New Drill Press & Table Gloat

[Russ Filtz]

ALong with my garage door storage to make space, I had to fill it with a new JET 17MF drill press! Decided to make a nice table for it and a fellow Creeker helped me out greatly (forgot his name, sorry, my emails are at work!). Some obvious errors are evident in my haste to get it done, as in the screws on the front left corner. These were supposed to be screwed in between the layers of 3/4" baltic birch. Forgot to do it and had to countersink!

Another major blunder was forgetting not to glue in the center section! I'll have to route it out when it gets drilled up! Minor point is I wanted a relatively tall fence. This cause problems at some angles/heights with the DP handles hitting. In the process of cutting some height off the right side. Ran out of T-track, so the fence just has a dado cut. Also still awaiting my Destaco clamps (stealth gloat, auction pics in another thread).

A unique feature is the left hand vertical table surface. At first I thought it was odd looking, but I think it will really come in handy for long pieces, mortise/tenon, etc.

[Mark Singer]

Nice table and fence. I like the drop down idea

[Russ Filtz]

One thing I forgot to mention is that I now hate the blue T-track from Rockler (I guess ANY colored track). The track is inset just below the surface, and as I was doing a final sanding with a palm sander, the backing flexed just enough to sand off some of the blue and proceed to grind it into table top before I even knew it! :eek:

Was able to sand most of it back off, but some blue tints are left in spots. Rather stick with plain old bare aluminum now.

[Jeff Skory]

Russ, congratulations on the new DP. Nice looking table. I was waiting for you to post these pictures since you mentioned them in an earlier post. I am a little confused by the drop-down table though. Why does it extend back so much further than than the rest of the table?

[Russ Filtz]

I have no idea! That's what the plans called for. Maybe for extra clamping room for the rear "cleat" that runs in the T-track. It's a few inches wide for stability and if you have a wide piece, it would need the extra rear space to act as a stop block.

[Bob Hoffmann]

I don't know if this is a problme with your DP, but on my benchtop, when I put a table on it, the table height adjustment handle hit the table -- and was hard to get at behind the table. (BTW, your table lools really nice -- good job!)

I went to the big-box stores and got a threaded-rod that would fit into the handle, and a coupling. I drilled and tapped the coupling for a set screw so that it would fit on the shaft by the table. The rod is sized to extend to the edge of the table where I put the handle on. Under the table, I put a piece of wood with a hole the size of the rod in it to hold the rod secure be easy to turn. It works great and is a lot easier to adjust then reaching behind the table.

Bob H.

[Russ Filtz]

Other than getting to my height adjustment around the table, I don't have any clearance problems. The main thing is it seems pretty stiff, which I don't know if that's normal and will wear in or if it's a problem. The main thing is with the extra weight, it's a lot harder to raise the table. If I assist by pulling up on the table with my other hand, it works fine.

[Mike Linne]

I have no idea! That's what the plans called for. Maybe for extra clamping room for the rear "cleat" that runs in the T-track. It's a few inches wide for stability and if you have a wide piece, it would need the extra rear space to act as a stop block.

Russ is partially correct - the main reason for the rearward extension is that when you use the drop down you must rotate the table around the drill press column to center the workpiece under the chuck. Because of the geometry this will result in the drill bit being positioned further back on the table from normal position so the extra length is needed to position any workpiece.

Fence height & handle clearance - you might consider cutting down the height of the fence a little on the right side to clear the drill press handles. I would leave the left side of the fence high. The plans show a semicircular relief in the center of the fence - reducing the fence height in the chuck area to the thickness of the bottom of the fence. I was unaware of the function of this cutout until I tried to use a circle cutter. Also this relieved area is required for chuck clearance when drilling with the fence close to the chuck. This is easy to fix on the bandsaw or use a circle cutter on the DP.


Another major blunder was forgetting not to glue in the center section! I'll have to route it out when it gets drilled up!

Don't bother routing the whole section out - just rout an area under the chuck region (say a 4"x4" section and square off the corners) the same thickness as what ever is handy for replacement of the sacrificial area. Offset this slightly to right or left of center and then you can rotate the sacrificial piece 90 degrees as it wears to provide a fresh backer at least 8 times (rotate 4 times, flip removable backer and rotate 4 more times) I thought about a circle for this area, but it was easier to cut replacements as squares. If you go this route, leave a relief hole along the edge of the cutout so you can easily lift/pry out the sacrificial area when needed.

[Russ Filtz]

Yep, Mike was the culprit that helped me out, thanks Mike! Sorry for forgetting your name over the weekend.

I was going to cut out the relief, but the circle cutter I bought off eBay is defective. Don't have a bandsaw or forstner bit large enough, and didn't think the jig saw would be smooth enough. Guess I'll try and then use my new drum sanding attachments on the DP! Isn't it great when you use a tool to fix itself!

I'm in the process of cutting down the right side. Problem is I'm using large aluminum brackets as the fence support. I know I can cut it on the TS, but it's fairly thick and would stress the blade. Probably just hacksaw or jig saw and file smooth. Still waiting on my T-track for it too.