What is the best drill press table plan?

[Erik Stol]

Hi guys,

Just got back from my holiday to the States, where I picked up some t-track (2x 24") and additional stuff at Grizzly, to finally build my drill press table. Which plan is the best one to follow?

Thanx in advance.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I'll give this a shot. I got a Shop Notes mag a while ago, and made the table that was in it. It's pretty nice and functional. Movable fence, and T-track on the fence for stops. Google "shop notes drill press table" and you can buy one or just take a look at the pic and build in your own dimensions. It's pretty basic. I was able to build one.

[glenn bradley]

One that gives you:
- a fence that can move back far enough to allow decent depth of position.
- a split fence is nice for dust collection.
- a flat bottom surface around the edge so you can clamp to it.
- a replaceable insert so you can swap them out as required.
- a way to employ hold downs front to back and in close for holding small stuff.

[G. Brad Schmidt]

Though, I haven't had an extreme need to build an auxiliary table for my 17-DX you can find a few plans here along with some other pertinent stuff.

I do use my beater xy compound cross slide vise a lot.

[Kent A Bathurst]

One that gives you:
- a fence that can move back far enough to allow decent depth of position.
- a split fence is nice for dust collection.
- a flat bottom surface around the edge so you can clamp to it.
- a replaceable insert so you can swap them out as required.
- a way to employ hold downs front to back and in close for holding small stuff.

Agreed. Detailed refinements you might consider:
1) I have a solid (not split) fence, simply because that's what I wanted. Roughly 3" tall, 2" deep, 34" long. Hard Maple. Tee-track running horizontally on the face, to allow for end-stops. Also - the holes that the bolts/knobs run through to tighten the fence - I made them elongated holes, so the fence can be locked down at an angle (if they were just round holes, the fence would bind at an angle).
2) the insert - I made my table out of 2 layers of 3/4" ply (also HM). My insert is a 4-1/2" circle in the top layer only, and the circle is offset from center so that it can be rotated to put a fresh surface under the bit (not my original idea - saw it somewhere else - SMC, IIRC). Flip it over when trashed to get a new face. I made 7-8 inserts as a batch to have some inventory.
3) Hold-downs: The Rockler hold-downs are great - better than I expected (photo below). I got them after I had built the table. I wish I had put my inner tee-tracks closer to the table center so they could reach shorter parts. Also, I have a pair of Destaco 609 straight-line clamps (rubber feet) that hold parts against the fence. I use these when the target can't be held by the hold-downs (too big/tall/etc).

[Erik Stol]

Hello guys,

Thanx for your reply and the referring to the several ShopNotes issues, this helps me a lot. I do like the idea of Kent with the offcenter inlay centerpiece. I will adopt this.

Pictures will be posted when finished.