# Drill press table and fence



## Jimmy0x52 (Feb 7, 2012)

*Knobs!*

I did some glue up of the drill press table tonight and built part of the fence, more on those later.

I did build my favorite thing to build right now - KNOBS! These will be to hold down the fence, stop block, etc on my drill press table I'm building.

Really easy to make:

Step 1: Find a fairly large hole saw bit (like > 2")
Step 2: Trace it out on a piece of wood and find the center - draw a line all the way across the circle and then draw a line bisecting it in the other direction
Step 3: Grab your drill press and load up a forstner bit (appx 5/8"). Drill a hole at each of the four intersections that line made with the circle
Step 4: Grab your nuts. Your T-nuts. Figure out what diameter the hole is on the T-nut and use a twist drill bit in the drill press to drill the center of your circle to this diameter.
Step 5: Load up the hole saw and saw the circle you made.
Step 6: You should now have a knob. Press the t-nut lightly into one side, and screw a bolt (with a washer) through the other. hand tighten it down
Step 7: Grab a pair of pliers and grab the head of the bolt, with your other hand twist the knob (slowly) until the t-nut fully sinks into the knob
Step 8: Enjoy your new free, very inexpensive, knob.

Optional step 4.5: Load up a boring bit that is the same diameter of the wide end of your T-nut and countersink an indentation in the top of the knob so the T-nut sits flush with the surface. My knobs for this project are going on a jig so they don't need to be fancy.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

Jimmy0x52 said:


> *Knobs!*
> 
> I did some glue up of the drill press table tonight and built part of the fence, more on those later.
> 
> ...


Very nice knobs and simple directions . Thank you very much : )


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## Jimmy0x52 (Feb 7, 2012)

*Poor man's T-track (and hey, I'm all done!)*

So I learned a few things building this drill press table and fence. I learned you need clearance for the handle to turn it up and down, how tight the knobs can be (I had to sand quite a bit off each point) and how difficult it can be working on a drill press without a table to clamp to or a fence to make repeatable holes.

My poor man's T-track is perfect for my 5/16th bolts. I took a 3/4" piece of plywood, routed a dado in it the width and height of the head of the bolt, and glued a 1/2" piece of plywood over top. When dry, I routed a slot the width of the threaded part of the bolt right down the center of the dado in the 1/2" plywood. Viola! Poor man's T-track.

A couple tips on the t-track:

- Be careful in the glueup and use as little as possible close to the track. If you get any in the track and it's already tight, that glue is near impossible to remove
- Make the track a little wider for the head than you think because of point 1

I'll likely not use the fence much as my press is pretty shallow but it'll be nice to make some repeatable cuts. Really the table with the track in it will be the most useful thing as I get some holddowns and use it to put guides in.

So, attached are images. Questions? Shoot!


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

Jimmy0x52 said:


> *Poor man's T-track (and hey, I'm all done!)*
> 
> So I learned a few things building this drill press table and fence. I learned you need clearance for the handle to turn it up and down, how tight the knobs can be (I had to sand quite a bit off each point) and how difficult it can be working on a drill press without a table to clamp to or a fence to make repeatable holes.
> 
> ...


Did you leave enough room for the crank to raise & lower the table?

I like how you created your T-Track!!


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## Jimmy0x52 (Feb 7, 2012)

Jimmy0x52 said:


> *Poor man's T-track (and hey, I'm all done!)*
> 
> So I learned a few things building this drill press table and fence. I learned you need clearance for the handle to turn it up and down, how tight the knobs can be (I had to sand quite a bit off each point) and how difficult it can be working on a drill press without a table to clamp to or a fence to make repeatable holes.
> 
> ...


I did leave room for that - but with the fence fully back that little slot is covered. I'll have to get it to the right height and then move the fence back.


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## Radu (Jan 25, 2010)

Jimmy0x52 said:


> *Poor man's T-track (and hey, I'm all done!)*
> 
> So I learned a few things building this drill press table and fence. I learned you need clearance for the handle to turn it up and down, how tight the knobs can be (I had to sand quite a bit off each point) and how difficult it can be working on a drill press without a table to clamp to or a fence to make repeatable holes.
> 
> ...


Jimmy, I made the T-tracks for the drill press table the same way, except I use hardboard on top of two layers of fiberboard. I wax the dado in the base (tape the edges before waxing) then glue up the hardboard. The glue does not stick to it. You can rout the dado a little deeper that the bolt head, so you have a little play. 
On my drill press a took one of the handles off. No more interference with the fence. You could rotate the table lift crank around the post if you need to. Toilet bolts are perfect for T-tracks.


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