Project Information
I finally got around to making my drill press table. In the first pic you can see my old "table" I threw together for a project and kept using for probably about 5 years!
A neighbor had given me a piece of formed formica countertop and I wanted to use that for a table. I cut off all the formed parts and just used the flat top bit. I glued it to a leftover piece of plywood to increase the thickness and to counter the warping of the particle board topper. Pressed and glued it flat, testing flat with a straight edge.
Made a cutout for the post of the drill press, leaving room to tighten the handle that secures the table height. Then I took my 3 1/4" hole saw and cut out a circle in some 1/4" hardboard. This is what I'm using for the insert. To make the template for routing out the hole for the insert I took the outside remnant from the hole saw and cut it into 8th's, taped one side against the insert and then flipped it over and glued some oversized cover weight paper to the the new router template. I laid it paper side down where I wanted it, taped it in place. I was able to sneak up on the depth by leaving one long edge taped down, flipping back the template and dropping in an insert.
I mounted the table to the drill with some left over brackets and screw inserts from an undermount sink install to the metal table on the base. Then I drilled up to ALMOST the table top, through the metal table base.
I drilled down from the top to make the finger pull that lets me pop out the inserts. the hole drilled from below lets the sawdust and chips fall through so I don't have to clean it out.
I used a circle insert to let me turn it slightly to get a new drilling surface. I can get about sixteen - 1/4" setups drilled or 5 1" forstner bit set ups drilled before I need to turn the insert over. And since I"m using a hole saw to make them I have a stack of about ten 2-sided inserts ready to use.
Everything but the fence, brackets, and flipstops was made from leftovers and scrap stuff, so I spent some money on this hardware from Lee Valley. The fence is short enough to fit under the handles of my drill press, which is mostly the reason I picked it. Most other fences and drill press tables have fences too tall.
This hardware is spendy, about $90 for all of it, but its really nice. Since I did not spend anything on the rest of the materials I figure it's a good buy.
A neighbor had given me a piece of formed formica countertop and I wanted to use that for a table. I cut off all the formed parts and just used the flat top bit. I glued it to a leftover piece of plywood to increase the thickness and to counter the warping of the particle board topper. Pressed and glued it flat, testing flat with a straight edge.
Made a cutout for the post of the drill press, leaving room to tighten the handle that secures the table height. Then I took my 3 1/4" hole saw and cut out a circle in some 1/4" hardboard. This is what I'm using for the insert. To make the template for routing out the hole for the insert I took the outside remnant from the hole saw and cut it into 8th's, taped one side against the insert and then flipped it over and glued some oversized cover weight paper to the the new router template. I laid it paper side down where I wanted it, taped it in place. I was able to sneak up on the depth by leaving one long edge taped down, flipping back the template and dropping in an insert.
I mounted the table to the drill with some left over brackets and screw inserts from an undermount sink install to the metal table on the base. Then I drilled up to ALMOST the table top, through the metal table base.
I drilled down from the top to make the finger pull that lets me pop out the inserts. the hole drilled from below lets the sawdust and chips fall through so I don't have to clean it out.
I used a circle insert to let me turn it slightly to get a new drilling surface. I can get about sixteen - 1/4" setups drilled or 5 1" forstner bit set ups drilled before I need to turn the insert over. And since I"m using a hole saw to make them I have a stack of about ten 2-sided inserts ready to use.
Everything but the fence, brackets, and flipstops was made from leftovers and scrap stuff, so I spent some money on this hardware from Lee Valley. The fence is short enough to fit under the handles of my drill press, which is mostly the reason I picked it. Most other fences and drill press tables have fences too tall.
This hardware is spendy, about $90 for all of it, but its really nice. Since I did not spend anything on the rest of the materials I figure it's a good buy.
