Seeking input on support mechanism to be used with a drill press

[Jules Dominguez]

I have a 20+ year-old Craftsman 16" drill press on which I put a homemade 18" wide by 58" long 3/4" thick Birch plywood auxiliary table . It has a 1" by 3" oak stiffeners under the length of the front edge of the table to hold flatness. It's bolted to the drill press work table, so it rotates or goes up and down with the work table. I find it very convenient and helpful to use, and I normally leave it attached to the drill press. When I have to handle longer boards than can be supported by this tabletop I use one or two roller stands which I keep in the shop for general use.

[Frank Pellow]

I purchased mine about 6 months ago. I only paid 17.50 for it at a return center. I would pass on it if I could do it again. The horizontal arms are not a tight fit in the sleeves. They are secured with a a pc of threaded rod tightened with a plastic handle. Not rickety but you can still move the arms around when it is fully hand tightened.

When you get right down to it a long horizontal reach is not the best way to provide verticle support. I think amazon carries them and they were not reviewed well there either.

Thanks Bob. I guess that, based on what I have heard from you and Carole and from the reviews I read at Amazon (again thanks for the reference), that I will give the Lee Valley and HTC support contraption a miss.

For others that may be interested, here are a couple of quotes from the reviews at Amazon:

"I've been using the HTC PM-128 Drill Press Support for a year or so and I think its a great idea. The problem I have with the PM-128 is its lack of rigidity and strength. I've never been able to use it for accurate drilling simply because it bends quite easily, especially when the arms are near full extension. Its difficult to get the rollers to be coplanar with the drill press table because the steel tubing twists and racks. I know, you are probably saying: for [the price] what do you expect? I agree, I got what I paid for. I wish HTC (whose mobile bases are top notch!) would come out with a PM-428 or something, costing about [ammount of money] or so, using heavier tubing and a more robust clamping device for the drill press column. Conceptually the PM-128 is well thought out, with plenty of adjustments and a convenient storage tray, it just needs to be beefed up a little. If you purchase the PM-128 be advised that it is not suitable for long >5ft. or heavy pieces of material, in my humble opinion."


"This gadget will work fine if you're drilling in something like thin baseboard molding, etc. or other light weight stuff. Any thing heavier than a 2x4 you can forget about decent support. You have to make an allowance on the height of your support to compensate for the swag you are going to get because of the weight. I wish I had bought a floor support stand instead."

[Frank Pellow]

I have a 20+ year-old Craftsman 16" drill press on which I put a homemade 18" wide by 58" long 3/4" thick Birch plywood auxiliary table . It has a 1" by 3" oak stiffeners under the length of the front edge of the table to hold flatness. It's bolted to the drill press work table, so it rotates or goes up and down with the work table. I find it very convenient and helpful to use, and I normally leave it attached to the drill press. When I have to handle longer boards than can be supported by this tabletop I use one or two roller stands which I keep in the shop for general use.

I guess that I will try to build something like this, and maybe incorporate the rollers mentioned by Tyler. My design will need to be such that the table is not always 58 inches wide.

[John Bush]

Hi Frank,
I agree that you should pass on that style of support system. I've had one for a while and the only way I've been able to stabilize the vertical movement is by using a 2X4 as a fence across the table and clamping the outrigger rollers to the 2X4. It worked really well then, but if you don't need a fence the set-up is a nuisance. I've had better luck using my rollerstands. Good luck, John.

[Carole Valentine]

Mine is the HTC unit. A suggestion...save what you would use for this thing and buy one or two of the new LV Roller Stands. A bit pricey at $79 but really nice stands. I use mine with everything, band saw, tablesaw, router table, drill press.

[Frank Pellow]

Mine is the HTC unit. A suggestion...save what you would use for this thing and buy one or two of the new LV Roller Stands. A bit pricey at $79 but really nice stands. I use mine with everything, band saw, tablesaw, router table, drill press.

Thanks Carole. I have definately decided not to purchase the support. Your suggstion of two Lee Valley stands is a good one and it is probably what I will do if I can not come up with a made support that I like.