Drill Press Table – Part 1
2014.05.24
Most drill presses are designed for metalworking rather than woodworking. So many people buy or build an auxiliary table, usually with a fence. I have decided to build one.
There’s a problem to overcome, however: in order to raise or lower the cast iron table on the drill press, I have to wiggle it back and forth. This would quickly throw the fence out of alignment with the chuck. I found a couple photos and some discussions on various internet forums about using a jack to raise and lower the table.
So I bought an auto scissor jack. I drilled a couple holes in the base and attached it to the drill press base with nuts and cap screws. I aligned it slightly off-center towards the post.
It raises the table pretty well, but on the way back down, the table does not always want to follow. I will need to secure the jack to the table somehow.
2014.05.26
I brought home a scrap of 3/4″ finished plywood from work to make the auxiliary table. The plywood was about 24″ wide, which seemed fine for the table, so I ripped a 12″ piece from one end.
Then I used a 1x3 as a fence to guide an electric router to clear out dadoes for aluminum t-slot track. Ideally, I would have used a 3/4″ wide bit in the router, but I don’t have one, so I used a 1/4″ bit in three passes. I did one pass with just the 1x3 fence, then added 1/4″ and 1/2″ scraps to the fence to complete the dado. It ended up a little too wide, but I guess that’s not a big deal.
I ripped some pieces about 1–1/2″ wide from the plywood to make aprons for the auxiliary table. These fit around the cast iron table to hold the auxiliary table in place. I attached them with countersunk screws through the bottom of the dadoes.
Door and Paint