What do you use for a Drill press fence?

[skipnay]

Just like the title says, what do you use for a drill press fence? Do you just clamp a piece of angle iron or angle aluminum to the table? Do you use a normal fence? Do you use the t slot area on the table or what? I would like to know if you had to do it over again what would you do? How do you keep it square? Especially when you take it off and then back on? My table goes up and down on my drill press and side to side.

 

[LXCam]

You use it for gauging the depth so if you have multiple holes along the same plane you only need your spacing marked. And why in the world would you care if it's square or not, your only concern is a single point of measurement. And I use whatever is handy, flat or angle it doesn't matter and neither does how you clamp it.

 

[Superbec]

you should use a vise ... fences are for saws

 

[engineer2]

I use a X-Y cross slide vise 95% of the time.

 

[Cope]

Depends. I have a couple of DP vises, but I also use a piece of 2x2x1/4" angle iron.

 

[Murphy4570]

I use the T slot holes. I bolt my X-Y table to it with machinist finger clamps, then bolt a drill press vise to the table with more finger clamps.

Edit: I only drill metal though. Have to secure the workpiece to the table. You can easily hurt yourself if you try to hold the work with your hand, as it can catch on the drill bit and fling itself (along with your hand) around.

 

[Pitalplace]

quick grips and a piece of oak

 

[pstemari]

For metal, x/y table and DP vise. 5/8" carriage bolts hold the x/y table, tnuts and 1/2" hex cap screws hold the vise.

For wood, 1" MDF subtable fitted with a couple of Incra channels and a fence. 4 5/8" carriage bolts, with the heads recessed in counterbores, hold the table in place.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[ez-duzit]

You use it for gauging the depth so if you have multiple holes along the same plane you only need your spacing marked. And why in the world would you care if it's square or not, your only concern is a single point of measurement. And I use whatever is handy, flat or angle it doesn't matter and neither does how you clamp it.

This.

When I need a fence on a drill press (rarely) I simply clamp a piece of straight wood stock to the table.

 

[ssdave]

either an x-y cross slide vise, or a piece of board clamped to the table. Keep it simple and just get your work done.

 

[rharman]

I built a table with adjustable fence. I may have agreed with the comment about rarely needing a fence at one time, but not now. Maybe because it's so easy, I use it all the time. Feels a lot safer too.

 

[WWheeler]

When I have multiple holes that need to be evenly spaced along an edge I have always just used a piece of angle iron/aluminum clamped to the table.

If it's just a one off marked hole that needs drilled I sometimes clamp the piece to the table or in a vice or more often than not just hold it steady to the table.

 

[Provincial]

rharman, how is that counterweight for the table working out? I think that is what your cable is hooked to.

 

[rharman]

rharman, how is that counterweight for the table working out? I think that is what your cable is hooked to.

Works great. Can't imagine having that table without it. A little more weight would be even better but there space dictates that. It's about 25 pounds.

Here's some pics of the setup.

 

[kctyphoon]

Here's a $25 option for you.. actually $20 with the coupon (might by one myself now actually)

http://t.harborfreight.com/drill-pr...395.html?utm_referrer=https://www.google.com/

 

[Provincial]

Roger, thanks for the photos! How much does your counterweight weigh?

 

[skipnay]

Whats the deal for the weight? Am I missing something?

 

[ez-duzit]

KC--that will just sit around the shop, unused.

When you actually need a fence, just clamp a straight piece of wood to the DP table.

 

[tarbellb]

Works great. Can't imagine having that table without it. A little more weight would be even better but there space dictates that. It's about 25 pounds.

Here's some pics of the setup.

This rules! Not to hijack the thread, but to hijack the thread... can you tell us a little bit more or start a new one?

Btw fence idea, if you want something nice and adjustable then look at router table fence setups (I believe thats what rharman is anyways?). Great for wood.

But for metal, as others have mentioned you want a clamping system.

 

[WWheeler]

Roger, thanks for the photos! How much does your counterweight weigh?

rharman had already written that "it's about 25 pounds."

Whats the deal for the weight? Am I missing something?

The weight, hidden inside the column of the drill press, is to help counter the weight of the table when raising and lowering it, exactly like how window sash weights in the frame of a window work. .

 

[WWheeler]

Here's a $25 option for you.. actually $20 with the coupon (might by one myself now actually)

http://t.harborfreight.com/drill-pr...395.html?utm_referrer=https://www.google.com/

Many years ago I built one very similar to that for an old drill press that I don't have any more. I loved it. I found it very handy. It's great to have the added surface area when working with wood to hold larger pieces steady and the fence and stop come in handy a lot for repeated holes in opposing ends/corners or multiple pieces. I know I spent more than $25 just in materials making it.

I'm going to have to check out that next time I'm at HF to see how easy it attaches & detaches. I'm surprised I have never seen it there before. I'm hoping my store carries it. If I can just have a couple knobs holding it on so I can quickly/easily get it out of the way when I don't want it then I'll be getting it for sure.

 

[Git]

Delta makes a pretty decent one for about $50. It uses the slots in your table to attach

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008PQ9CO6/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[rharman]

This rules! Not to hijack the thread, but to hijack the thread... can you tell us a little bit more or start a new one?

Btw fence idea, if you want something nice and adjustable then look at router table fence setups (I believe thats what rharman is anyways?). Great for wood.

But for metal, as others have mentioned you want a clamping system.

I use mine for metal. If I'm not sure of my clamping capability, I'll use a c-clamp to hold it on the table.

Yeah, it's kind of like a router table setup. Note there is a replaceable insert and the adjustable stop on the fence.

 

[rharman]

Many years ago I built one very similar to that for an old drill press that I don't have any more. I loved it. I found it very handy. It's great to have the added surface area when working with wood to hold larger pieces steady and the fence and stop come in handy a lot for repeated holes in opposing ends/corners or multiple pieces. I know I spent more than $25 just in materials making it.

I'm going to have to check out that next time I'm at HF to see how easy it attaches & detaches. I'm surprised I have never seen it there before. I'm hoping my store carries it. If I can just have a couple knobs holding it on so I can quickly/easily get it out of the way when I don't want it then I'll be getting it for sure.

Hard to imagine you could go wrong for $20. But, then again, it is HF so examine it carefully.

Should be easy enough to convert it to a couple of knobs through the underside into t-nuts.