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Drill Press Hold Downs

10K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  Richforever 
#1 ·
The beginning..aka Adventures with glue..

This is kinda a funny story. I had finished up my simple little drill press table and needed a set of hold downs for it. The unfortunate part is that all I had as far as wood cutting tools were my Dremel, a cheap hand scroll saw and a hack saw with a metal blade on it. So basically doing anything other than rough wood cuts that were destined to not be straight was out of the question.

In comes Harbor Freight with a 20% off coupon and me having a gift card left over from Christmas. I packed the (pregnant) wife up in the car and made the hour drive north to the closest store and picked up a 16" bench scroll say for a little over $32 after the coupon and gift card!

NOW I can start making my clamps.. but wait, I need a spot to put the scroll saw… So then I set about building a second work bench to hold the saw on (project post is here http://lumberjocks.com/projects/78220 ). After I finished that up I decided to build a small top to bridge the gap between my old bench and the new one to just continue it around the corner thus making it essentially one long bench. Once that was done I couldn't just stop there I needed MORE pegboard and a place to put my drill press accessories.. thus the drill press accessories cabinet (http://lumberjocks.com/projects/78221) build followed by copious amounts of pegboard going up on the wall.

So a week and a half after heading to HF to get a saw to cut out my clamps I just realized.. I STILL NEED CLAMPS! DOH! I got so wrapped up in my other prep projects that I had forgotten the whole reason this started in the first place.

So yesterday afternoon I finally got started.

I decided to build a version of these http://lumberjocks.com/projects/30083 and figured I might be able to pull them off.

I grabbed some hardwood scraps I had left over from the other projects I had done and a small oak cutting board I had knocking around for the last 2 years (it came from one of those holiday sausage and cheese sampler pack things) that I used to solder on when I was working atop a plastic card table but no longer used.

I got them all cut to the same width and roughly the same length and glued them together to create a block almost 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" (actually just a spot bigger) and long enough to cut 2 clamps out of.

So this is where we left off last night. I got more done this morning before work but that will be the topic for the next installment. Here are some pics from last night.

Materials gathered up..


All glued up.. plenty of squeeze out so it should be a good solid chunk of wood..


Got the templates glued to some carboard and cut out.


And they both juuuuuuuuuust fit on the same block…. close enough for government work.
 
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#2 ·
Forstner Firsts..

Picking up where I left off on the last post. I now have a solid block of laminated hard woods and the template laid out on it for 2 hold down clamps.

This morning after leaving them clamped up over night just to make sure I had a good solid glueing done I got to work drilling the holes for the 3/4" dowels to go in.

First before I did that I cut out the 2 slots for the threaded rod to pivot in. I drilled the ends to get the curve and cut the rest out with my new scroll saw. I think that this thickness of wood is pretty much the max that this thing can handle. The top cof the cut looked good but the bottom side was a bit off th eline. I'm thinking it has to do with the plastic insert on the table flexing. I think I'll replace that with an oak insert and see if that helps matters any. This also made me realize I need a Band saw.. DOES IT EVER END?!

Then it was time to drill the dowel holes. This was my first time using a Forstner bit and I have to say it went pretty well. The trick is to just go slow and lift the bit every few seconds to clear out the shavings.

After the 2 holes were drilled I did a test fit and it is spot on! I then set up my sanding drum and sanded a flat spot on the dowel. That's when I had an idea to use a couple of press in bushings from an old toss away set of guitar tuners that are on a neck that is slated for a refret and refinish.

I drilled out the dowels and pressed in the bushings then took a round file to the blocks to allow the bushings to pivot fully. Should do the trick nicely :D

On the to do list for tomorrow before work is to get the 2 cut out and ready for sanding and final shaping. I keep waiting for that "OH Sh*@t" moment to hit but so far everything has gone pretty smooth. I am really enjoying this new addition to my list of hobbies.

So here are todays progress pics..
















 
#3 ·
The Scroll Saw Learning Curve...

I got up early today so I could tackle getting these guys cut out and onto the sanding drum for final shaping. I haven't used a scroll saw since I was in middle school (that was back in '89) so there was a bit of a re-learning involved. Also the size of the piece I was cutting didn't help matters much.

The blade I started with I quickly realized was too thin and was twisting almost sideways when trying to cut the material. So I went to change it with a different blade and that's when the old blade basically got it's self wedged inside the piece of wood. Which led to some very tricky surgery with the new blade to extract the other one out of the wood.

That crisis averted the new thicker blade worked a lot better and kept a straight line while cutting but it was still really slow going for the remainder of the cut.

Once they were cut out and the rough shape was determined I set up the large sanding drum on my drill press to do the final shaping. This went a lot smoother than the cutting did. I got them pretty darn close to the same size as it's brother and while they aren't "perfect" they are close enough for the job they are intended to do. Bottom line… I learned a lot and will apply those lessons to my next project.

After that I applied a coat of sanding sealer and once that was dry I did some final hand sanding with 220 then 400 grit. Then applied a second coat of sanding sealer/wood conditioner.

Next is to do some staining and leave it till tomorrow.

Side note.. if any of you readers have ANY suggestions or tips to share I am eager to learn from all of you so please share.

Here are today's progress pics…







 
#5 ·
Light at the end of the tunnel and new challanges

I was finally able to get the clamps finished up and ready for use. All that is left now is to install the threaded holes they will thread into for clamping.

I did a simple stain and poly on the clamps themselves to match the rest of the wood on the table. I had hoped the layers of wood would be more pronounced on them but oh well they are a tool not a show piece right?

After that was dry I used some Plasti Dip like the ones I was using for inspiration to help provide some grip and also since these will be used on painted aluminum enclosures most of the time it will help prevent marring the finish or the aluminum which is pretty soft.

That was an interesting process. Once dipped the stuff likes to blob off in whatever direction is pointing down do figuring out how to hang these to dry without screwing up the coat was fun. I ended up dipping and then quickly holding them in front of a space heater I have in the garage to "set" the outside layer so I could hang them up over night.

This morning I found a few LARGE drips (rubber stalactites) hanging from them and did my best to trim them with a razor blade without cutting through to the wood. After that exercise in frustration was done I am satisfied with the final result.

Now the new challenge… I need to add the threaded holes for these to screw into during use. I used a variety of enclosure sizes to try and find where the best spots for the holes should be and have found all the "good" spots to be right above the metal portion of the original table. I'll have to think on this one a bit and I'll post updates once I find a solution.

I am beginning to see that my table design is going to wear out it's usefulness very quickly. So one solution may be to scrap that and start over which is kinda bitter sweet. I was awfully proud of my handy work with that. It was my first project and I (believe it or not) spent a lot of time on it. However I am just running into one issue after another based on the design of it and the lack of tracks.

Again.. more updates to come on that.

Here are some pics for today. The last few deal with the positioning conundrum… any ideas on that one would be VERY appreciated!













 
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