inexpensive drill press table material ?

[Cooler]

I made mine from melamine laminated particle board.  The advantages on the band saw for the melamine was that it had a low coefficient of friction--everything slid easily.

That advantage on the band saw was a disadvantage on the drill press.  I would go with particle board or MDF.

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

As Pirate says, a drill press table can be a simple or complex: an improvisation for a specific job or an engineering project for a permanent fixture.  And a lot of space between those two extremes.  It’s a little hard to know where you’re aiming, so the advice may be a little misdirected.  

You have already invested about $1K in a very nice, premium drill press, but are concerned about spending another $50 on materials for an auxiliary table.  That suggests to me you want an improvised table to use sometimes for specific jobs.  I’ll assume that for my comments as much as I can.

I had an improvised plywood table on my 17-990X press for a while, then bought a Rockler DP table on closeout.  That table had lots of design problems, hence the closeout, maybe.  It needed pretty much a complete reengineering.  Most important problem was a rickety, light-duty attachment to the stock table.  I thought the 1-1/8” MDF top would  be rigid enough for the top (it wasn’t), and I thought I could make a nice pivot fence with the aluminum extrusion provided (that worked out well).  Here’s what the table looks like.


A few issues I see with your press relate to the two-angle tilt table:

Need for positively securing the aux table to the stock table, so it doesn’t slide off and land on the floor (if you’re lucky) or on your toes (if you’re not) when you tilt the table.  The details of that depend on the design of the stock table.  But the aux table and work can be heavy, so the attachment needs to be sturdy.  Here’s what I did with mine:



Need for secure and precisely adjustable workholding, for the same reason.   T-tracks can do this, and I’d install them in both directions for the two-angle tilt table. The melamine surface on the Rockler MDF table is a little more slippery than I’d like, but it’s workable.

Need for rigid enough top that it doesn’t crown or distort from stress of securing it to the stock table.  With my own press, the 1-1/8” MDF top is not rigid enough to prevent crowning.  I don't get much crown, but enough to annoy if I’m not careful installing it.  Again, it’s workable, but starting over, I’d probably avoid 1-1/8” MDF and use something more rigid like two layers of plywood, even Baltic birch.

[Routerman]

Aluminum, (MIC-6). Created flat, stays flat and tap-able for accessories.

[daddo]

I've always thought an old router table top would make a good DP top. Could be modified to suit your needs and would be flat.

[jbmaine]

Thanks for all the great input. However I will be putting this on the back burner for now. The LOML has asked me to do another project for her.
                                                               Jim

[rudedan60]

I just recently went with a HF table, can't find it on the site for a link.  It was quick and I can use the parts on another table.  So far i like it, with the 20% Coupon it was only $20 or so. Dan