inexpensive drill press table material ?

[jbmaine]

Hi all,
I have a 18-900L drill press and usually the stock table is fine for what I do. However the other day I tried to drill some holes in a part that was just the odd size, and I couldn't get a clamp on it.

So I think I'd like to build a table for it. Something around 15 X 24 . I have T track and hold downs, I just need something stable for the table itself. Woodcraft sells phenolic faced plywood ,but at over 50$ that's kinda rich for me.

Home depot sells MDF particle panel and melamine shelf board for cheap money. Do you think either of these would work and stay flat?

Could you suggest another material that might work?

                            Thanks
                                      Jim

[s9plus20]

I used 2 layers of particle board (MDF would be a good choice too, perhaps better) I put a layer of formica on the top and the bottom.  I then banded with oak.  I inset a piece of 1/4 inch masonite in the center, which is easily replaceable.  Worked out great.  I did this almost 20 years ago, it still looks good and is dead flat.

[Steve N]

Piece of plywood for a base. Couple of 2x4's turned on edge,. and screwed through base into 2x4 to make a lift. Another piece of plywood on top. You can clamp around the edges, but to make it really good drill out, and saber saw some shapes large enough to get a clamp head down into, and then you can site a clamp from the edge, dead center, or wherever you need it. It's mostly scrap to make one, so if you need a different configuration figure where you need the clamps, and make a new top. Old top is just screwed into the 2x4's, unscrew, and swap. Easy Peasy

Ohhhh, clamp the bottom to your DPP table or place a few bolts, and put nuts through the open cross on the DP table, and you can make it really secure.

Size can be a bit bigger than your DP table without feeling tippy, or if you need it huge you can screw through the bottom piece of plywood into some 2x4's on end to use away from the DP to act as legs. As many as you need to support the weight you need/want.

Or you can make one permanent.

[Steve N]

If you just want to make a new table MDF or Ply would work fine provided you didn't stress the MDF where it overhung the metal table. OSB, particle board, and melanie will just crumble if you put any stress on the edges. I'm still not sure how that will help you clamp weird shapes though. it'll just be flat, maybe bigger but not much to get a clamp through. For versatile clamping a riser of some type will help most. If you usually do ok with just the DP table you can make the riser to drill stuff out of scrap, or really cheap plywood and a few 2x4 lengths.

[jbmaine]

Thanks for the replies,
 The stock table only has two short slots to put a clamp thru. I plan to put 4 lengths of t track in my new table to give me more options on where to use hold downs. In this one case the wood covered the slots, but was in from the edges far enough that I couldn't clamp from the edge. I'm trying to remedy that situation in future.
                                                                               Jim

[Steve N]

From experience, if you plan to use T Track, buy the HEAVY DUTY kind, costs more but won't pretzel up on you when you clamp down hard. Also think about doubling your table thickness, so you can use real screws to screw it down, and put them in every 4" minimum even if you have to drill it out, and countersink it. Otherwise, again clamping down hard enough to hold something still so that it isn't a safety hazard when you go to drill it out, it will tend to pull out short screws, and if screwed down, but every 8" like they think it needs to be it will bulge up the track just enough stuff won't slide in it. This is cheap track, all the way up to Incra. T Track is made for pretty light applications, not like what you can get into on a drill press, especially with not flat, and rectangular shapes.

I have found the Kreg brand track to survive a beating better than all others, for edges this stuff is awesome.

[gMike]

I made mine out of 2 layers of MDF with a couple strips pf T-track for hold downs.  I find that I don't use the T-track for anything.  I prefer to clamp stuff to the table with F-clamps rather than use the T-track.  I had an MDF table on my previous drill press and it held up well.  If I were building one now I'd use MDF again and probably use T-track to clamp smaller pieces when F-clamps won't reach.

[Pirate]

A useful dp table can be simple or complex.
A piece of good quality plywood would work, with a milled piece of hardwood clamped on for a fence.
I sometimes drill steel, so I like to have it easily removable.
I put a couple of hanger bolts into the bottom of the table, with knobs to tighten. They go thru the table slots.
Unless you have a rare, collectible, dp, just drill a couple of holes in the table. It's just a machine.
Or use a couple of toggle clamps on the underside, outer edges of the added table.
If you put a stop on the fence, I would recommend a flip stop, so if you need to move it, you can return it to the same spot easily. I find flip stops on the dp, miter gauge, and ras to be very useful. Much more useful than, non flip stops. They can be easily made.

[jbmaine]

I made mine out of 2 layers of MDF with a couple strips pf T-track for hold downs.  I find that I don't use the T-track for anything.  I prefer to clamp stuff to the table with F-clamps rather than use the T-track.  I had an MDF table on my previous drill press and it held up well.  If I were building one now I'd use MDF again and probably use T-track to clamp smaller pieces when F-clamps won't reach.

   Double layer of MDF sounds good. Did you screw it together, glue it, or both?

I will use F clamps whenever possible, but use T track for smaller parts. I will secure them with extra screws so they don't lift.
                                                             
                                                               Jim

[gMike]

I glued and screwed from the bottom.  It seems to be holding up pretty well.  I always use a sacrificial board under whatever I'm drilling to save the table.