Drill Press Fence

IMHO your best bet is to build one. You might as well build an oversized table while you are at it. Do a Google Image search for drill press tables and fences and you will find lots of examples. That is what I did before I built my expandable table and fence. I'll post pics over at abpw, if you are interested.

RonB

MDF would probably be fine, but I'll second the advice to build a larger table. I built mine out of a couple thicknesses of melamine- coated particleboard, with replaceable center inserts so I can toss them when they get drilled up. I find the larger table very helpful. I made a nice fence with cam levers for the t-tracks also, but I find that I use a simple board clamped to the table more often - just something to keep your workpiece aligned and to keep it from spinning. I often leave one end of the board clamped as a pivot, and just move the other end as needed. Sorry - it's really not as complicated as it sounds. If you don't want to build one, or if time is more important than money, there are a few commercial ones available - one inexpensive option is from MLCS:

Not familiar with the unit in question, but in general, the drill presses available all seem to be designed for metal work - table small with lots of ways to afix a part to the table. Start by making a bigger, bolt on table. If you include two paralell "T-Tracks" in the table, you can attach things to it easily - like a fence for example. Skip the MDF fence idea and head for a hardware store. Buy a 2 foot piece of aluminim L stock. Drill a hole in the long leg of the L to lock one end down to the T-Track. With the L fence 90s to the T-Track, mark where it is over the other T-Track. Drill a hole on either side of that point and file out the waste between them. What you are doing is making a pivoting fence that can be locked down once you've got it where you need it. Lee Valley, Rockler etc. sell all the parts.

You don't need a tall fence on a drill press, just something you can register a part against for drilling at a specific point. A tall fence will get in the way when you're drilling close to the fence, especially with a small, short bit.

Have fun with the new toy - er - tool.

charlie b

asmurff wrote: | I have recently purchased a Ryobi 10" Drill Press and I realize | some of you don't like their products but it fit my budget but I | still like some advice. I was wondering it anyone knows of a place | to purchase a fence for it or where plans to make one might be | available. I have a couple of ideas including using MDF to make one | what do you think?

I have a small benchtop Ryobi DP and built a quick and dirty table and fence for it. The fence is a 2' length of fir 2x4 that can be used either horizontally or vertically.

Link to photos below.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA