| Project by MacSteveT | posted 434 days ago | 2411 views | 16 times favorited | 10 comments |  |
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I recently acquired an excellent used Delta 12” drill press from CL for $50. Having looked at many shop made drill press tables here on LJ, I decided to build one. Not having ready access to t-tracks, I made my own using 3/4” x 3/4” x 1/16” angle aluminum from Lowes. The table itself is 10” x 13” (my shop is in my garage so space is limited) made from sandwiched 3/4” pine – I routed a slot in the bottom layer, and made the top layer out of 3 separate pieces with the aluminum angle mounted on the bottom. I have not routed a cavity for sacrificial center yet – just using scrap as backing for anything I need to drill through.
The trim, fence, stops, and hold downs are poplar, and the knobs are made from scrap walnut. I used 7/8” oak dowel with walnut tabs to lock down the fence – makes it much easier than using wing nuts. The corners are spline joints (I think that is the right name) using walnut – a first for me.
All of the bolts are 3/8” carriage bolts and work just fine in the slots. I didn’t use aluminum on the fence slot because it is made from two layers of 1/2” poplar and smallest aluminum angle I could find was 3/4”.
The whole thing cost less than $40 in materials, and works pretty well.
Thanks very much for looking, and I appreciate all comments / critiques.
-- "Do, or do not. There is no try." ~Yoda
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10 comments so far
William
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7076 posts in 1012 days
#1 posted 434 days ago
Now that is an umtimate drill press table.
It sure beat the store bought one I’ve currently been using.
A proper drill press table is something on my to-do list that keeps getting pushed further and further back.
-- http://wddsrfinewoodworks.blogspot.com/
Rick Dennington
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#2 posted 434 days ago
Mighty fine….. can’t do without a drill press table of some sort….a must to have in any woodshop….Carry on…
-- " Don't ever wrestle a pig in a mudhole....he'll be having more fun than you..!!
exelectrician
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1004 posts in 597 days
#3 posted 434 days ago
Wow! Another winner from someone who thinks deeply and puts thought into action. My hat is off my head to you sir, well done.
-- Love thy neighbour as thyself
kdc68
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862 posts in 446 days
#4 posted 433 days ago
Looks great
-- Measure "at least" twice and cut once
MacSteveT
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46 posts in 862 days
#5 posted 433 days ago
Thanks very much for the comments :)
-- "Do, or do not. There is no try." ~Yoda
DIYaholic
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7307 posts in 844 days
#6 posted 433 days ago
I likes it veeeery mucho! Nice job.
How did you mount it to the original table???
A DP table is on my top ten list. Problem being, my list is waaaaaay looooonger than 10!!!!
-- Randy-- I may not be good...but I am slow!
MacSteveT
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46 posts in 862 days
#7 posted 433 days ago
DIYaholic,
Thanks for your comment!
I countersunk 4 carriage bolts into the bottom layer of the table before attaching the 3 pieces of the top layer. The bolts line up with the slots in the factory steel table, and provide a very stable mount.
-- "Do, or do not. There is no try." ~Yoda
tefinn
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115 posts in 606 days
#8 posted 433 days ago
I really like some of your ideas, especially the dowels for the fence hold down.
I’ll definitely be stealing that one. :)
-- Tom Finnigan - Measures? We don't need no stinking measures! - Hmm, maybe thats why my project pieces don't fit.
MacSteveT
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46 posts in 862 days
#9 posted 433 days ago
Hey Tom,
Thanks for the comment – the only thing I would change about the dowels would be to go with a 1” instead of the 7/8” that I used. That would provide more side wall material for insetting the nut and prevent cracking from side twist – in fact, now that I think about it, I’ll probably pick up a 1” dowel and make new ones soon.
-- "Do, or do not. There is no try." ~Yoda
StumpyNubs
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5040 posts in 970 days
#10 posted 359 days ago
You should enter this into our jig contest! Email photos along with your LJ name to jigcontest@runbox.com. You might win!
-- It's the best woodworking show since the invention of wood... New episodes Wednesdays at: http://www.stumpynubs.com
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