I'm getting ready to build a woodworking drill press table for my 15" floor drill press, hopefully this week. I've built several tables over the years, some pretty good some not so much. So I'd like to poll the group for some opinions.
1. First, what size? Right now I'm thinking 24" wide and 16" deep. Seems to be in the range of many commercial tables. Would you prefer larger or smaller than that. Why? For what type of operations?
2. How thick? Right now I'm thinking 1-1/2" made from two layers of 3/4" plywood. I have the better grade from Klingspor's - not the Borg trash. It will be hardwood edged. The two layers will be glued and also held together with bolts for the t-tracks. I haven't given much thought to adding a layer of laminate or maybe just a finish yet. Previous tables were unfinished and it just hasn't been an issue.
3. The top will have a combination of t-tracks for the fence and some clamping and dovetail slots for other clamps.
4. The table will be mounted to a dedicated post that fits the drill press table mount hole and not attached to the metal table at all. No clamping or bolting to the machine table necessary. Just takes loosening/tightening one nut to swap between the woodworking table and the machining table as needed.
5. I will extend the table lift crank to the right hand edge of the table so reaching the original crank or clearance issues won't be problems. With the original table lift crank handle removed the new mechanism will consist of a 5/8" shaft coupling, 5/8-11 threaded rod and finally a hand wheel. The rod will be supported under the table at the right hand side. The top of the hand wheel will be low enough not to interfere with work piece overhang. All the parts for that are already on hand.
6. Still considering the sacrificial throat plate configuration. The most common I've seen is the square plate inserted into the table with holes at the corners of the table cutout to facilitate replacements. Any other ideas on that?
This table will be dedicated to woodworking operations and doesn't need to be a compromise to accomodate metal working operations since it can easily be swapped out when needed. Fences are a whole other topic and my plan is to probably have more than one just so I can deal with different operational requirements.
I have seen table designs that incorporate X-Y movement similar to a metal working compound slide table but nothing I've ever done really needs that functionality. Well, that's not entirely true. I have a Grizzly G8750 18-1/2" compound sliding table for metal working tasks and I have used it on rare occasions for a few wood items. Bottom line there is with that table in the shop this woodworking drill press table doesn't need that functionality.
Thanks and let the opinions and ideas flow. Hopefully this discussion will encourage some other table builds.
1. First, what size? Right now I'm thinking 24" wide and 16" deep. Seems to be in the range of many commercial tables. Would you prefer larger or smaller than that. Why? For what type of operations?
2. How thick? Right now I'm thinking 1-1/2" made from two layers of 3/4" plywood. I have the better grade from Klingspor's - not the Borg trash. It will be hardwood edged. The two layers will be glued and also held together with bolts for the t-tracks. I haven't given much thought to adding a layer of laminate or maybe just a finish yet. Previous tables were unfinished and it just hasn't been an issue.
3. The top will have a combination of t-tracks for the fence and some clamping and dovetail slots for other clamps.
4. The table will be mounted to a dedicated post that fits the drill press table mount hole and not attached to the metal table at all. No clamping or bolting to the machine table necessary. Just takes loosening/tightening one nut to swap between the woodworking table and the machining table as needed.
5. I will extend the table lift crank to the right hand edge of the table so reaching the original crank or clearance issues won't be problems. With the original table lift crank handle removed the new mechanism will consist of a 5/8" shaft coupling, 5/8-11 threaded rod and finally a hand wheel. The rod will be supported under the table at the right hand side. The top of the hand wheel will be low enough not to interfere with work piece overhang. All the parts for that are already on hand.
6. Still considering the sacrificial throat plate configuration. The most common I've seen is the square plate inserted into the table with holes at the corners of the table cutout to facilitate replacements. Any other ideas on that?
This table will be dedicated to woodworking operations and doesn't need to be a compromise to accomodate metal working operations since it can easily be swapped out when needed. Fences are a whole other topic and my plan is to probably have more than one just so I can deal with different operational requirements.
I have seen table designs that incorporate X-Y movement similar to a metal working compound slide table but nothing I've ever done really needs that functionality. Well, that's not entirely true. I have a Grizzly G8750 18-1/2" compound sliding table for metal working tasks and I have used it on rare occasions for a few wood items. Bottom line there is with that table in the shop this woodworking drill press table doesn't need that functionality.
Thanks and let the opinions and ideas flow. Hopefully this discussion will encourage some other table builds.
