Height-Adjustable Drill Press Table

Well, I finally completed three upgrades to my drill press - a mobile base, a set of storage cabinets, and a pretty cool, height adjustable top. I've never posted anything on Lumberjocks before, so I thought this might be a good time! This post is mainly about the top (I'll try not to ramble on for too long!)

My old top had served me well for over 20 years, but it was small, and the fence lacked a track for adding a stop.

Worst of all, the height adjustment handle was terribly inconvenient to reach and was a real knuckle-buster to operate, and the table lock was equally inconvenient and I could never seem to get enough torque on it to really lock the table tightly.




I found a great set of drill press table plans on the web (Woodsmith, $7.95), and they were the first ones that featured a front-mount height adjustment and a side-mounted lock that were convenient. I had to try it. After I ordered the plans, I found that another Lumberjock had build the same table, and he was very helpful in giving me some tips before I got started (thanks Rayne!)

Turns out this was one of the few sets of stock plans that I used without a lot of modifications. The table went together pretty much the way it was designed, but I will tell you that it requires a few metal-working skills I don't actually have, and a large dose of patience that I had to dig deep for. I wouldn't describe this as a beginner's project.

The plans call for two layers of plywood with no edge banding. I had some leftover melamine from a prior project, so I decided to use that instead, and I added an edge banding of oak that was also left over from something else. Here's a picture of the two pieces cut and glued up. You need a 6" circle cutter to cut a hole in the top layer prior to assembly, which creates a recess for a replaceable insert.

The next part of the project is pretty straightforward. Add the edge banding, dado and add the T-tracks, then build the fence. The plans call for Kreg tracks, but I used Rockler's Universal tracks (the blue tracks in pictures) because they're less expensive. The plan also calls for just two tracks on the table, but in my work I clamp down a lot of odd shaped pieces, so since I had two pieces of T-track left from a previous project, I went ahead and added those to the table for extra clamping options (the two red tracks). Another thing I like about this plan is the two slots cut in the table, which allow you to use long bar clamps from underneath when necessary.

Here's the completed table, lag-bolted to the drill press's metal table:

Now the real fun began. To support the metal shafts that operate the crank mechanisms, the plans call for wooden bearing blocks to be added underneath the table. Well, apparently my original metal table is a bit oversized compared to most, and there wasn't enough room to add the blocks! So I had to remove my brand new wood table, and slice 3/4" off the metal table. Hopefully you never have to do this, but if you do, I used an angle grinder with a Ridgid diamond blade, which worked great. Turned out the blade was a good investment for later as well!


After the metal table was cut and the wood table reattached, you tackle the height adjustment mechanism. This is a shaft, a handle, and two right-angle gears that replace the old adjustment handle. I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say that it takes a lot of fussing and a lot of patience to get things measured, drilled, adjusted, and installed correctly for the gears to mesh right. You also have to cut the metal shaft, and do some drilling and tapping of the handle and gears for the set screws and pins. But once it's done, it works GREAT!




Final step is a shaft and handle for the table lock. This is easier to install - no gears to align here! - but does require more metal working. You have to slot the end of the new shaft to accept the old locking pin from your drill press. The plans call for cutting this slot with a hacksaw, which I think would take about 6 years of hard labor. I did it with my newly purchased diamond blade and grinder, and it went pretty smooth. After that, you install the old locking bolt, and hold it in place with a new rivet. You also have to reduce the diameter of the other end of the shaft and add a flat for the handle (I did that on a disk sander). If I may say so, I think the metal work came out okay for my first attempt! Also, the plans call for purchasing a new handle, but hats off to Rayne for mentioning that you could reuse the drill press's original height adjustment handle here and save some money.




Okay, that's it. Here's the finished table. And I love it! Height adjustable from the front, and good locking torque from the side, plus ample table space and lots of clamping options.


And just to wrap things up, here's the rest of the overall project - the mobile base and cabinets.





Thanks for wading through all that, and if anyone is contemplating building this table and would like to discuss it further, feel free to contact me with any questions.