I've been looking at commercial add on tables for bandsaws and drill presses with a view to building my own. All the models I have seen so far are literaly 'add ons'; the new table is mounted directly over the existing table. The same seems to hold true for plans in magazines. It seems to me that this adds weight and decreases clearance.
Is there some reason not to remove the existing table and mount the new one directly to the trunions?
TIA
LD
I'd say the reason would be primarily one of flexibility. A lot of people use their drill presses for multiple tasks - some woodworking, some metal working, some respectfully use the table as it was originally intended - as yet another flat surface in the shop for the convenient placement of anything that you need to put down. Point being - I would not want to do metal work on a nice wood top - metal work often gets messy. Better to do it on the original table and throw on a top that is somewhat special purpose when I need to do something like drill mortises with the press. Everything stays much cleaner - the wood does not stand the chance of picking up oil that you might not have cleaned up well enough from the last metal work you did.
Also - as time goes by you'll likely build more than one special purpose top for your press to accommodate different tasks. It's easier to unclamp one from a table and clamp another one on than it is to remove a table and mount it.
As for adding weight, less than three pounds. Clearance lost is 3/4". I've never use the full depth on my DP so I did not care.
To remove the table I just remove two wing nuts, about 20 seconds each.
I just installed an "add-on". I see zero reason to remove the original table. It would take more time, I don't need the clearance, and it's something else to store. It works fine by just attaching the new table to the old.
David
Lobby Dosser wrote:
I built a pretty hefty add-on drill press table and it is heavy.
I don't have the tools to make a table that would fit in the existing trunion accurately and don't really see any advantage to replacing it. Bob
Way too difficult and no real benefit. I have a 30" x 18" table that is held in place with two handscrews and I can have it off in about 1 minute. Actually, I cannot think of a reason I would take it off. I built mine with extendable table, extendable fence, tracks, etc. It can be used equally well for wood or metal projects. The tracks are spaced to accept a the hold-down vices I use for occasional metalworking.
As far as clearance loss goes I guess it depends on whether you have a floor or bench model. I used two thicknesses of 3/4" Baltic Birch ply on mine, with a third ply at the ends. Mine is a floor model so clearance is no issue.
However, weight might be an issue if you don't have a mechanical lift (rack and crank, etc,). Mine was a little heavy before the auxiliary table. I rigged up a simple and inexpensive counter weight using cable, pulleys and rubber bungee. Works fine. I posted pics a few months ago.
Building a drill press table is a fun and useful project. Depending on design, it can add a lot of utility to the tool.
RonB
Ron, saw your setup when you posted it. Very ingenous.
Thanks to everyone for their comments on the drill press table. Anyone got any comments on the band saw?
lobby dosser wrote: >Anyone
I found a plan somewhere that has you bolt hardwood supports to the tably via the fence mounting holes. From there, I carefully cut out the shape of the existing table inside a big hunk of melamine, and routed out the areas that the supports will do their job. Some shimming, the addition of a clasp at the blade removal slot, and then routing out the mitre slot got me a fair size auxiliary table with no loss of clearance. I'll take a look for the plans later. Tom Work at your leisure!
Thanks, I'd like to see them.
LD
Thanks - Probably more stingy than ingenious. Actully the guys who frequent this group came up with most of it.
Yeah, I addressed the drill press more than band saw. You are giving up some depth clearance on that tool. I believe I saw some auxilary band saw table and accessory projects in one of the magazines during the past 1 to 2 years. The table I am thinking of sat on top of the existing cast table. Best bet is WOOD magazine but I loaned several of mine to my son a while back. You might check the project list on their site.
RonB
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