Project by Jeison | posted 05-08-2017 01:09 AM | 1866 views | 4 times favorited | 8 comments | ![]() |
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Soooo I decided that my drill press table and fence (as you can see in the last picture, it was about as basic as it gets heh) was in DIRE need of an upgrade, and I’m very happy with what I ended up with. Its fairly smallish (I only have a benchtop press, and I dont as of yet have enough free space to give it a permanent home) about 12” deep by 20” wide, but its big enough for my needs right now (also when I store it, I need to mindful of the size, I didn’t want to have to constantly remove and re-bolt it). I wanted to include some t-track for hold-downs and to attach the fence, and also a sacrificial insert in the center.
The base is 3/4” plywood glued down to some 1/2” OSB to give it some extra thickness (no real reason for that combination, I just like to use up the materials I have on hand, and these two pieces happened to be just the right size) topped with 1/8” hardboard for a nice smooth work surface. When I glued down the hardboard, I only glued the ends, so that when I routed out the channels for the t-track, the center piece came off, and voila, theres my removable insert, and in a nice easy size to make more.
The fence is a couple of strips of MDF glued together left from a previous project, I just drilled out for the bolts and routed a slot for the track, and then cut and drilled a couple simple stop blocks.
I made a spacer block that goes underneath the metal table, and drilled and countersunk, added a few bolts and washers, and done and done.
The only real issue I see in hindsight is that I may have made the tracks too wide apart; I realized that there is a sizeable gap between the hold-downs when the ends are as close as possible, but if I’m working on something small enough that its an issue I can always make a jig or something that locks into the existing track.
Also while I did need the removable section to be a certain minimum size to account for the bolts, I didn’t need it as wide as I made it (I think the largest thing I’ve used is a 3” hole saw), but oh well, live and learn, all things to be fixed in Table 2.0 LOL!
Actually, now I think about it, I could probably cut that insert into 3-4 strips a few inches deep each, that way as the center ones get chewed up, I just need to add one or two to push a fresh one into place, rather than replacing the whole thing.
-- - Jei, Rockford IL - When in doubt, spray it with WD-40 and wrap it with duct tape. The details will attend to themselves.
8 comments so far
steliart
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2895 posts in 4138 days
#1 posted 05-08-2017 02:35 AM
nicely done, simple to the point !
-- Stelios L.A. Stavrinides: - I am not so rich to buy cheap tools, but... necessity is the mother of inventions !!!
Jeison
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#2 posted 05-08-2017 03:16 PM
just like me! oh wait…. :D
-- - Jei, Rockford IL - When in doubt, spray it with WD-40 and wrap it with duct tape. The details will attend to themselves.
PPK
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#3 posted 05-08-2017 06:57 PM
Very nice. I’m going to build one of these for my new machine soon, and I like your method. Best jigs are ones that use up scraps!
-- Pete
DDWW
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#4 posted 05-12-2017 01:28 PM
Its a nice job, I like the fence wth the through bolts.. One thing I did on my table was to drill a hole in the top of the fence to put the chuck Key. It no longer wanders way…
helluvawreck
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#5 posted 05-12-2017 09:28 PM
This is a very nice drill press table. It will be a great addition to your shop.
helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
-- helluvawreck aka Charles, http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
Jeison
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#6 posted 05-13-2017 01:29 AM
I stuck a BFM (Big Freakin Magnet) to the side of mine for chuck key duty, got it as a harbor freight freebie and its been worth every penny :D
-- - Jei, Rockford IL - When in doubt, spray it with WD-40 and wrap it with duct tape. The details will attend to themselves.
Silvio
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#7 posted 05-13-2017 12:04 PM
Very nice job…looks awesome
-- May The Attitude of Your Faith Always Enrich The lives of Others
Mike_in_STL
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#8 posted 05-17-2017 10:18 PM
My Skil Drill press is screaming for this. Nicely done.
-- Sawdust makes me whole --Mike in STL
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