DRILL PRESS TABLE

Stop making do with that factory metalworking table on your drill press. This overachieving add-on is a woodworking ace.

- JAN SVEC,JEFF MERTZ,BRIAN BERGSTROM

Although indispensable in a woodworking shop for drilling precisely perpendicular holes, most drill presses come equipped with a feature-deficient table. This auxiliary table with fence and microadjustable stopblock sets things straight, supplying everything the cast-iron table on your drill press lacks.

RENEWABLE-TOP TABLE

We started with Baltic birch plywood topped with ¼" medium-density fiberboard (MDF) to create a smooth, consistently flat base. Choose a mounting option based on the configuration of your drill-press table.

Glue the top parts (B, C, D) to the base (A) in position with their edges flush with the base. Use masking tape to prevent shifting, then clamp the top and base between 3/4" cauls to keep the assembly flat.

1 For the base (A), cut two 14½×29½" pieces of ½" plywood. Glue and clamp the pieces together, keeping their ends and edges flush [Drawing 1].

2 From ¼" MDF, cut the top sides (B), top front (C), and top back (D) to size [Parts List]. Mark the ⅜"-radius finger notch on the front edge of the top back [Drawing 1]. Cut and sand it to shape. Then spread glue on the backs of the top parts and glue them to the base [Photo A].

3 Draw the 3 ⅝"-radius post cutout at the rear of the table assembly (A–D) [Drawing 1]. Bandsaw or jigsaw and sand it to shape.

4 If your drill press has slots through its metal table, cut the groove for the T-track in the bottom of the table assembly (A–D) using a ¾" dado stack in your tablesaw [Drawing 1].