Brotherwood: Drill Press Table and Fence

A couple of weeks ago I bought this new Porter Cable 15'' drill press. I am very pleased with this drill press so far.

I knew before i even got a drill press that as soon as I got one i would want to make a table and fence to work with the press.

I started by making some alignment pieces out of some scrap pine. I made four originally because there are four slots on the existing table but later decided just to use three.

I used the disc sander to round the pins so they would follow the curve of the slots
.

I made the table from some free 3/4'' plywood i got from work with a layer of 3/16'' hard board on top so i would have a smooth surface. It is 2 feet wide and 18 inches deep. I made a cutout where the bit goes that is easily replaceable so when it gets worn i can simply replace it.

I cut a bunch of the inserts while i was set up so i would have plenty of spares.

I put the alignment pins in place with some washers under them to raise them up to be just a little bit higher than the existing table. I applied a small amount of glue to the alignment pins and clamped the table in place to attach the pins.

After about 30 minutes I removed the table and put some screws in the alignment pins. Next i installed the clamp blocks to the bottom of the table, The blocks have bolts glued into them.

I used some T shaped knobs to make it easy to remove the table at any time. I also enjoy some metal working from time to time so i wanted the table to be easily removable so i could drill metal on the cast iron table.

Here is a shot of the table installed on the drill press.

I added some washers between the clamp block to properly shim it.

The completed table.

Next i started on the fence. I started with a piece of scrap MDF and some strips of hard board.

I glued the hard board to the MDF on all sides.

Next I installed a clamping mechanism on each end similar to the table attachment clamps.

For this clamp block i used all thread with nuts. Seeing how the fence clamps will be loosened and tightened much more often i decided to use this method instead because i thought it would be less likely to turn. Also if the all thread does turn i can simply tighten the nuts on the block.