# Attaching Table to Porter Cable Drill Press



## hightide (Jan 13, 2011)

Hey guys.
I just got a Porter Cable drill press (15" Floor) from Lowes. I know that I will need a table with a fence and I have all that I need to make one. What I noticed though is that the stock table that comes on the press does not have holes through it to attach an aux table. It does have t-channels though. I have attached a coupld of pics. Most how-to's that I have seen on drill press tables show the base as having holes all the way through so you can attach bolts to the bottom of the table. Any thoughts on how to attach a table to this model? Thanks!

Hank


----------



## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Hank,

Since your table does not have holes to mount a table on, you'll have to drill some. Drill 4 holes in the slots….one in each slot…Probably 1/4"-3/8" should be big enough. Loosen the handle underneath the table, and rotate the table to get the holes across from one another. Then you can make an auxilary table, drill holes in the bottom, and mount the table to the drill table through the holes with bolts, wahers, and nuts..good to go.


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

I think I would counter sink bolts into the auxiliary table then use nuts and fender washers in the slots. Because the slots are positioned as they are, you would probably have to place the bolts near the open ends in order to utilize all four of the slots.

Just my thought.


----------



## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Lew,
You're right….. I didn't see the slots were open on the ends so you could slide a washer and nut in them, drill up through the bottom of the auxulary table and mount the bolts that way. Sorry, Hank…I just didn't look close enough at the drill table…


----------



## hightide (Jan 13, 2011)

Thanks for the advice guys!


----------



## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

Duct Tape? Lol.


----------



## syenefarmer (Dec 19, 2009)

How about doing something like this, securing a drill press table.


----------



## hightide (Jan 13, 2011)

Thanks syenefarmer. After a little more research I found that the Rockler drill press table attaches like the link you posted. That does seem to be the best way. I will post pics once I get to it to show you guys how I go about it…Thanks!


----------



## Danuuc (Nov 9, 2012)

Working on my drill table for my new Porter Cable drill as well. Looks like the same table.
I'm thinking of mounting a dowel in the middle that aligns with the center hole. 
Maybe some additional guides on the bottom of the extended table. 
If that doesn't work, I'll drill and tap some new holes.


----------



## NiteWalker (May 7, 2011)

IMHO, I would just drill through the cast iron.

If you don't want to do that, I'd either get some bigger washers and grind flats on opposing sides, or get square nuts (mcmaster has them IIRC), and use screws from the top.

Here's how I did mine:








I have the ridgid press, which has holes all the way through, but if they didn't, I'd just do what I mentioned above.


----------



## robert226 (May 29, 2014)

I just bought this drill press. Table is machining style, not woodworking. For this you would use T-Nuts in a machine shop. I plan to just make some wooden ones out of some scrap maple. Then just attach my fixture(s) using wood screws. Not a lot of holding power required here, so should work fine.


----------



## kdc68 (Mar 2, 2012)

My drill press table. I partially took it apart to show the details.

The top is made up of two components.

v 









v

Pictured below : This is attached to the stock machinist table. I used short hex nuts and washers (1" long I think….been a long time ago)
v









Picture below: This is the underside of the top. It fits over the component pictured above and held in place with 4 screws
v








v


----------



## RT31 (Nov 11, 2013)

I have the same table on my crafstman drill press. and just made a table for it a few weeks ago.

I copied Steve Ramsey's from WWMM. I used one bolt through the middle hole to hold my table to the stock table. Its really on there and doesn't move, YMMV. here is a link to the table i copied. 




I just countersunk a hole that would fit 1/2 bolt and washer in 3/4" Plywood. Then i used a nut and a few washers on the bottom.


----------



## RT31 (Nov 11, 2013)




----------



## RT31 (Nov 11, 2013)




----------



## scribble (May 17, 2012)

Do you ever have problems getting to the height adjuster or lock down??



> My drill press table. I partially took it apart to show the details.
> 
> The top is made up of two components.
> 
> ...


----------



## kdc68 (Mar 2, 2012)

> Do you ever have problems getting to the height adjuster or lock down??
> 
> My drill press table. I partially took it apart to show the details.
> 
> ...


v
Nope not at all.


----------



## Woodman348 (Mar 4, 2017)

I just bought the same table and want to build an auxiliary table using the same method to attach top as you have. One question though. If your using hex bolts coming up from underneath, won't the bolts turn with the nut since the bolt heads are not big enough to catch the side of the slot in original table?


----------



## Hermit (Oct 9, 2014)

I just went through this myself. The easiest and best way I found was to make a paper pattern of the top.








I just laid a piece of paper on the top, placed firmly with my finger on the cornered edges then free handed with a pencil. It doesn't have to be perfect. The positioning of the bolt holes just needs to be close. I then traced the pattern on to my top. I predrilled my countersunk holes first, then drilled the rest the way through for the bolts. Once I had my holes drilled through the wood, I clamped the wood to the table and using a cordless drill, drilled through the wood and through the table. Drilling through the table was much easier than I thought. Once you have the wood secured to the table, you can trim to size on the table saw for your clearances for handles. Save the paper template in case you want to make another table at some point.


----------



## alittleoff (Nov 27, 2014)

Did mine the way rt31 did his. Worked great and it was hid under the replaceable insert.
Gerald


----------



## Woodchuck2010 (Jan 19, 2016)

This is my set up. Hard to see the T-track underneath. Two handles for easy positioning or removal. Whoops. Last pic went sideways.


----------



## Woodchuck2010 (Jan 19, 2016)




----------



## kdc68 (Mar 2, 2012)

> I just bought the same table and want to build an auxiliary table using the same method to attach top as you have. One question though. If your using hex bolts coming up from underneath, won t the bolts turn with the nut since the bolt heads are not big enough to catch the side of the slot in original table?
> 
> - Woodman348


Yep, you are right. They did spin, but with patience I managed to tighten the nuts. The bolt heads head firm once they made contact with the underside of the slots.

I like hermits solution. I may do it that way if I ever decide to change tables


----------



## Rayne (Mar 9, 2014)

> How about doing something like this, securing a drill press table.
> 
> - syenefarmer


+1 to this method. It's pretty solid as I had a Harbor Freight drill press table for a while that used this method and it worked well until I decided to make my own; then I used the screws to mount them since I did have the through-holes.


----------



## CheezyRiderAZ (Apr 21, 2019)

I have the same table and I cut four short "runners" (think table saw runners), rounded the ends so they fit nicely in the ends of the steel tracks in the table, placed some pennies in the slots to raise the runners just above the steel table, put the runners with glue on them in the slots, then set my first layer (oversize) of my new table down on the wet glue. Like attaching runners on a tablesaw sled or jig.
Waited about five minutes, removed the auxiliary table, turned it over, pin nailed the runners, and scraped off any excess glue.
With the first layer oversize, I squared the back edge with the runners, then squared the other three sides on the tablesaw.
Next I glued/ laminated another piece of wood to that one for double thickness.

The four "runners" hold the auxiliary table in place with no movement.
Don't overthink it, the steel table is solid as it is as long as you don't make your new table much wider than your original steel table. 
All you need is a way to hold your new table in place and this way, no tools need for removal!


----------

