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Project Information

"Now what?"

That's what I asked myself after buying a $25.00 drill press at an estate sale and tuning it up. You can read about that adventure here.

The "what" as it turns out, was to make it woodworking-friendly by building and affixing a drill press table. Let's face it. While the metal circular shelf might be great for metal working, it's crap for delivering the precision us woodworkers require.

So after some research I created a list of criterion that my table had to meet:

• Hold stock securely for mortising and drilling
• Able to angle with bed
• Large enough to complete most tasks easily
• Pleasing appearance
• Replaceable insert
• Adjustable fence with slotted grooves top and bottom to secure stops and holddowns

That said, I settled on this design.

I tweaked the design by eschewing slot tracks that formed a square, and going with two tracks perpendicular to the front and back.

As an aside. Can I ask you a personal question? When was the last time you saw the word "eschewing" in a woodworking article?

Materials
The fence I made from a reclaimed oak 2" x 4" that I picked up for free at a Fort Collins, CO warehouse shipping dock advertised on Craig's List. The base is ¾" plywood with oak banding around the edges. I eased the sharp edges with a roundover bit on the router table.

The t-slot hardware I got from Lee Valley because it was inexpensive. The hold-down hardware I got from Rockler on sale.

The stop blocks I made out of scraps.



The insert, I made out of 3/8" plywood.



Using it
First things first. Here's the final build.



As careful I was in my planing and squaring the fence, it still requires me to tweak it a bit when I put it under tension. Meaning that things can go slightly out of square. This is a case where working the fence on a power jointer would have paid dividends.

Still, the fence is functional and, so far, has met all my needs.

You'll note that the top of my fence has a slot but no t-slot track. I cut the slot in anticipation of purchasing the t-slot track later (wanted to minimize costs on the initial build). Frankly, I haven't felt a need for it so I'll go without for now.

I also had to cut out a bit of table to allow the table adjustment handle to move freely.


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Gallery

Comments

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18,411 Posts
I can't say that I remember see the word "eschewing" in a woodworking article!

I do however, need a DP table! I also need a router table, cross cut sled, a miter sled, a pline jig….....

Thanks for the reminder.
 

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10,033 Posts
Now thats a great table. Way to go!
 

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1,188 Posts
Brad,

All eschewing aside, that looks like a very user friendly table.

Work Safely and have Fun. - Grandpa Len.
 

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4,322 Posts
eschew - gazuntite. Do you need a tissue? As for the woodworking - nice build and low cost. It looks very sturdy which reminds me that I need to build a drill press table since the one I bought is flimsy and small.
 

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I think I may be motivated to finish mine now. I purchased a piece of Baltic ply clad in laminate for the table and every now and then look over and put it on my mental list. I also have the track and such. How many times do we do that? Buy stuff for a project we want to build but get side tracked by other shiny objects?
 

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1,833 Posts
well done, Should serve you well.
 

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101 Posts
That's a great table. Enjoy.
 

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1,038 Posts
very nice.your table has inspired me to build one for my drill press.
 

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Great blog Brad, Your making me want to make one. I need to upgrade all the half aas stuf I made when I was starting out in Woodworking. lol.
 

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2,217 Posts
I need to make a similar setup for my drill press. Thanks for sharing your version.
 
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