Drill Press Table

[Shovel Man]

On my table saw I apply car wax to make the work move smoothly, but I want high friction on my drill press table. Any suggestions?

[Wizard of Oz]

Just a thought, but how about the stuff they put on steps, to help slippage? The self-stick kind.

[Routerman]

The work should be stopped, l/r, up/down, in/out and for its 3 rotational axies.
As such, it won't move when drilled.
Slip/slide is not an issue if you lock up your stock.
Now if you wanna use your drill press as a router table then wax it.
Maybe lacquer the hell out of it first.

[Doug_H]

Tom,

1.Clean it off with mineral spirits and apply pressure sensitive sandpaper (your choice of grit)
2. Affix a piece of plywood and then do #1
3. Make a proper DP table along the line that Pat suggests and then do #1 if you still feel you need it.

I did not believe I needed to clamp most work to the DP table until I got wacked a few times and realized that a piece of thin metal I was drilling could have removed part of my fingers. At least make a fence to push the workpiece against

Doug

[Shovel Man]

Thanks for the ideas, I have made a plywood table cover that slides on. It works well enough. When I need precision I work off the iron. My question is how to etch or otherwise roughen the cast iron to get a slightly less slick surface?

[srv52761]

Shovel Man said:

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My question is how to etch or otherwise roughen the cast iron to get a slightly less slick surface?

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Call your local high school, college...etc.... if they have wood gym floors. Ask to speak with the head custodian or whomever is in charge of refinishing the floor.
They have a wax product that is non-skid for gym floors and such.

Also check with marine stores. They have a non-skid wax for wooden boat decks.

They also have non-skid polyurethane that has a little bite to it.

All of the above will also add some rust prevention.

Any adhesive product might tend to react with your cast iron table and leave pits, discoloration or something negative.

But, as routerman said, clamp your stuff so it doesn't move

[Shovel Man]

Great suggestion srv!

Non skid poly or wax would be great on my workbench. Been looking for that for years, now I have some places to look. Might help on the DP table too.

And yes of course I clamp when the drill bit is big enough to spin the workpiece. 1/8" holes in a bookshelf...no

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

Just my opinion, but I think the metal DP table is meant to hold a fixture. I do not think it is intended for work because that is dangerous both to the table and to your hands. Those holes and slots are for attaching things. You are right on to use your sacrificial plywood table cover. Why not make up another which has a DP vise attached? These are pretty inexpensive and quite handy. I use an inexpensive x-y cross slide vise on my DP. Whenever I need a flat surface, I snug in a flat board which has a cleat on the bottom. Sometimes I fix the workpiece in a woodscrew clamp and set it right on that table. The clamp holds the workpiece and saves my fingers.

Good luck with your DP.

[daddo]

Is the surface rough milled or polished?

For polished, you might try a rough grit wheel on the angle grinder and carefully rub the top with it.

If it is rough milled, it's about as good as it's going to get and you should have a setup to hold the work down or to keep it from spinning.

I use this setup for metal working, but it will work as well on some wood working.

[Sawdustd]

Try using a piece of perferated matting, the kind that used to line drawers and shelves. Works like a champ. I always use to stabilize peices when I'm standing them.