Suggestions on starter drill press and router table

As I recall, you did a swell Bathroom Vanity(?)

I’d think this being a woodworking website and you being able to do a little something with wood, you might think of building a router table yourself. There’s tons of self made router tables here on the site for inspiration.

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

since space is an issue for you, have you considered having a router table integrated into your table saw? (also , I’m not sure which table saw you have) do a search here, there are some example for that, and there are also some workbenches that integrate both table saw (portable) and router table into their top for an “ultimate” work bench kind of a thing.

Drill press depends on your needs – will a benchtop drill press be sufficient for your needs? the limitation will be the width of parts you can fit under it (distance between the center of drill, to the drill press column) – most benchtop drill presses are 12” whereas a floor model can reach 20”. If all you’ll use the drill press is to drill in 2×4 , 2×10 material then a bench model will be more than enough, but if you’ll be doing drilling in larger panels and such, you might hit it’s limits and are better off with a floor model.

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

Periodically Harbor Freight puts their benchtop drill presses 38119 on sale for $40. Between now and May 31 you can use this coupon for and additional 20% off.

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/common/displayCoupon.do?week=prefs_comp&campaign=signup&page=coupon1.html&single=true&r=4137_2323&cust=99999999999&keycode=0000

I have this drill press and you can beat it for the money, especially when the money is < $40. The motor is probably worth that. Still, it’s Harbor Freight.

I also have a floor standing craftsman drill press and keep thinking I should get rid of this HF benchtop, but it’s very handy.

I’ve got a 14” floor model bandsaw but I think a table model would be easier for me to use for small items. I might have to go against one of my rules, do not buy anything at HF that uses electricity. Not HF I just found thid one and it looks much better. https://www.grizzly.com/products/9-Benchtop-Bandsaw/T20837

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

If money is an issue, I’d definitely make the router table.

I made my “first” router table, almost 10 years ago, from a single sheet of MDF and some laminate. The whole job took less than a day, and I’m still using it. <g> It’s just an MDF box, with two MDF doors hung on overlay hinges, with a double thickness of 3/4” MDF top. The top is laminated on both sides and edged with scrap ash. It’s been plenty flat to make lots of cope and stick doors and raised panels over the years.

If you go to my LJ “Workshop” page, a photo of my utilitarian table is in the same shot as the DJ-20.

In principle, the router table is simply a flat top with a whole in it that sits on a box. Add a purchased plate, for a nicely servicable tool. Fences are cake to make, and can be simply clamped to the top and adjusted with hammer taps.

Someday, I’ll make a nice one, but not because the “first” didn’t work just fine…

-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...