Weekend odds and ends

Most Saturdays in the wintertime i have to work on Saturdays so i really feel like my weekends are cut short and i cant get much done. We have slowed down enough at work now that we are no longer working on Saturdays for the most part. That being said, I had a very productive weekend. I finished my drill press table and fence on Saturday so today I had plenty of time for some odds and ends.



I made a new crosscut sled and miter sled a couple of weeks ago but never put any pictures up so I figured i would include some pics in this post.

Here is my new crosscut sled hanging on the holder i made for my old sled. It fits fine on my old hanger so i didn't have to make a new one.

The sled is constructed of 3/4'' oak plywood with solid oak runners.

Here is my new miter sled which is made of the same materials. I put the triangle on top to stiffen the sled up.

Both sleds have 3 coats of water based polyurethane on them.

Here is a shot of the hanger i made for the miter sled on the wall.

Ok, if you have an old table with some light surface rust on the top like me, drop everything you are doing in the shop and do this.

I picked up a wire wheel for my angle grinder, some 320 grit sanding blocks and some paste wax.

I wish i had taken a picture before i did it but oh well. I started by going over the top with the wire wheel then i sanded the top with the sanding blocks. Next i wiped everything down with alcohol and applied the paste wax.

I have no idea why it took me so long to get around to doing this, the results are dramatic and it only took about an hour. Every tool that works with the table saw, works better and everything slides so much easier. This is one of the best things i have done to improve my old table saw.

As you can see a tube of silicone or caulk will not quite fit on this shelf.

I decided to make this simple holder for tubes that go in a caulk gun. Its just a piece of 3/4'' plywood with six 2'' holes cut in it, works great.

My last project for the day was making this little cabinet. The shell is just a box i got from work that some parts where shipped in. Its 7 feet tall, 16'' wide and 14'' deep.

I cut 12 pieces of 2x4 to support the shelves and screwed them in making sure the shelves were level. I also screwed the hole thing to the wall to make it more stable. The best part about this project is it was practically  free, the wood i used to make the shelves and even the screws came from another box that i took apart from work. The only thing i paid for was the two 8 foot 2x4s which i had on hand. So basically that was about a 6 dollar project.

If you have any questions or comments drop me an email or just leave a comment! Thanks for viewing

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.

Here is the fence installed on the table.

I am very pleased with this project and i know it will get a ton of good use on nearly every project i do.

If you have any questions or comment drop me an email or leave a comment.