[CharleyL]

I made a different kind of drill press table for one of my smaller drill presses this week, but since my internet has been going up and down like a yoyo tonight I've lost the post 4 times before finishing it. Maybe if I can just get the pictures poster, you can all figure out what it looks like and I can just answer questions tomorrow.

Well the pictures made it. So let me try to describe it. I found the idea for it on YouTube. A German gentleman named Stephan Pohnlien posted the idea. What is in my pictures below is my Americanized version of his idea. Thank you very much Stephan.

The fence pivots on a 1/4-20 bolt in the left rear of the table, and locks in position with a clamp made from wood pieces. I used two hanger bolts, those with a wood thread one one end and machine threads on the other. The machine thread is also 1/4-20. One of these just keeps the moving part of the clamp from turning, while the other longer one extends through the clamp piece and has a 3 wing jig type 1/4-20 knob on it so that the clamp can be tightened.

The fence is a piece of 3/4" square pine. I initially had it higher, but my laser cross hairs could not shine over it. On the top of the fence I've attached a piece of Mini T Track. A 1/4-20 hex bolt fits in this T Track and has the stop block attached and another 3 wing jig 1/4-20 knob attached to to hold the stop in the desired position.

The wood table is attached to the drill press table with two 1/4-20 carriage bolts and two more of these 3 wing jig knobs. The bolts go through the slots in the metal drill press table, so I can easily loosen these bolts and move the wood forward or back to make it easier to reach and turn the table lift crank and table lock bolt. These carriage bolts have their heads countersunk into the table so the heads are below the top surface of the table.

I wanted a way to easily set up to drill the first of many identical small parts and the laser cross hairs make this easy, but I wanted an easy way to set a fence and stop so that I could set them to the position of this first part to make it easy to put the same hole in the identical parts in the exact same position. This table setup has proven to do this very easily. While I continue to hold the first part with my left hand and adjust adjust both the fence and stop positions with my right hand. Simple, but very effective, and a great idea Stephan.

Charley

 

[old55]

Nice one Charley.

 

[harrysin]

A great ides and well made, I must one day make one.

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

Nice work Charley. Where did you get the lasers and how did you mount them?

 

[CharleyL]

The laser units that I have came with two of my Delta drill presses. I have a second laser unit on my floor model Delta drill press, but my variable speed Delta bench model didn't come with one. So I have three Delta drill presses, but only two laser units and I'm considering maybe buying one for my third drill press, now that I'm getting some benefit from the ones that I have.

I've seen these laser units for sale for about $40 but they aren't the same as the Delta ones that I have. Hopefully these are calibrated and are ready to use. Peachtree Woodworking www.ptreeusa and Wixey https://www.amazon.com/Wixey-Model-...67871&sr=8-1&keywords=wixey+drill+press+laser both of these sources sell their own versions of these laser units. The Wixey unit looks similar to my Delta lasers, but it's not the same.

If you buy one, it's very important that the two lasers project their lines absolutely vertical in relation to the drill press chuck. With my units, neither was aligned very well when I got them, and I didn't use the first laser for several years before taking the time to try to make it work right. The ones that I have are a bear to do this vertical line adjustment because they require an almost complete dis-assembly to be able to turn the body of each laser line generator to get the generated line positioned perfectly vertical. A white 3/8 diameter rod with a point on one end came with each drill press. With it in the drill chuck, you can make a dimple in a piece of wood to show the location that the drill bit will hit and the lasers should be adjusted to cross at. Both lasers can then be turned so they will cross at this dimple, but if the generated laser lines don't project their lines perfectly vertical, as you move the work piece or table up or down the laser lines will no longer cross at this dimple.

Turning the body of each laser module within it's mount will allow you to get the lines projecting truly vertical and displaying on the full length of the back side of the white rod in the drill chuck. A mirror placed at the back of the drill press table will help you to see the lines. Once they are both adjusted to project vertical lines on the back side of the rod you can then rotate the mount of each laser (easy to do without dis-assembly) until the lines cross at the dimple in the wood ( since this adjustment is difficult to do precisely by hand, I used a pair of pliers to lightly grip each laser head to turn it and get more precise movement). Then you will be able to raise or lower the work or the quill and the cross hair lines will will remain crossed on the dimple in the wood.

Nowhere in the drill press manuals did I find any instructions for aligning these laser units. They just seem to have been thrown in the box with the drill presses without even being calibrated, as an after thought or a sales gimmick, but they can be quite handy, once you fknow how they work and how to align them.

The laser unit clamps to the drill press post just below the drill press head, but the case of the laser unit is plastic, so don't over tighten the clamp. Both of my laser cross hair modules are powered from standard 9 volt batteries that fit in a compartment inside the front of the plastic case between the two laser heads. There is a small rocker switch on the left end of the laser unit to switch them on and off. If you forget to turn them off, even a new battery will need replacing the following day DAMHIKT.

I built this whole table in just a few hours. None of it requires any critical dimensions. Just make your's based on this idea, and whatever size seems to fit your drill press well. I like using this table so much that I'm thinking about making a second one for my other bench top drill press. The laser unit is nice to have, but it's not really needed for this table design idea to be of great use.

For making the same hole in many identical small parts, just get the first part positioned correctly with the fence up against one flat side of it, then move the sliding stop along the fence until it also is against the part. Now lock both the fence and the stop in position. Then drill the hole in the first part. You can now position each of your identical parts against the fence and the stop to drill each of them so that the drilled hole is in the exact same position in each one without the need to mark each part before you drill it. For small holes, it does help to pre-drill each hole with a small special centering drill bit before you drill the hole to the desired size. This additional step will prevent the smaller drill bits from "walking", bending away from the desired starting point as you begin drilling the hole. It is an additional step in the process, but the position accuracy of the final drilled hole will be much improved. I center drill all of the parts, then replace the center drill with the desired drill bit and go back and drill each part a second time without moving the fence or stop. Batch processing significantly reduces the processing time.

Charley