Drill Press Upgrade

Two issues with my drill press have annoyed me since I bought it: there is no quill lock and the depth stop is a nuisance to use. In this Instructable I will remedy both issues using machinery at the Techshop, http://techshop.ws, in San Jose,CA. 

Step 1:

I removed the depth stop adjustment bar and nuts along with the guide frame from the drill press. I'll use a length of 1 inch dia. aluminum rod stock for the new parts I'm making and I'll use a 1 Inch collet to hold the rod stock in the lathe for machining.
Using 1 inch stock in a 1 inch collet calls for some gentle persuasion, emphasis on gentle. Collets are precision pieces of equipment and need to be treated accordingly. 

Step 2:

The first step is to face the rod stock and then provide a exact start point for drilling using a center drill.

Step 3:

The final inside diameter is 5/8 inch and it's easier to achieve by drilling it in a couple of steps. Like Mom said; "take small bites".

Step 4:

I'm making a couple of collars and I decided to make them 1/2 inch tall ( or thick or long, whichever you prefer). This dimension is based on the fact that the collars will be tapped 1/4-20 and 1/2 inch leaves enough meat on either side of the tapped hole.
I used a parting tool to part off the collars and then returned the collars to the collet chuck for facing.
Once the 5/8 hole was drilled I could have cut the collars to length using the bandsaw or cold saw, but I had enough stock and I had a parting tool, so that's the way I did it.

Step 5:

At the milling machine I held each collar, elevated on a set of parallels, in the machine vice . Again, I used a center drill to establish the hole location followed by the appropriate tap drill. While the collar was still in position I hand tapped it 1/4-20.

Step 6:

I next drilled and tapped the face of the guide frame for a 1/4-20 thread. 

Step 7:

Reassembled on my drill press I now have a  convenient depth stop and  user friendly quill lock.
Note the classy "Finger Nuts".