Thread: WIP Utility Sharpening/Drill press bench and storage

Shannon

At what height are you mounting the drill?

Ross

Hi Ross,

The base will be 460 off the ground, worktop is 910. This puts the press handle at shoulder height for me and the chuck at roughly chest height. For most work there will be about 150-200 clearance above the main worktop. Failing that I can slew the piece out in front if it is exceptionaly deep.


Do you have a similar press?

Yes and have never been able to mount it at a comfortable height, the height at present is 580 from the floor. I'll try it lower.

Thanks

Ross

Originally Posted by Ross

... the height at present is 580 from the floor. I'll try it lower.

Ross

That must be convenient to get on and off . Hope it works out.

Ok, I made a bit more progress this afternoon. When I said top rails would be 'checked' into the top, well things changed. As you may have guessed, the sockets for the bearers on the low table were a pain to cut out. Though I would try my hand at some large dovetails for the top rails. This is also in line with me wanting to experiment a bit on these benches before fronting up to the next project. They were acually much faster. I wish I had done this earlier, and I migth cut longer bearers for under the press and dovetail them in instead of having the blinds. They will only be half depth but will tie in with the top nicely....


Marking out and cutting the tails into the top of the frames up to the point that half the waist is removed. Pic #5 shows quite a bit of runout from the line. This is partly because the line is not exactly in plane with the front line, and mostly becasue the differnce in cross and rip cut pulled the saw. I saw it early and just let it got, then pared the face back parallel once I had access to the face.

Attachment 168121 Attachment 168122 Attachment 168123 Attachment 168124 Attachment 168125


Flip over and finish off. I was sure that the long grain would split out, so I stayed well away from the mark and went with it rather than wedging the chissel straight down. I did not want it to split out below the root of the tail and leave a void. Caution paid off (yes they are my toes)

Attachment 168126 Attachment 168127


With the tails finished I started on the pin. There is no shoulder on the back of the tail so I rigged a careful jig to mark out the ends of the pins . At this stage the shoulders are cut, and rather than ripping down the side of the pin, I just chissel it out taking about 1/2 the width each time, working down to 2mm off the face of the pin, then paring down by hand.

Attachment 168128 Attachment 168129


When I am 1mm off the line I present them for a sanity check. In this way the marking out does not have to be exact. I am carefull to work parallel with the lines though.

Attachment 168130 Attachment 168131 Attachment 168132

This is a pretty rough and ready way of it but I am very happy with the results. I have only cut smaller tails before in 10-15mm boards. Two of four are finished and they are a firm push fit. Looking forward to the next two as well. If planes were not so expensive I might find a hidden darsider within . I think the soft wood is pretty forgiving too and would appreciate any tips on getting them right on large hardwood sections.

Shops open again tomorrow so should be able to grab the rest of the ply and maybe some replacement rails for the low table. Then draws and poly finish.

Welcome back Shannon!

Nice WIP to get things underway!

A bit more progress made today. I prepaired the two ends for glue up, the whole time thinking that it would have been easier to rebate the ply end pieces into the legs rather than add in extra timber. This way has about twice the surface area in contact though, so even though it looks a bit off, it will be stronger I guess. The other option would have been to just screw them to the inside face of the legs, but I knew the chassis was not completely square and this was the easiest way to take out 2-3mm to get everything parallel.

Attachment 168424 Attachment 168425


The powerboard that has been kicked around the floor for the past week now has a home. Should stay dust free, and the cords hang down out of the way.

Attachment 168426


Until I sort out the draws this will be it for now. It is quite a bit heavier than I was expecting, and after bolting the drill press down it is not going anywhere.
The two work surfaces are just screwed down so I can replace them as need be. When I get some 3mm MDF for the back and front skirts I might lay a sheet over the top as a throw away.

Attachment 168427

Looking at this last shot I get the feeling that I need to add a splashback behind the drill press at least. The last thing I want is cutting lube spraying into the GPO behind there. Apart from the fact that I don't want it on the walls of our rental

I like it.... I may have to use this idea when I get my drill press one day soon! Nicely done!

what a great design! looks very sturdy too.

Well designed and well executed.

One thing I can foresee is the possibility of that bench grinder getting in the way if you need to drill some long pieces

Thanks all .

Originally Posted by BobL

...
One thing I can foresee is the possibility of that bench grinder getting in the way if you need to drill some long pieces

From the drill chuck to the back of the grinder is 1070mm, which will be fine for most legs table/chair/buffet legs. Anything longer and I will just slew it out on a slight angle. The grinder is 450 wide and the bench is 600 deep so there is a little room there for lenghts to go past and still be chocked up and supported by the bench (or an adjustable support mounted to the end of the bench - if i get to it)

Attachment 168486

Also, see how quick the rot sets in? Might have to get onto those draws before I cant find it anymore

Pretty neat setup for the drill press and grinder. I am sure that you will make adjustments as time goes by.