Drill press new home

[Brad]

I had put the drill press on my existing bench but decided it was too high. That bench is 38" tall so the chuck was almost at eye level. It just felt awkward to use.

I decided a 32" tall bench would be better. I had a good idea what I wanted and had a partial sheet of 1/2" plywood looking to be used.

A run to Menards for lumber and some hardware and 3 hours work later it was done. The drill press will be moved later. I can only get so much physical labor from the wife on a given day.

The extra lathe chucks have a better home and the extra way, cutting, and gear box oil now has a home.

Legs are 2 chucks of 2x4 screwed together at a right angle. The major joints were held with a couple framing screws until drilled for 5/16" carriage bolts. That sucker is solid. I even cut the rear legs about 1/2" shorter to account for the slope in the slab.

 

[KeithB]

That ought to work!

 

[Ian]

As long as it's comfortable to you. My DP is on a 42" bench, I like things at eye level! It'll make you wear your safety glasses, too, being eyeball to eyeball with the spinnymajig.

 

[Pistolero]

Looks good. Mine is on a cabinet with drawers that my father made when it was his drill
press. The chuck is about 6-8" below eye level for me, which seems right, but then, I learned
on this drill press, so may be biased. Whatever works for you.

Did you get one of these yet?

Bill

 

[smokeywolf]

Nicely done Brad.
Cut off bolts sticking out so that you don't rake the back of your hand or your arm open on them.

Shelf or rack to the right of your table would be handy for storing drill indexes, reamers, circle cutters, hole saws, clamps, etc. You'll also have odds & ends like, edge-finder/wiggler set, drill blanks & dowel pins often used for locating/positioning parts and holes under your drill chuck.

Strips of metal or wood fastened to left and rear edge of table and sticking up a quarter inch or so above table surface, so that drills don't roll off left or back side of table.

Cheap plastic bin(s) to store your jugs and bottles of machine and cutting oils in so that if they drip or leak it won't make a mess on your floor.

 

[freebullet]

Well, dang..that looks great!

Probably have enough scrap around to make you a metal stand, I'd have a hard time not using that one for another bench.

 

[Brad]

I have a nice 6 ft casting bench and an 8 ft general purpose bench already. This is plenty big to hold the press and other assorted "stuff".

 

[freebullet]

My bet...2 weeks can't see the top anymore? Any takers? would be to full for drill press now at my place, just never enough bench.

 

[Ian]

One of these days I'm going to build a 100x60 shop with about thirty rows of workbenches. One of these days.

 

[Brad]

And still not be able to find a space for a project.

Flat surfaces attract "stuff", no doubt about it.

This is part of a desire to get the hpgarage more organized. It has involved throwing a bunch of stuff in the trash.

 

[Intheshop]

Hope that's not blood on the floor?

No bet on horizontal surface clutter,it's a foregone conclusion.

 

[Brad]

No blood, not sure what it is?

 

[Intheshop]

Brad,we have a 40'+,1 1/2" wide "stripe" that looks like the yellow brick rd?It wouldn't be near as bad if it were even halfarsed straight.Deer blood....one of the kids ooops,did I do that?

 

[Intheshop]

Almost as good as my youngest,when first learning to rite his name decides to practice with a broadheaded arrow.....how old is that?4 y.o.?In the side of our,new enough,car.

It gets better,he turned out to be the smartest,but no.....his hieroglyphics work of art is at this big bow shoot.It was all I could do to keep from busting out laughing when questioned,he goes"nope",as in didn't do it.

Edit,he struck bone...down to the metal.

 

[Pistolero]

Flat surfaces somehow just disappear in my shop.

 

[smokeywolf]

I had a six thousand sq. ft. machine shop at the old MGM/Sony Pictures Studio. It was 3,000 ft. on the ground floor and another 3,000 (mostly storage) upstairs. Had at least a dozen benches in the shop area. Last couple of years it was mostly just me working in the shop. 95% of all the bench space was covered with "stuff". Only flat surfaces I had the discipline to keep squared away were the assembly table and surface plate in my inspection room.

 

[Pistolero]

I got a free 18x24 or so cast iron surface plate with stand, although the stand is way too high. I will shorten the legs and put it
against the wall. I tell myself that it will be kept clean. I tell my self repeatedly. We'll see.

I am planning a set of four drawers on ballbearing slides under the lathe. One about 2" deep, the one below it about 3" deep,
and then two to the right with steel angle frames and 3/4 ply bottoms for chucks and other heavy stuff, around 6" deep, I think.
I figure that the mounted QC tools will lay flat in the 3", precision measuring tools and setup stuff in the top 2" deep. This
should help a lot of the clutter around and on the lathe.

Bill

 

[Ian]

Nah, one day soon you'll be working on a project and need that surface table space, so you'll throw a piece of cardboard or plywood on it and put it to work. Once the seed is sown, it will keep growing clutter like weeds forever.

 

[Brad]

I'm not sure flat spaces aren't like the prairie, a fire now and then is a good thing.

 

[Ian]

Every once in a while I have enough of the mess and put my big shop trash barrel next to the offending pile of clutter and start raking stuff into it. Sometimes it distresses me to throw semi-useful or semi-sentimental stuff away, but I've almost learned that once the trash pick-up takes it away I rarely ever miss it. The biggest issue for is likely one we all share: Too many interests requiring "stuff" to explore, and not enough space to store it all or enough time to ever finish anything in one shot. Sometimes projects are so involved that they require just about every machine and tool in the shop and I end up with stuff strewn out everywhere...and then it's bedtime and three weeks before I get back out to the shop again.