Drill Press Table

I'm the proud owner of a Jet JDP-17MF drill press, the one pictured at left.  Nope, it isn't the best one on the market, but, for a weekend woodworker, it ain't too bad either.  It's the age old woodworker's delimma with the same age old steps to resolve it... need a tool, feature up the "dream" unit, then whittle it down until the dollars meet the sticker price.  I wish I had ponied up for one with a laser for bit alignment.  Other than that, its only real problem is the absence of a drill press table more suitable to woodworking.  All things considered, I didn't give up too much of my wish list, and I've been happy with it since I bought it.

Oh, I've had a couple of problems though over the years.  I had the table a little off center and drove a real nice glass and tile bit right into that steel table one time... so much for that $20.00 bit.  Can't moan about that one too much though, it was my fault.  The other one I can moan about!  That little, round, steel table is great for metal work, but it ain't worth a tinker's damn for woodworking.

Until very recently, drill presses have traditionally been designed for metalsmiths, with woodworkers as a distant and faint afterthought.  Luckily, there's a real simple fix to turn it into an effective tool for woodworking.  Just make a table top for the drill press that ramps it up for real craftsmen.  It features a large surface area, a wide, replaceable MDF insert under the bit, a bottom t-track for mounting it to the drill press, a rock solid, short fence to position your work, and top t-tracks to mount a couple of hold-downs.

Cut List and Materials--

Major components...

Following is a cut list of materials for the drill press table that I built.  It's real straight forward and very easy to build. 

Item	Qty	Component	Material	Notes	Dimensions (L, W, H)
A	2	substrates	plywood/MDF	*1	36" x 21" x "
B	2	surfaces	laminate	*2	36" x 21"
C	1	T-track	aluminum
D	2	T-track	aluminum

** Notes **
*1. - MDF will add weight and reduce vibration.  I hate MDF!  I used Baltic Birch ply.
*2. - The laminate will be trimmed to an exact fit later.  Depending on your experience, give yourself at least an inch on all four sides.

Additional Materials...

In addition to the wood components and major materials above, you will also need the following:

• plenty of wood glue for the substrate glue up.
• contact cement for the laminate glue up.
• a couple of disposable 4" paint rollers (not foam).
• a j-roller.
• a box of disposable latex or nitrile gloves.
• a few "sticks".  You'll need them to temporarily hold the laminate off of the substrate.

Build The Table --

	Glue up the substrates and laminates... Using some " MDF or good quality Baltic birch ply, cut the two table top substrates (A).  Glue and clamp 'em up.  Make sure you overlap the sides by about ".  That will give you two perpendicular reference edges.  Also, make sure they stay absolutely flat while the glue dries.  After the glue dries, use the reference edges to trim it square and to final dimension. Using one of your disposable paint rollers, spread contact cement on one side of the substrate and the back of one of the pieces of laminate (B).  Give it a few minutes to "tack up," and roll out the laminate.  Chuck a flush trim bit in the router and trim the edges.  Turn it over and repeat this step on the other side.  Hometime has a good how-to article on making laminate counters if you need additional info.  If you're going to band the edges, this is a good time do it.
	Cut the bottom dado... You'll need to do some measuring here... all of the drill presses come with one of those small steel tables, and all of those tables have some holes or slots cut into them for various clamping fixtures for the metalsmiths.  Measure from the front of the drill press column to the slots where you'll attach your table top to theirs.  Transfer those measurments to the bottom of your table, square up and clamp a fence, and route a slot for the bottom t-track (C). Fit, but DON'T install the t-track yet.  If you feel you must, be careful.  You'll be cutting t-track channels on the other side for the fence and hold-downs, and you could run the router bit into the screws from the other side.  YIKES!!! Now, some of this can be done in short order with a stack dado set mounted in the table saw, and if you happen to have one, it's certainly the way to go to cut all of the through slots.  However, some of them are stop grooves or dados.  You can stop short using a stack set and then grab the chisels (yeah, good luck with that) or you can chuck up a straight bit in a router (Ooh-ooh, option two, option two!).
	Cut the top dados and plow out for the insert... Turn it over and cut the dados for the t-track (D) on the top side.  I set the t-track about 6" off the centerline.  My thinking was that it would give the fence a little more stability.  If I had it to do over again, I'd position the t-track just a tad bit closer to the center... I don't think it would effect the fence at all, and I think having them a little closer to the bit would have worked a little better for the hold-downs.  On short stock, the hold-downs won't reach.  Anyway... Plow out the center slot for a replaceable MDF insert.  It would be easy enough to piece it together with plywood in the beginning, but the width of plywood is dimensionally too "iffy" to be reliable for new inserts down the road.  The width of " MDF is very consistent, so I chose to plow it out of a single piece to a depth of ".
	Cut, trim, and fit your MDF insert... Fit in an MDF insert.  The insert for this table is 4" wide.  That may seem to be a little wide, but in use, the table will be offset from the the centerline of the bit by about an inch.  That way, I can slide it, turn it around, and flip it over to get the maximum use out of the insert before cutting a new one.
	Use your new drill press table... She's ready to use.  Enjoy. Make sure you look over the safety considerations.

Cautions and Safety Concerns --

Careful with the Contact Cement...

If you aren't familiar with contact cement, USE CAUTION and BE CAREFUL!  This stuff is very flammable and can flash to fire on a whim.  Also, kids are going brain dead sniffing this stuff, but big people can get a little woozy too.  Glove up.  Don't use foam rollers; use natural bristle rollers if you can.  The solvents in contact cement are pretty harsh and can melt a lot of synthetic stuff out there.  MSDS' on various brands of contact cement declare the dangers of its use, especially fire and inhalation problems... work outside if possible!  Most important, get the MSDS on the brand of contact cement you use, read it, and head its warnings, especially the exposure warnings!

Route the top t-track channels a little closer...

As was stated above, I set the top t-tracks about 6" off the centerline.  My purpose was noble, my thoughts were pure, but my thoughts were wrong.  On short or small stock, the hold-downs are too far away from the work piece to be of any use.  The short fence helps as I can clamp to it.