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DPB
18th March 2004, 06:11 PM
I'm on the email list of Woodpeckers in the USA, suppliers of very nice jigs, Incra, etc.

A recent promotion featured their Drill Press Table www.woodpeck.com. The price is reasonable, but as usual, the freight is a killer.

So inspired by this, Sturdee's jigs, and his latest offering, Sturdee Knobs, I decided to give it a go.

The table features, two stop-blocks, two hold-downs, a sacrificial drilling insert and an adjustable sliding fence. The use of T-tracks made this possible, and the accuracy is pretty good. The fence is reinforced with a 35mm right angle extruded aluminium.

The rest is fairly self explanatory.

PS: The Sturdee Knobs were made by the Master himself with my feeble assistance. Peter, please excuse me, but I prefer to leave them unpainted.

DPB
18th March 2004, 06:12 PM
Drill Press Table Photo #2

DPB
18th March 2004, 06:14 PM
Drill Press Table Photo #3

Rear of fence detail.

Sturdee
18th March 2004, 07:26 PM
Great work, Don.

I especially like the idea of using measuring tape to locate the fence setting , I think I'll incorporate it in mine.

Don, I'll forgive you leaving the knobs unpainted as it fits in with the rest.

Now what is the next one?


Peter.

rodm
19th March 2004, 12:42 AM
Well thought out Don.
I made a table for my drill press on similar lines but certainly not as featured as yours. I have always wondered why they have a round table on a drill press. The only trouble I have is that if I want to use the rise and fall the handle hits the bottom of the table. Do you have this problem?

DPB
19th March 2004, 08:53 AM
No, my table sits atop the round metal table, so has the same clearance that it has always had.

To attach my table to the original, I drew a circle on 12mm MDF the same size as the outside diameter of the original table. I then drew a square around the circle with the same outside dimension. I cut this out with a jigsaw, but discarded the inner circle and kept the four corners of the square with rounded edges opposite the right angles. (Can't think of another way to describe this.) I then drew a circle on the bottom of my table after locating it on the metal table where it would sit. Next I screwed and glued the four corners around this tracing to create a recess into which the metal table would snugly fit. This stops any lateral movement of my table on top of the metal table. The final step was to counter-sink two bolts through from the top of the table down through the two front aforementioned corners, and into and through a timber cross piece. Using two Sturdee Knobs, I simply snug up this cross piece which sandwiches the metal table between it and the top. There is absolutely no movement of the top, and the hight adjusting handle is free to move with its original clearance.

Sorry for the long answer, I guess I could have taken a photo, and will if any are interested.

Ian Runge
19th March 2004, 12:33 PM
Don

A good piece of work .... right now I wish I had something like this because I am making some wooden hinges and I need precision in drilling the holes. (I've jury-rigged a positioning block, but now I can't move it until I finish all the drilling). I have thought about making such a jig once or twice, but it seems that I only do this sort of drilling on rare occasions and therefore don't see the return for effort.

Question: how frequently do you use, or think you will use, such a jig? What sort of things do you regularly make? Do you use it for example, for dowels?

2nd Question: Even if you've got the piece to be drilled in the correct spot, what variation do you get in the hole position? I've been drilling out my little wooden hinges using a 2mm brad-point bit, but I'm still not getting a lot of consistency in hole position. Maybe the drill is not properly centered in the chuck, or maybe the drive shaft of my drill is wobbly, or maybe the brad point runs off with the grain ... I dunno

Ian R.

P.S. What is that thing in the background clamped to your Triton table? A heater?

Stuart
19th March 2004, 03:25 PM
G'day Don,

How have you been finding that Wasp?

Like the table- next project on my list as well! Clever idea with the recessed cavity for the original table to fit into!

rodm
19th March 2004, 03:51 PM
Thanks for the detail and I understood exactly what you were describing. I did a similar thing but used a router and circle jig and attached my table with four swivel blocks underneath the table. Wing nuts to tighten them. My problem is that the height winder at the top of its stroke (?) is higher than the original rotary table top. As I have extended the home made top around the pillar it now gets in the way. Your drill press must have a winder set lower than mine.

Ben from Vic.
19th March 2004, 05:58 PM
Very impressive, but it's the simple things that caught my eye, the bit I'm the most impressed with is those little hold-downs.
A simple solution to what would other wise be an anoying problem.

You can be sure of finding them on something I make in the future.

Whom do I send royalties to? :)


Ben.

Glen Bridger
19th March 2004, 06:08 PM
Hi Don,

Excellent design. I like the way the table extends behind the column. I should build something like this for my drill press too. Never seem to have enough time.

I just use a flat piece of MDF and clamp a temporary fence to it.
I have to contend with the height adjuster hitting the table too.

Glen

DPB
19th March 2004, 06:34 PM
Thanks for the feedback. Here's a few answers to questions asked.

Ian
Accuracy is good enough. I don't use dowels often, so don't expect to need the degree of accuracy dowels require. I also notice that my drill tips wander into the softer grain, even when using brad-point bits. The table is nice to use as it gives me a broader, hence more stable surface to work from. The adjustable fence is nice when drilling a row of holes, and the fence stop and hold downs simply introduce as much accuracy and repeatability as I need. The yellow thing is a halogen light.

Stuart
The Wasp is OK. It does the job. However, I've become a little asthmatic, so need to do something about dust created by the little sucker. Also, I'm concerned about the considerable lateral pressure applied to the side of the chuck - I intuitively think this is not a good thing.

Glen
Two details of the hold-down are not apparent from the photo's. The first is that the hole through which the bolt inserts is elongated to a slot. This allows the bolt to go through the aluminium hold-down at an angle. The second is the fact that the hold-down has a 15 degree elbow at 1/3 its lenght where this slot is located. This is to create more holding surface as the aluminium curves around the top of the work piece and avoids cutting into its edge. I can also flipped the hold down end-for-end where greater reach is needed when drilling through thicker work pieces. Works well.

Barry_White
23rd March 2004, 05:58 PM
Hi Don

Would you mind posting a few sizes on your table.

DPB
25th March 2004, 09:03 AM
Barry, the table surface is 630mm wide x 490mm deep. The fence is 970mm long x85mm high. The four T-tracks are 175mm apart and start 40mm from either side. The fence has 110mm of travel from the zero position (where the drill bit hits the table surface) to the back where the fence stops against the drill press column.

The beauty of having surface space behind the column is that it gives me a place to store my drill bits, measuring tape and fence stops and hold downs if not being used in a particular drilling operation.

I am so pleased with the result, I have just completed a table for my band saw. (I'll post a picture of this under another thread in the forum.)

Barry_White
25th March 2004, 07:25 PM
Hi Don

Thanks for the sizes. This is going to be my next project. I will pick up some sail track next week when I am in Brisbane from Capral.