Dust Collection for a Drill Press?

[Dave MacArthur]

I am in the process of putting together a new Delta 17-950L drill press, a floor standing model, and I am realizing that thing is HEAVY, and probably isn't going to be movable as I thought. Which means I now have to figure out where to put it in my 1-car garage space.

So the question: how important is dust collection for a drill press? I had planned on running a line from my 1.5 hp mobile DC to the back side of the table, but now I might have to place the drill press on the other side of the shop, to leave saw clearance for the tablesaw. I probably won't do all that much drilling, but I'm not really sure how useful/efficient DC would be for the drill press in any case? Is it worth DC on the drill press, and how important is it compared to utilizing a corner etc.? I don't want to have to move this thing around once I get it put together, so any inputs would be appreciated!

[Kyle Kraft]

Dave,

If you plan on using Forstner bits or spade bits in your drill press, I would recommend running a DC line to it. The aforementioned bits produce bushels of shavings, especially if you have a lot of holes to drill.

I just have a length of flex hose that I connect to a nearby drop and attach it the the column of the DP with some soft wire to suck up the shavings through the slot in my fence...works just fine.

[Dave MacArthur]

Thx Kyle... good info! I will be using forstner bits, as the main thing I'm planning on using DP for is cabinet doors/euro hinge holes. After reading your reply, I see at the bottom of the page a great feature, "Similar Threads". DOH!!! I guess I committed the cardinal forum sin, asking a question without using SEARCH first. My apologies, reading now...

[Rick Thom]

Dave, another option is to use your shop vac for your drill press. There are fittings such as these http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=30198&cat=1,42401&ap=1 that are good for lots of miscellaneous applications.

[Rick Levine]

I'm adding a floor sweep from my DC next to the drill press. I think that was the easiest solution I could come up with.

[Lance Norris]

I have a Delta 17-950L and use it alot for sanding. I installed a 4" takeoff under the table onto the bolts that hold the wood insert and it works great. No sanding dust of any kind. I am running a 650 cfm Delta dust collector.

[glenn bradley]

I have a small Ridgid vac that I picked up cheap at the BORG during a blowout sale. It sits between the DP and the BS and is used sort of like Kyle describes but I have a large plastic ratchet hand clamp that aims the hose in the general area for the DP. It also gets used for above the table clean up on the BS and whatever else is close by.

Eats up about a 15" circle of floor between the two tools. This is not a big deal as half of that footprint is under my DP add-on table's shadow.

[Eric Bong]

Dave,
My trash can sits next to my DP. I keep a brush near buy and just periodically sweep the shavings into the trash can. You don't get all of them, but the majority of the shavings end up in the can. It wasn't worth it to me to run the dust collection line.

My 0.02

Eric

[Don Bullock]

I bought the Rockler drill press table.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10163&filter=table
for my drill press. It's a really good table and Rockler sells a DC "dust port" that connects to the back of the fence. I bought the "4 piece drill press accessork kit" that included the stop blocks, hold down and dust port.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?sku=5765&cs=1
I need to add, however, that on my Delta 12" bench top drill press the Rockler table is a little big, which I actually like, but the drill press column gets in the way of the dust port. On a larger drill press this shouldn't be a problem.

One other nice feature of the Rockler table for my Delta drill press is the fact that there is an indentation cut out of the back of the table so that the crank for changing the table height is easy to use. Other tables I looked at didn't have this so the table would have to be moved away from the rear of the drill press table to use the crank. You can see what I'm talking about by looking at the "More Images" link on the drill press table page. The pictures also show the dust port.

Unfortunately the Rockler drill press table isn't on sale right now. It goes on sale on a fairly regular basis for $10 off.

[John Durscher]

I put my drill press on a mobile base. Makes it easy to move and clean underneath it.

John

[Pat Germain]

I put my drill press on a mobile base. Makes it easy to move and clean underneath it.

John

Is that setup stable, John? I would think a DP would be a bit top-heavy for a mobile base. I bolted a larger piece of plywood to my DP and I think it would still be unstable if I was moving it around. Is your mobile base much larger than the factory base?

[Steve Sawyer]

Is that setup stable, John?

Don't know about John's setup, but I have my floor press sitting in a frame of 2x4's, with two fixed casters attached at the two rear corners via a section of 2" angle iron. The front rests directly on the floor with a U-bolt sticking out the front.

The rear casters actually widen the footprint, making it somewhat MORE stable. I move it by slipping a device with a couple of casters and a long broom handle under the U-bolt, lift and (carefully) roll it around the shop. You do want to avoid sudden starts, stops and turns - it IS top-heavy, but I've never been the least bit nervous about moving it, and it gets moved a lot - every time I use it as it's pretty insaccessible where I keep it "parked".

