| Project by TroutGuy | posted 610 days ago | 1594 views | 2 times favorited | 11 comments |  |
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I don’t know whether I blindly stumbled onto an old technique here or came up with a genuine idea. You tell me…
I came up with this while building my drill press table (18” x 24”), but it applies to many other types of laminated ‘slabs’ for table tops, jigs, etc.
In my case, the table top is a piece of 3/4” melamine particle board, laminated to 3/4” baltic birch plywood. Since there were cutouts that needed to be made in both pieces, prior to laminating, I wanted to be able to accurately, repeatably, and quickly dry fit the two pieces before gluing. After finding a good square corner on each piece, and aligning the square edges, I clamped the parts together. Then I turned the assembly over (melamine ‘top face’ down) and drilled a 3/8” x 1 3/16” deep hole (forstner bit)—through the plywood and halfway through the melamine particle board, in diagonally opposite corners of the assembly. The holes in mine are ~2” in from each edge, but can be placed wherever it is convenient (think about avoiding where other ‘features’ are going to be, e.g. the grooves for the t-tracks on the top face).
Finally, I separated the pieces and glued a 3/8” hardwood dowel into the plywood underlayer, leaving it ~3/8” proud on the inside (glue) face (make sure it doesn’t bottom out in the ‘blind’ hole in the melamine particle board). Now I can assemble and disassemble the two layers, at will. A few strategically placed screws through the plywood (again, placed to avoid machining) held everything together when I needed to work on both pieces at the same time. The dowels also kept everything perfectly aligned, when I finally glued it up.
It works great, so far. A fence is in the design phase. For now, I clamp the fence that came with my table saw to this table, as needed. I knew there was a reason I didn’t toss that thing. :)
I wish I had taken a picture before I glued it, but…
The other thing that the picture would have showed is how I attached the table to the drill press’s metal table.
This was also done prior to gluing the layers together. With the two layers screwed together, I laid out the location of my mounting holes (4 – 1/2” bolts), and drilled small pilot holes through the plywood (from the bottom) and just into the melamine particle board at each location. Then, I separated the layers. In the plywood layer, I drilled a 1 1/2” dia. x 1/8” deep counterbore for a 1/2” flat washer into the inside (to be glued) face, followed by a 1/2” hole through. On the inside (to be glued) face of the top layer (melamine), I routed hexagonal ‘pockets’ centered on my pilot holes, deep enough to bury a 1/2” nut, flush with the surface.
At final assembly, I put the nuts and washers in place and then ‘sandwiched’ them between the two layers. 1/2” bolts, cut to length so they don’t go too deep and try to push the layers apart, go through the metal table and the plywood layer, and catch the ‘captive nuts’. It works great!
-- There is nothing in the world more dangerous, than a woodworker who knows how to read a micrometer...
11 comments so far
Kevin Violette
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214 posts in 763 days
posted 610 days ago
Sweet! Can’t wait to see the fence design you come up with. Must be nice to have a window that big to let in all that natural light.
-- Kevin -- (http://www.furniturebykevin.com)
Scott Bryan
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20805 posts in 722 days
posted 610 days ago
This is a very interesting post. I am going to build a new table for my drill press. I may have to use some of your ideas.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
GaryK
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9555 posts in 888 days
posted 610 days ago
Very nice table. I like the t-slots.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
rikkor
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11335 posts in 774 days
posted 609 days ago
Great ingenuity. That makes a nice work surface.
Kevin
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294 posts in 858 days
posted 609 days ago
That is a nice big table.
How do you like the Ridgid drill press? I am thinking about getting a bigger drill press and have seen the Ridgid at Home Depot.
-- Kevin, Wichita, Kansas
TroutGuy
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100 posts in 611 days
posted 609 days ago
Kevin: So Far, I like the Rigid drill press just fine. It does, however, take two men and a small boy to assemble!
Being an ex-machinist, I ran an indicator (.00005” per division) on it after assembly (no tweaking). The spindle (not the chuck!) showed <.0015” runout. When I put a 1/2” carbide endmill in the chuck, the runout increased to ~.0025”, which is more than acceptible in my book.
Next, I ran a ‘sweep’ (~ a 9” circle) of the table. It was ~.001” out of square front to back (not really adjustable), and ~.005” side to side. A quick adjustment (rotational) of the table and the entire 9” circle ran within .001”. 18 months later I can see no appreciable difference.
Having used it for a while, there a couple of things I wish it had, but they’re not deal-breakers.
1) Quicker speed changes would be nice.
2) Occasionally, I would like to have had a bit more quill travel. 3 3/4” is usually enough, but…
3) I wish it had a slightly larger base (footprint). I just don’t have a good place to permanently tie it to the floor. Yet… :)
4) Perhaps my biggest gripe is the lack of a quill lock. There are a lot of times when it would really be nice to be able to lock the quill in place, anywhere along its travel. Think drum sanding… I have come up with a solution, but it’s a bit clumsy. I just bought a hose clamp that fits the quill. Not perfect, but functional.
I guess I got spoiled by all those years on a Bridgeport mill. :)
-- There is nothing in the world more dangerous, than a woodworker who knows how to read a micrometer...
stefang
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1656 posts in 234 days
posted 230 days ago
That’s a great table. I think the t tracks make it very versatile. I bolted mine to a larger base with wheels which don’t lock, but haven’t been a problem so far. It is a lot more stable, and easy to move for clean up.
-- Mike, American in Norway
ajosephg
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443 posts in 461 days
posted 230 days ago
I like what you’ve done.
Maybe I’m not thinking clearly, but how did you route hexagonal holes (pockets)?
-- Joe
TroutGuy
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100 posts in 611 days
posted 230 days ago
The hexagonal pockets were pretty easy. Once I had established the center with the small pilot hole (see above), I drilled a 3/4” flat-bottomed hole (forstner bit), deep enough to bury the nut. Next, I traced the outline of the nut onto the face (screwing the nut onto a 1/2” bolt makes it easy to hold, while tracing). Finally, I used a rotary tool with a carbide burr to ‘carve’ out the last little bit of material at the six corners, until the nut fit, and sat flush to the face. You could also use a chisel.
Before final assembly, I put a small spot of contact cement on each nut and put them into their pockets. This kept them from falling out while putting everything together. I did the same thing with the washers in the other half.
-- There is nothing in the world more dangerous, than a woodworker who knows how to read a micrometer...
PurpLev
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2763 posts in 548 days
posted 230 days ago
WOOHA! thats a lot of T-Slots! :o)
nice table.
I have a few less T-Slots on My Drill Press Table with permanent 90 degree (vertical) support.
-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
aj_houston
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15 posts in 193 days
posted 191 days ago
This is a great table! Thanks for sharing.
I built one of these two after being inspired by yours, although mine isn’t as fancy. I did add a fence to mine. Good idea with the hold-downs on the T-track.
-- It is better to wear out than to rust out. --Cumberland