Thread: High or low fence?

Love to see some photos, Thanks Mike.
Cheers, crowie

On my drill press table I started with a high fence but quickly found that if I was drilling thin/small stock the chuck would hit the fence. So I did away with that and fitted a lower fence. It works well for me.

Hi Mike,

Here's a link to one I made here. Its proven to be very good, and is the first one I've made.

Now that its been in use, the main thing I would change would be the height of the fence. Not so much for the clearance from the handles, but when I am drilling thin pieces with a small drill bit. I've found that the chuck contacts the fence. There's a simple solution though - just put a space between the fence and the piece I am drilling.

The photos don't show it, but I made two simple stop blocks which double as hold downs for the fence. Just two bits of rectangular scrap with an elongated hole along their length. This lets them slide up or down to suit whatever thickness timber I'm drilling.

Another good idea is the removable inserts. When one becomes too 'holed', just replace it. I also align the table so the drill isn't centred on the insert - that way I can rotate the insert 4 times before getting a new one.

I didn't go for dust extraction on mine. Can't say I've needed it so far, but I'm not doing any drum sanding on the drill press.

Nathan.

I've also seen plans for medium to high fences with a 'U' shaped dip in the middle to accomodate the chuck when using short drills. You would probably have to add a bit of thickness to the back or have a full length T track in the face to help with rigidity in the long run.

Drill pictures by wingate_52 - Photobucket
O.K. so I went for a medium fence. T-tracks in an H shape, so 4 laminates fit around the T-tracks and are glued to the subtop. This sits on a drawer unit that also acts as a dust trap at the rear section of the drawer used when sanding. A few rings fit in the removable centre to match some drum sanders. A featherboard can be fitted in the middle of the T-tracks. End stops can be fitted, 2 are shown. The crank has a clear swing, unimpeded by the table. A 5 drawer chest sits under the table, holding sharpening and grinding equipment and Tormek jigs.