[Yuchol Kim]

I took the advice of this forum and ran a DC to the drill press. I love it. I just got done using 2" forstner bits and all the shavings got sucked away. I LOVE IT!

[Cary Swoveland]

I bought the Rockler drill press table.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10163&filter=table
for my drill press. It's a really good table and Rockler sells a DC "dust port" that connects to the back of the fence. I bought the "4 piece drill press accessork kit" that included the stop blocks, hold down and dust port.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?sku=5765&cs=1
I need to add, however, that on my Delta 12" bench top drill press the Rockler table is a little big, which I actually like, but the drill press column gets in the way of the dust port....
Don,

I too have the Rockler table, and cannot recommend it too highly. I mean that literally, however. Firstly, I found it was unnecessarily deep (front-to-back), with the front taking up valuable shop space. I remedied that by cutting it off at the back. Secondly, I found the dust collection was often ineffective because the material I would be working with would block the dust port. Thirdly, the presence of the dust port allowed the fence to flex too much. Fourthly, it often is difficult to clamp material being drilled because of the locations of the two T-tracks.

I've replaced the fence with a shop-built one. My solution for dust collection borders on the bizarre, but it works very well. Here are pic:

6579065791

Cary

[Dave MacArthur]

wow! What a setup! Thanks for the great info to all.

[Don Bullock]

Cary, the Rockler table is definately thr ultimate drill press table. I bought one because I didn't have the time to build the one I really want. By buying this one I'm getting some ideas as to how I could modify it, like you have, or what I'd like to build into a table of my own design. It's also giving me the large surface that I need right now.

I definately agree with you that the Rockler table is a little too deep. I haven't decided if I like that or not, but one reason I bought the table was to support the wood I was drilling. That it does very well and that extra size helps with the support that I need. I've been thinking of a different solution than yours if I want the table to be a little smaller. I have figured how I can cut off the front of the table and cover the exposed MDF edge with the hardwood iron on edging often used for plywood. To cut off the back would take away the indentation for my table height crank which is one of the features of the table that I like for my Delta drill press.

For now I'm still working with the Rockler table in its original size and haven't found that it takes up too much space. The fence hasn't caused any problems for me yet. As I stated, I have taken the DC off because the post on my smaller bench top drill press gets in the way. Since I haven't used the table a lot yet, I definately keep what you said in mind and change mine if the fence I have causes my any problems.

I do like your solution to the dust collection problem. I may, at a future date, do something like that to mine. At this point I'm not drilling enough to find DC necessary, but can see that as a valuable feature to be added later. The only problem that I see from your location of the DC collection is it will not work when drilling holes in wider stock. The original poster stated,

I will be using forstner bits, as the main thing I'm planning on using DP for is cabinet doors/euro hinge holes.
It doesn't look like your DC solution will work for his application because the cabinet doors will be covering up the DC intake. In his case, perhaps the DC collection on the Rickler drill press table, as designed, would work. It also seems that he wouldn't have any problems with the fence flexing and the table depth would help support the doors.

[glenn bradley]

Is that setup stable, John? I would think a DP would be a bit top-heavy for a mobile base. I bolted a larger piece of plywood to my DP and I think it would still be unstable if I was moving it around. Is your mobile base much larger than the factory base?

I went for ballast: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=57448

[Dave MacArthur]

Nice base Glenn, I think I will copy that method. I'll post any ?? in your thread.

[Jay Keller]

I have my wife hold the DC hose while I drill.

[John Durscher]

Pat,

The moveable base I have is one that Woodcraft sold a while back. The kit provided two stationary wheels and two swivel wheels that can be raised and lowered. The wheels are bolted to a piece of 3/4" plywood which is bolted to the drill press. With this setup, the drill press is now actually more stable when stationary than it was before since the base is a little wider. And it really isn't that unstable in motion - it is a definite improvment over scooting it across the floor without the wheels!!

John


Is that setup stable, John? I would think a DP would be a bit top-heavy for a mobile base. I bolted a larger piece of plywood to my DP and I think it would still be unstable if I was moving it around. Is your mobile base much larger than the factory base?

[Bruce Wrenn]

I think it was Wood Magazine that featured a DC using shop vac. They made a collar to go around column of DP, and a collar to hold vac hose.

[Randy Denby]

I have one of these on my drlllpress and its the best! Its a lineloc blue adjustable tube that hooks into a vac or dustcollector. Swivel it as close to the drilled area as you want and watch it get 99.9% of the dust. Then just swivel it out of the way when done....I highly recommend it

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=1911