Drill Press Station - Table/Lift/Fence/Vise/Drum Sander

Drill Press Station – Table/Lift/Fence/Vise/Drum Sander

My drill press is a small inexpensive bench top type, and until I get a good floor type one I am trying to get the best out of it.

One of the first things I did was to change its old pole with a stainless steel one. Why stainless steel? Well it was the only piece I could find that matched the diameter and you can slide up and down smoother. So the pole got a lift-up of about a foot taller.

One of those ikea wire shelve tables was at the right height, so I just used some plywood to close it up on 3 sides and couple of iron angles to screw it on the wall, and it became very sturdy to hold my drill press and my drum sanding jig at its side.

Also on the drill’s pole I attached a drill press accessory bar made from a piece of aluminum angle and two shallow boxes to hold small accessories.

The drill press had no mechanism to raise or lower its table, so once again the car lift was the solution to that problem.

I replaced my old drill press table with a new more functional one, which slides in and out. It has a split fence with t-track and stop block that is also easy to remove. Also a sacrificial MDF piece in its centre makes drilling clean and easy for me. Inexpressive aluminum curtain t-tracks and a couple of homemade hold clamps complete the table. The table was build from hardwood flooring material.

One more gadget that fount’s its way to my drill press table was one of those inexpensive drill press vise. Mounted on a sheet of plywood as a base with couple of bolts and nuts and with two homemade knobs to hold it down to the t-tracks it became a useful helper when working with small pieces of wood or odd shapes.

Since I was at it I build out of nothing a drum sander platform for spindle sanding.
Has interchangeable plate inserts for different diameter sanders and connected to my shop vac it works like a charm.

I think this system will serve well for now until the next upgrade.

Thanks for watching.

-- Stelios L.A. Stavrinides: - I am not so rich to buy cheap tools, but... necessity is the mother of inventions !!!