garage whilst his workshop is being rebuilt.

The table is not particularly heavy but the column hole is fairly short but the table tends to jam unless it is lifted close to the column. A neat solution was possible since the machine has a hollow column.