To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Drill Press Cabinet Base

M

moonley

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
55
Edit: ****, I meant to put this in the general garage discussion forum, but oh well, hope it helps give ideas for those of you looking to do something similar...

I've been wanting to do this for a while now and finally got around to picking up a HF end cabinet and converting it to a base for my drill press so that I could get it off of my workbench and have some storage for drill bits and other items.

Since I always overkill everything I made some caster brackets out of some 2" x 2" tube and 1/4" steel plate I had laying around. I drilled and tapped the 1/4" plate, cut and recessed it into the steel tube but could have saved a huge amount of time and probably gotten the same result by ripping down some 4x4's and using lag bolts:
[URL=http://s985.photobucket.com/user/vanelsacker/media/IMG_20141123_134212.jpg.html] [/URL]
[URL=http://s985.photobucket.com/user/vanelsacker/media/26cbd06b-d9b0-462d-8855-c6dca102c03c.jpg.html] [/URL]

Rolls around pretty nice:
[URL=http://s985.photobucket.com/user/vanelsacker/media/IMG_20141123_162537.jpg.html] [/URL]

Then I got to work making a butcher block top for it and a couple other benches of mine by laminating together 2x3's and flattening them with a homemade router "skid":
[URL=http://s985.photobucket.com/user/vanelsacker/media/IMG_20141124_144346.jpg.html] [/URL]

When I got all done I was very happy with the result:
[URL=http://s985.photobucket.com/user/vanelsacker/media/IMG_20141129_153403.jpg.html] [/URL]
I'm a little sad about just how at home it looks next to my vintage Snap-On box. This is also my first HF box, and I'm just as sad that it is built better than most of the "American" brands in the big box stores today.
 
Last edited:
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
C

cheechi

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Messages
4,384
Location
Triad, NC
I like it. I have been wanting to start this exact project for a while now.

You don't use rails with that router sled? looks like it turned out fine in the end. Any pics of the bottom of the wood top? did you rout grooves to keep it secure on the lip or is the weight of the tool good enough for that?
 
X

xs650shawn

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2013
Messages
672
Location
Hesperia, CA
Loved this idea, was going to do the same for my drill press, but found it was going to be too tall. Still think it is a good idea.
 
G

gtermini

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 1, 2013
Messages
533
Location
Amity, OR
Very nice job. :thumbup:

I really like the way that HF cab looks with the trim removed on the drawer pulls; just like the old snappy. I would have never thought of doing that.

Greyson
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
G

GirchyGirchy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 14, 2011
Messages
9,820
Location
Central Indiana
Is the purpose of the router skid to slide the skid along the untouched wood so that it cuts into it at the same height? What do you do when you get to the end, is there some extra wood on the end for it to ride on?

Nice job btw!
 
Z

zkling

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
16,939
Good job on the build. I went down this route about a year ago. The HF side box is the best bang for the buck in a side box, usually even on the used market. It is built better than almost all of the older common truck brand side boxes. It looks good next to your 7 drawer snap on.
 
T

theknurl

Banned
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Messages
921
Location
SoCal
Moonley;

rotate the drill press 90* clockwise to keep chips out of the drawers

rotate the disc grinder 90* CCW so you can use it

:beer:
 
T

taumac

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2011
Messages
8,104
Location
Brooksville, Fl
Nicely done.[emoji106] I did something similar.
bb1b04e1e7d7bf1d897954f9b2ebd6a2.jpg

I thought about the HF side but I had this bottom laying around.

Have a good one, Gerard
 
J

Justind97

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
691
Location
Ottawa, Canada
I am in utter envy of the butcher block! Came out exactly like what I want to build.

Is that two different types of wood that you used? How exactly did you get the alternating wood colour?
 
OP
M

moonley

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
55
cheechi said:
You don't use rails with that router sled? looks like it turned out fine in the end. Any pics of the bottom of the wood top? did you rout grooves to keep it secure on the lip or is the weight of the tool good enough for that?
Click to expand...

Nope, no rails and it turned out better than I expected. I had some very slight marring that came out easily with my belt sander, its not perfect but pretty darn good for the tools at hand.

I used my router to groove the bottom so that it would recess over the toolbox lip. To do this I used a undersized template and a guide. Then I used two lag bolts from underneath the toolbox top located along the centerline with the wood grain to allow the wood top to expand and contract.

GirchyGirchy said:
Is the purpose of the router skid to slide the skid along the untouched wood so that it cuts into it at the same height? What do you do when you get to the end, is there some extra wood on the end for it to ride on?
Click to expand...

Yes, here is a picture that shows what I did, I used a piece of plexi at the end to provide extra support and also to give some support when I got to the end, I then dropped the router bit flush with this spacer:

[URL=http://s985.photobucket.com/user/vanelsacker/media/IMG_20141130_185843.jpg.html] [/URL]

I countersunk the screws and added the plywood strips to each side for rigidity. When I surfaced the top the last 1/2" or so got a little messed up because of the lack of support but I trimmed all that off when I cut everything to size anyway.

theknurl said:
rotate the drill press 90* clockwise to keep chips out of the drawers

rotate the disc grinder 90* CCW so you can use it
Click to expand...

Thanks, but the drill press is too long front to back to rotate it and the grinder won't fit with the sander if I turn it.

Justind97 said:
Is that two different types of wood that you used? How exactly did you get the alternating wood colour?
Click to expand...

Nope, all just cheap builders-grade 2x3's. I did rotate each board so the grains cupped opposite of the one on each side (to try to keep the tops from warping over time), that may have some to do with why they appear to be different colors.

Thanks for all the support, I've gotten lots of ideas myself from these forums so I'm glad I can give a few ideas back.
 
A

azhatchback

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 30, 2013
Messages
184
That is bad A$$! I like that you used steel to do the caster frame! The entire project looks very professional.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom