Steve: "For those using metric..." Me: "Oh you mean everyone outside the Middle Ages?" I think the "yay" is an archaic Chinese unit of measurement. Technically that's imperial, too.
For the height of a drill press table, one of the considerations is how often you'll be needing to look at the tip of the drill bit when drilling holes. That's how most of us line up the work. We lower the bit until it's almost touching the surface of the item to be drilled and then move the item until the tip of the drill bit is centered over where we want the hole. Then, clamp everything down (if necessary), double check the alignment, turn on the drill press and drill. With a table that's at elbow height, you'll need to bend way over to see where you're going to drill. That height may be more comfortable when actually drilling, but it will be a pain in the neck (and back) when aligning the work to be drilled. Of course, if your drill press is equipped with a laser guide, you wouldn't need to bend over to check the alignment.
With the type work you do on a drill press I like having the table closer to my eyes so I can easily see what I'm doing, so I like a taller table. For a person in a small shop, they might only be able to have on rolling cabinet and use it for multiple tools meaning keep the sander, drill press, planer, etc. stored on shelves until you need them, then take them out one at a time to put on the stand for use.
Definitely agree. The placement of ones arms isn't important, seeing precisely where the hole is going to be drilled is paramount. I'm 6' tall and my drill press sits on a 38" tall cabinet putting the table just below eye level on average.
@@afewreMarks I don't have as many toys as he does but I'd probably make an attempt at the tallboy shop stool. I'd probably make two, 'cause I know I'd break one rocking on it.
Since the beginning of my isolation, there's a handful of things that I look forward to every day. Your daily videos are one of those things. It's helping me stay sane. Thank you, Steve.
Hi Steve - here's my two cents on the organization: For the new drill press stand, incorporate all your drilling materials and tools into the stand so that you have just the ONE drilling station for all drilling purposes - this would make the base for the drill press much heavier, and would allow you to remove the drill bit shelves from your wall, freeing up additional space and removing the need to shift everything around. For the stand you could have 4-5 vertical slots for your drill bit kits, a couple drawers for other accessories, and hang your drill and impact driver on the sides. And, since you say you don't use the press too often, having your hand drill batteries on the station is still feasible since you won't be pulling the station too far away from the wall (to where the cord couldn't reach the outlet) You could do the same with your sanding station as well - instead of having your sanders on a station separate from your sanding sheets on the wall, put the shelves on the side of your mobile sanding station. Keeps all your sanding material on one station vs the two, and frees up more space on your wall. Thanks for all the videos during this time and before! Much needed escape from the craziness, and I've learned a lot that I've already incorporated into my little projects
Drill press stand: bit box/storage drawer, drill press vise storage, drill press accessory storage. Some of these might just be hooks or something on the side, or could be dedicated drawer/shelf space. A generic cabinet, for me, has shelves, drawers with dividers, the normal stuff. I wonder about a replaceable/sacrificial too for things in the shop, since sometimes it's just nice to screw something down, but in this case, it may not make much sense. Space to set things down on while working, but nothing that is going to collect clutter, so maybe a foldable wing. If you're good about clutter, may e having a recessed rectangle in the top for catching little bits or something.
My primary law of working around the home. "No matter what you want to do, you have to do something else first." I used to have a floor mounted drill press that allowed me to adjust the height of the table down to about 30", but I did not like it that low. I now have a bench top similar to yours setting on a bench that is 32" high and that is about perfect for me at 5'-11" tall. To catch drill cuttings, I would suggest putting a 1/4" to 1/2" thick 2nd top just above the drill press base with a short raised edge.
Add a magnetic tray to the top so you can store your chuck key and swap out drill bits on a project without losing things. Add storage for hole saws, sanding bits and other out of the ordinary uses for a drill press.
This is like a multi-piece COG puzzle. Keep moving them around until you feel your zen moment. Then make your drill press table. BTW, love the "for those using metric" comment.
Just sharing: I have a small radial arm type drill press which is sitting on a table made from the outer shell of an old washing machine. I had the (broken) washing machine disassembled and the chassis was laying around when I got the drill press - and noticed that the dimensions of it (laying on it's side) would be perfect for a table for the drill. So I added some plywood to critical places, strengthening the metal chassis, and added castors. Works perfect, and required minimal effort!
Steve, with out a plethora of specialty jigs, guides, or other things, I would argue a drill press is an absolute must have tool. I miss mine terribly. (Fell, jammed, non reparable damage)
My own personal choice for the height is to have the center of the feed handle at shoulder height, so that you are not reaching up or down to raise or lower the chuck. Like others have suggested a drawer to store bits would be helpful as well. It would give you a place to store those bits that are only used with the drill press, like big Forstner bits. I keep a large drill index at the drill press, while smaller ones are in a bag with the cordless drill.
Steve, since I always Sketchup everything I do I sketched up my whole garage, with all the carts, tables and biggest tools. I spent a couple days rearranging everything in the virtual world. I probably tried more than 10 different layouts until I settled with one. Then, I applied the layout to the real garage. And everything went super quick since I did all the thinking before hand.
If stability is a concern, either buy and attach a set of retractable castors, OR, build this stand with custom made, foot operated, retractable castors incorporated in the base. On a side note, ergonomics and work organisation is part of what I do for a living, and there are so many benefits from having a workshop that is well organised, where the work flows in a manner that suits the space and the user, and, is highly customisable depending on the tasks being performed. There are no right or wrong answers here, and one person's solution will be completely unworkable for someone else. As someone who knows his craft better than most, Steve would have consciously (or subconsciously) processed what drill press height might work best for him, taking into consideration what he uses the drill press for. Does he need to get right in there and get a face full of sawdust to perform the task, or do his methods allow a more upright posture? Can he use a stool for those few instances where he might need to get nice and intimate with the drill bit point? Does he need to access the speed changing belts more often than close up drilling? Does he have pre-existing injuries or physical limitations that restrict certain movements or postures? Trial and error is often the best way to go, and you know what, if the setup is too high or too low, it can easily be adjusted as needed. The actual workshop setup runs along the same lines, and with most things in his shop being on wheels, changes can be made easily and quickly. Generally speaking, those things that are used most often should be placed in the most accessible positions, and then usage patterns will guide the placement of the rest. Again, there are no right or wrong answers, and what works for one, won't work for another. The key is adaptability and customisation. If the hand tool panel and the big cabinet have to move to try a new layout, then the worst case scenario is that they go back to where they were. You haven't lost anything, and you've probably got a better understanding of what doesn't work, and why. And that can be more educational than anything else! The beauty of what we are learning and what Steve brings out in us all is that we have the ability to solve these problems with the skills we are building. We can make things, we can adjust things, we can modify things, and if all else fails, we can start from scratch with the knowledge we have learned from those things that didn't work as we had hoped!
I built a drill press stand in January and it's just right for me (5'-9") at 30" high table top incl. heavy duty casters [20"W x 20"D]. Wen 8" drill press with self-built top is again at the right level for me. As usual it's overbuilt with 1-1/2" top and a couple 1/2" shelves for lateral structure even tho' I ended up installing 4 drawers. I built the stand as much to use up plywood scraps from other projects as anything else but it came out rather nice and has proven quite handy.
table width is another consideration. if you are drilling in the end of longer pieces, they could start to tip over on you. So you may want to incorporate some kind of wings like you have on the miter saw stand. Though that may only be needed on one side of the drill press. A different option is what Woodshop Junkies did. Its basically a wooden scissor lift he adjusts level with his drill press top as an extra support.
My suggestion is to make the stand lower and wider to compensate for the top heaviness of the drill press. Plus to give you a little more surface area to work with when setting up stop blocks or other items. Also, Instead of having a single column of wide drawers and two columns of smaller drawers to have more storage space with better overall organization within the workstation. Just my thoughts.
Steve, my 2c. My experience is that higher is better for a drill press like others have said. Build a rectangular box with a hollow front to stand on. You could then either stand on the floor or the box. Walking around the shop to get stuff and put stuff away is good exercise. Also, your trainer will give you credit for stair climbing at your drill press
Retractable casters and maybe a square pyramid style of stand? Like a square version of a saw horse? Also it it has a base plate, you get more friction on the ground, and you can put your foot on it
It’s a good idea to place the drill press next to the cut off saw and use it to support long pieces. ( as long as we’re moving a bunch of stuff around.)
I have watched every day with you during this lockdown. I have enjoyed it so very much. Thanks for doing this on RU-vid. Looking forward to this project.
One alternate idea to save having to build a complete new cabinet for the drill press: Remove the top drawer from the existing cabinet and cut down the sides and back of the cabinet level with the top of the second drawer. Then re-attach the top of the cabinet. Thus making the current second drawer from the top of the cabinet the top drawer of the cabinet. Then in the space at the bottom of the cabinet just fit what was the top drawer into the bottom of the cabinet with a couple of drawer sliders. If the whole thing still feels a bit wobbly and top heavy just shove a couple of bricks in the bottom drawer (or mix up a bucket of concrete and empty into the bottom drawer. Saves on building a whole new cabinet, saves on timber, saves on time & saves on cost :-)
To overcome the high center of gravity problem I have built in storage low, but not for wood pieces which are high volume, low mass. I store my solid metal anvil, large sledge hammers, other large hammers, large pieces of angle iron, gallon cans of paint, etc. Since it is on wheels you can leave the bottom sides open and rotate around to remove an item that you have stored there; believe me this is important when you want that 50 pound anvil that is "in the back next to the wall"... roll out, roll around and its right there for you to strain your back.
I wouldn't move that sanding station in the corner because being in the corner will restrict the amount of space you have for longer boards that need to be sanded. It might also make it harder to flip the table over when needed.
I don't know if I like the idea of putting the drill press in the corner. It'd reduce your ability to use it on longer material unless you move it out.
@@jjohnston94 It'll be on casters and he's used to rolling tools out when they may be used. The idea is a balance between the space used when it's not in use and useability when it's needed.
Two things that come to mind for a drill-press table: Easy to access place to store the drill chuck key and enough space on the left and right of the table to drill holes into larger workpieces.
Drop the stand 14". Offset the table height 4" up away from the crank handle for the height adjustment to give yourself more room to swing the handle. Oh yeah and make sure you measure the stand height when the table is at the middle of the overall adjustment. You know what I mean? Anyway just my 2 cents. Love your work and mission. Keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Steve, I am close to doing what you are now doing. My thoughts on your ideas are :- Whilst I agree with lowering it to bring it to a more ergonomic level and also to lower the centre of gravity. One problem is that you can't lower it too much because of the range of the chuck travel. If you have it too low you will have to bend down when you are drilling thinner items. Another thought is you could take it to the height of the next drawer down and incorporate two drawers in the table, one either side of the column to store drills etc. Like the video as usual , not too sure about the comment about those of us using metric! grrr! Look forward to your thoughts
I have spent hours talking to myself laying out and rearranging my shop, I really enjoy listening to your thought process as you make decisions as well.
If you are unsure as to what height you want, I would recommend that you err on the short side...if after using it a while you decide it is too short, you can attach a riser to the top of the cabinet to bring the drill press up to a more comfortable height. From an ergonomic standpoint, a few inches can make all the difference. Another approach would be to temporarily use the drill press on the mobile work cart (or some other stand close in height to what you think you might want) for awhile and see how that feels for height and then make adjustments from there for the actual drill press station.
I like the height to be where I don't have to bend over much to see where the drill bit needs to enter the wood. Higher than what you have planned. I use my drill press for accurately placing the hole (and to make it vertical) or to cut to a specific depth (like with a forstner bit). The depth of the top surface of my stand is 2" beyond back of base, 3" in front of base, and width is 10" on each side of base (total width is 30") . I like the extra width making it more stable because the drill press is top heavy, and also a place to put tools I need while doing the drilling (awl, rules, pencil) and other pieces of wood to be drilled next That way I don't have to put them on the drill press work surface or on another stand. I like 3 drawers and a space on bottom for larger items. I use the drawers for storing drill bits, drum sanders, forstner bits, reamer and recessing tools, removable caster wheels, ...
I'd suggest to include a vertical surface on the stand to which you can clamp material to drill into (sheets or lumber). This means that you need to rotate the head of the drill to be over (a bit beyond) that edge. Also connect the drill to the stand, just to be sure.
Create a "torsion box" top with open front and back. Approximately 8" tall. Cut a U-shaped hole in the back center of the top. Slide the drill press into the back, leaving the base fully enclosed in the box. This will allow the top of the stand to be at "normal" height while lowering the overall height of the drill press. Also will allow you to add in small drawers in the front (perhaps a false drawer front covering the front opening of the torsion box. I'm doing something similar in my "weekend workshop." I think it's an elegant solution and covers up the "ugly" cast iron base of the saw giving it a cool built-in look.
Meant small drawers on the left and right of the top torsion box and a false front in the middle covering the base of the *DRILL PRESS* (saws on the brain).
Steve, I hope I'm not too late here. I would suggest building a plywood dust shroud that at least keeps sawdust from spraying backwards. I built mine out of 1/4" plywood. It stands about 18" high and is about 3" deep. I built a similar shroud for my stationary sander, so the principle has application over multiple tools.
I rarely need to pull my drill press out but when I do, it is always because I need more room left or right. So, don't get too close to the corner. Think of it more like a miter saw station that takes somewhat lesser room to the right and left. And, yes my floor standing drill press is on wheels and has a cabinet beneath with about 15 -1"ish high drawers to store all kinds of stuff including drill bits, forsners, etc. And that cabinet is on wheels as well which straddle the base for the drill press.
I agree that a drill press should be steady. Mine is one of the few things in my shop not on castors but has been in the same place for over 8 years and never felt the need to move it. On my workbench, I have castors with a cam-leaver. You step on the pedal and it lifts the bench to relocate. The ones I have screw to the outside of the leg which means they protrude past the legs. Not a problem on the bench since the top overhangs but could be a tripping hazard on a drill press stand. If you want castors but want to reduce wobble, consider making the 2 rear ones fixed castors, mounted to run front to back. That means the wheels are always close to the edge for better stability since the base doesn't narrow like when 2 swivel castors finish up turning in underneath. Brakes on the swivel castors at the front stop it rolling but still allow you to reverse it like parking your car. Fixed castors are generally cheaper too.
I’m french and, in french, castor (not caster) means « beaver ». So I can’t help but imagine four beavers carrying workbenches and other stuff when I read that :)
Check out this video from Carl Holmgren on how to build retractable castors into things - being able to lower your stand down off the castors onto a level bottom surface will make it infinitely more stable. For those of us concerned about have to move in the future, it might be cool to be able to store the whole drill press inside the cabinet for transport, once draws are taken out - just an idea, not sure if it would work well. Another idea - facility to lock the cabinet to a wall for stability, perhaps with a cleat or clamping system (some sort of hinged mechanism attached to the wall that you just lock down once you push the mobile cabinet up against it).
My drill press stand on casters has a pocket at the bottom with a sandbag in it. Helps the "tippiness" without requiring a larger footprint... Something similar might work for you where you have that empty slot on the old stand.
I trimmed the table top of my drill press stand with 1/2" hardwood and made the trim 1/2" higher than the top. You can place drill bits and other items on the top and they can't roll off... Another suggestion is to attach the chuck key to a retractable key chain and mount this to the head of the drill press/motor...mine hasn't gone missing in 10 years! (I can't claim the credit for this idea though).
Steve, I would move the rolling lumber cart under the are area lumber on shelves is kept and move the router table and dual use sanding station to the back near the flip up table-proper where all the router bits and sanding supplies are kept currently. Keeps those items and tools within reach.
Hi Steve. I'm currently building a drill press stand myself (spooky!). In order to give the stand a lower centre of gravity to make it more stable I have removed the metal footplate and bolted the pillar right onto the top of the stand (just 3 bolts and heavy duty washers) - seems to work well so far.
Off the top of my head, incorporate dust extraction, additional lighting (perhaps a couple of adjustable USB laptop lights to keep the electrics simple?), and some mechanism for levelling the stand. I also agree with others that being able to see exactly where the hole is going to be drilled is the top priority.
I would recommend putting the drill press in the corner and the flip top sander to the right of the drill press. It will be more work to pull the sanders out to flip over if it lives in the corner compared to just moving it slightly foward. And it will most likely be possible to use the drill press in the corner without having to move the stand at all once it's in place. Also means you probably only have to move the hand tool board and not the cabinet! Just my thoughts! Love your content! Great inspiration!
4:15 - Right here, when turning the feed levers, the finishing cart looks like the right height. I tried to research drill press ergonomics. I found a paper published on the subject but the full text had to be requested from the authors. At any rate, from what else I found, it's typically desirable to have the feed levers at shoulder height. I would imagine this would reduce fatigue and stress, at least from repetitive use. As many have suggested, the typical height of the drill tip will also matter. Obviously this varies with your work piece and bit, but you'll know what's most typical for you. I know I have to lean down and squint at mine pretty often to get my punch marks aligned with the bit.
I don't do dust collection, so I keep all my heavy tools that generate sawdust close to the garage door so it's easier to wheel just outside the garage.
whatever you decide on the layout of the work room for you will be the best for you. Keep it mobile incase you change your mind in the future. I was laughing at one point in the video, you looked like a little puppy running from toy to toy, nudging it then onto another. It was great. Looks like a total shop re-do!
Make it the same height as the finishing cabinet but then cut a whole in the top and lower your drill press base to where you want(like a inset miter saw station). That would allow for you to make the stand fit a drill press or just put a full board across the top and it can modularly match the finishing cabinet
You're going to want to put a place to store your drill bits on that stand. Trust me, even if you use a hand drill quite often the functionality of a holder for your bits makes it more likely you will put them away as you work on a project and are finished with that particular bit rather than waiting until you do the entire shop clean up. Plus it makes them more accessible than having them in even a drawer or in their original case making your work flow easier and saving time.
Swap the sanders with your wood storage and keep the drill press in that corner. That way you have sanding with sanding and drilling with drilling and the miter saw can reunite with his long lost family
I would move the hand tool board to the left of the fold down workbench where the Jason knife picture is. This is because typically when you need a hand tool like a chisel or hammer you really need it. I would then put the drill press in the corner. This is because I find typical drill press pieces are 2ft or less long. Plus its on casters so if the piece is longer it would be easy to move. Then next to the drill press table would be the flip top sanding station. This is because it will be easier to move out to flip the stations. Finally I like the idea of all the saws being in one location. As for the large cabinet I'm not sure. Either above the flip top sanding station or miter saw station. I would choose placement by what storage I had inside with respect to where they would be used and frequency of use.
Can't wait to see your sketchup vid. Just downloaded it and a little tricky to get my head around. Been watching you for a while now and every lockdown. Keep up the good work. From UK
Here's an idea: a modification on a "flip-top" design, make it a fold-down design that folds it down to make a long, thin bench/tabletop. You could back the rear of the drill with a wood panel, and the drill could fold down "towards" you, leaving that wood panel as a flat section of wood. This has the added benefit of bring a dust-guard to prevent shavings and sawdust falling behind the drill. You could have it supported by pins, fold-out legs, a counter-weighted rotating center axle, or any number of other fold-out or fold-down support. You could even build it onto a wall like one of those fold-down ironing boards, or like a Murphy bed (Murphy drill?). You could also build it into the end of a mitre saw support or a table saw outfeed table, so it's either a fold-down extension or a fold-up drill?
One thought might be to combine the drill station from the course into the cart. Then all drilling needs are in one place. Someone on the FB group for The Weekend Workshop is doing just that
If you have any type of a jig or table with a fence to fit this drill press, but don't use it all the time, build it in as a pull-out drawer in amongst your stack of drawers. I saw a suggestion below that you just remove the bottom compartment and reattach the casters if all you want to do is to lower the table. As one of the drawers build in a fence instead of a drawer. Storage of jigs is a real problem in our garage workshop.
Chunky frame purely for the weight or perhaps thick ply sides and base might work. Maybe use retractable casters, so you've got the stability while working but mobility when needed.
Drilling long wood? We are considering adjusting our various bigger power tools so that they can all use the same height of infeed and outfeed tables... In fact we are talking about making just two modular table wings which would have slight variations in attachment to each major tool-- miter and table, radial arm saws. And work bench, tables. Planning on storing them up between the studs against the wall as we only have a garage wall/corner for our workshop. I guess you don't have to consider the heights of your other work surfaces? But we are talking about standardizing ours to increase our options in surfaces. Everything we have except the drill press is on rollers, and we plan on fixing that. I saw something this week on RU-vid -- universal outfeed tables, which approaches what I was thinking of. And have seen variations on caster systems for a floor model drill press as well if anyone is reading this and is hunting for a solution like I am.
I did a little research on floor mounted drill presses. They tend to be 70 to 71 inches in overall height. That might be a good place to start in calculating how high you want to make your stand. Of course you have to factor in the fact that you are a bit taller than average.
I would recommend to design the cabinet with dust extraction inside with a hose or something like thats as you always have a mess when using it. Perhaps also a small light to add more accuracy to the piece?
Make it the same height as your table saw, which should be the same height as your mitre saw station which should be the same height as your workbench ;) having all your tool work surfaces at the same height gives you flexibility to be able to manage larger pieces easier by just grabbing the closest mobile tool to help support it.
0:09 - Right here I see some lesser used table saw sleds/jigs on the wall. At least I don't recall seeing them in videos lately, anyway. Those could be hung higher up on the wall in unused spaces and free up room for other wall storage like the hand tools or powered up cabinet. The sleds would be handy to store on a wall high over top of the table saw - reach up and grab them when rolling out the saw.
It's funny how various woodworkers differ in their opinion about which tools are essential. Rex, focusing on hand tools rather than power tools, said once that of you can buy only one power tool - get a drill press. And I trust you both 😁
My brother showed me a work station from Pinterest. It was a corner cabinet with a round lazy Susan top. It had a drill press belt/disc sander and jigsaw. A drill press is a messy tool. An idea I had was to make the table top slotted like a grill so the dust and shavings could fall through onto a tray making clean up easier.
I think the best idea you laid out was putting the band saw in the corner and the drill press next to it. You can pull out the band saw when you need to use it, but you don’t have to pull out the drill press. I feel like the drill press would be awkward to use if it was in the corner, and unless you are using a big piece of wood, you shouldn’t need to pull out the drill press as often.
Greetings from Ottawa. I have been enjoying your channel for some time (including all the LOCKDOWN series). I have never been inclined to contribute a comment....until now. As a person who wears glasses, when you said you wanted to lower your drill press, my first thought was....yiiiii!kes! For me (and hey "you do you) although my shoulder would have to work harder, I would find myself leaning over if I lowered the drill because I would constantly be checking the alignment prior to the drilling, and in certain circumstances checking the plunge depth too. So in other words, I'd WANT the platform to be as close to my face as possible, otherwise my lower back would end up suffering. I know you checked the "fit" of it, I would suggest that you also try it while using the drill, that way you'll also "see" it. But like I said that's just me and my myopic eyes!
Thoughts on the drill press station, for me it would be to add the drill and driver station to the drill press station, also I would want it to be at a height where I could raise and lower the table to act as a small support for long pieces that I might be doing at my miter saw. Maybe a place on the side to hold a couple of clamps that I typically use with the drill press would be helpful and it might sound odd but a place to store an easy access pencil would be very handy.
Incorporating the drill and driver station looks quite logical and would free a space on the wall where the drill stand could sit. No need to move everything, it could be a first step to test.
Had to smile at your Metric conversion reference, Steve... "For those of you working in metric, it's about yay high...." (altho' you didn't specify the actual unit conversion). In the UK & Republic of Ireland, there's a common (Audio-visual) joke that's at least forty years old; it refers to a televised Snooker competition from the 1970's, & states, "Those of you watching in black & white...the pink ball is next to the blue....." The sports commentator (then) was a guy called David Coleman, & as far as that snafoo is concerned, every gaff in that area of commentary is known as, 'Colemanballs'... I can't wait to see what the workshop orientation will eventually look like...great presentation as always :D
I have a similar issue with the height of my drill press (I am using an old "High Boy" dresser that puts the drill press table at about chest height), so I'm interested to see what you come up with. SUGGESTED FEATURE: I hate cleaning up and it seems I get "man glitter" everywhere when I use my drill press. I would suggest incorporating a way to run a shop vac hose near your work surface that doesn't involve using half of one's clamp collection. Perhaps a post at the rear of the cabinet with an adjustable arm?
I'm really looking forward to the SketchUp tutorial. I have some rudimentary skills but quickly get into trouble from doing stuff in the wrong sequence or not using the correct feature. So, the sooner the better, Steve.
The actual height of a drill press is the center of the handle spindle is supposed to be shoulder high. You are making it way too low but it is your shop. You will also be bending over all the time to line up your mark in the wood and the tip of the drill bit.
I think the best way to have the smallest possible footprint while maintaining a lot of stability for a rotating machine is to taper the legs of the stand out slightly, maybe 10 degrees makiing it wider at the bottom.
Now I wanna move my shop around....life of a woodworker lol. How about combining the drill press stand with the drill bits caddy? And the sanding materials with the sanding station?
I see newer drill presses have a Cross beam laser with cross hairs exactly where the drill bit is going to hit. Assuming they are accurate. My eyes are failing with age. That would really help me and I wonder if there's a way to retrofit it. Build it into a jig. Our model is a floor model, more for mechanics, extremely top-heavy, probably way more than we ever needed, but it was a gift many years ago. I would never go without a drill press and this has always done everything we've ever asked of it, but that laser sure looked enticing.
I also vote for placing the base underneath the top so you have a nice flat surface that’s usable and it lowers the weight to the floor a little bit. My plan is to combine the drill press stand with the drill/driver cabinet so I’m mostly aiming for bit storage in there. Of course I have to buy the drill press first.
Regarding things in the corner. Seems to me that you have light restrictions and restrictions on the size of the wood you can work on. So... things in the corner probably want to be things that aren't affected by these limitations. Sandpaper and screw storage? A place to put your rarely used hand tools? A place for your dumbbells cart?
Could you tuck it between/below the sanding & drilling wall cabinets where the post sits between the two & against the wall? Although it looks like you’d need to create some space between and shift the location of the drills to the right, it would occupy some real estate (below the cabinets) that is largely unused currently.
The easiest thing to make it stop wobbling is to not put it on castors. But then you can't get it out of its corner very easily, which you might need to if you have outsize workpieces to drill. With the amount of room you have there, I'd probably skip that mobility. You'd want the same kind of footprint size as that cabinet has for stability though. Once you do that, then you can fasten the stand to the floor or wall of course,
Thanks for this channel, Steve - I have learned a lot from you. Regarding the stand and the weight you need at the bottom, why not try to incorporate your dumb bell box into the bottom of it? That would give you extra weight, for sure.
Looking at how to use the space under the drill press, and incorporate weight, what about building vertical storage slots for the sleds you have on the wall?
Videos about the design process and explaining your process with sketch up would be amazing! I think a lot of viewers would agree with me on that one! 👍 I love watching these daily vids thanks!
For the drill press stand, going in a more specialized dimension, a challenge I often face with mine is being able to securely clamp long boards to it (or really boards of any kind in my case). I think some kind of adjustable wings not unlike your miter saw stand would be a huge boon. But that's also probably really complicated to set up, and I might be in the minority as far as the length of boards I work with in the drill press. More universal though is some kind of dust collection. All of my other stationary tools have some kind of dust port, but the drill press doesn't. It doesn't really lend itself to a build in one, but since you've got a table extension anyways, it should be possible to add a dust collection port to that right? Something along the lines of what you've done with your router table?
Is this not common place everywhere? Every tape measure I've ever bought in the UK is imperial and metric, I just assumed it would be the same everywhere..
In the US, we choose to be backward and thus most tape measures are inches only. I happened (by accident) to pick up one with both metric and inches. After a bit of mumbling, I discovered that it's easier and a lot more accurate to measure 20.9 cm than 8-9/16 inches. Eureka! I'm probably too old (in either metric or imperial years) to get comfortable with thinking and designing in metric units, but I can see that we 'Mericans are handicapping ourselves with an irrational system of measurements.
The main advantage to working with inches is that it helps you maintain proficiency with fractions. Add to that some understanding of decimal inches used in machining, and knowledge of the super-easy metric system, and I feel comfortable working with anyone anywhere. It never hurts to speak a second (or third) language.
Well... I don't know, Steve... What I'm going to build here is a long bench with 5cm (2 inches I guess) wood top and fix almost everything over it. You know? My space is going to be much smaller, at the point where casters wouldn't help at all. My only concern is about the drawers. I hate having to bend down to get stuff, my back really hurts. So... I wouldn't make it much lower. But that's how I see it. Anyway, you can always build a heavy base, maybe with 2x4s. That can make it much more stable. Anyway, stay safe there! 🖖😊
I like having a place to store all my Drills next to the Press, so I easily see what I have and it is easy to get to. I also have 3 scrap wood close by, so I can quickly build up under what I'm drilling.
