Drillpress and Repeatability?

[3PedalMINI]

In the market for a drill press, rarely need one but when I do I need one that can comfortably drill a 3” hole. I plan on building my own table for it or getting the woodpecker one. I don’t really want to spend a fortune on one, maybe ~$750-$1000

I have a project coming up where I will need to drill a series of 3/4” holes and make them exactly 2.5” away from each other over an 8ft span and repeated over and over again. By my calculations there will be ~500 holes when I’m done. It will be done in 2x4s on edge so I don’t need a lot of “throat” distance.

Is there a jig out there that will allow me todo this? Or will I need to make my own? I thought that there had to be something out there for all the railings that use the metal tubes but there doesn’t seem to be any.

TIA!

 

[Dick Mahany]

I would just make a simple 2x4 fence that can be clamped to the table.  On the top edge a 3/4 dowel fastened to a hinge could be used for repetitive indexing.  Simple and inexpensive.  I've done similar step and repeat operations and indexing has given me the best repeatability for spacing.

I made this drill press table for about $35 from 1" MDF covered with Formica for my Delta benchtop model.

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[Birdhunter]

I'd look for an older reconditioned Delta floor standing drill press. Redmond sells used tools that appear to be in good shape. I have a Delta drill press I've been using for over 25 years and it works great. I did add the Woodpecker table and it is a good addition.

If I were drilling all those holes, I'd make a jig using a bushing for your 0.75" drill bit. I have a 0.75" dowel in one end and the bushing located 2.5" (center measurement) away. I would want the dowel to be removable. I'd add a fence to keep the holes the exact distance from the side of the 2X4.

I'd drill the first hole with the jig minus the 0.75" dowel, insert the dowel, and then use the jig to drill all the other holes.

 

[kevinculle]

+1 on a classic drill press...Deltas, Powermatics, pre-1980 Craftsmans, etc.  You should be able to find a heavy duty floorstander in good working condition for under $200.  Worst case is you need to replace spindle bearings and do a cleanup.  If you need help in narrowing the field check out this website:
http://www.owwm.org/

 

[Cheese]

Nice job [member=59951]Dick Mahany[/member] on the drill press table. I really like the height adjustment mechanism, a very clever solution. [big grin]

I also have an older Delta metal working drill press with a production table that I fitted with a Woodpeckers drill press table. Can't say enough nice things about the Woodpeckers table. The rails with flip stops are great for repetitive operations.

Either of the jigs mentioned below will work well. Just take your time because the jig will determine the accuracy of the final product. 96" divided by 2.5" equals approximately 38 repeat steps per rail. So if your jig is off by .015" (1/64") after 38 repeated steps your holes could be off by over 1/2".

You can also mitigate the tolerance issues by starting in the middle and working to each end.

 

[RKA]

I would set up some kind of continuous support, clamp a block at furthest position from the drill press and cut a bunch of 2.5" wide rectangles on a table saw.  Add the rectangles between your end stop and the 2x4 to align the 2x4 for each hole. 

If you're set up a stop block on your table saw, all the squares should be identical in width.  Just watch for sawdust accumulating between the squares or chamfer the squares so it doesn't throw everything out.

 

[DeformedTree]

In the market for a drill press, rarely need one but when I do I need one that can comfortably drill a 3” hole. I plan on building my own table for it or getting the woodpecker one. I don’t really want to spend a fortune on one, maybe ~$750-$1000

I have a project coming up where I will need to drill a series of 3/4” holes and make them exactly 2.5” away from each other over an 8ft span and repeated over and over again. By my calculations there will be ~500 holes when I’m done. It will be done in 2x4s on edge so I don’t need a lot of “throat” distance.

TIA!

Maybe you need less a drill press and more a mill.  If you don't need much room, but need things to be dead on, a mill with a traversing bed can get you there.  You might need to make yourself some sort of indexing fixture after 1-2 feet travel.

This or This

Once you get going you could do a series of holes just turning a crank.  The above is just one cheap yet new option for something like this.

 

[DeformedTree]

I have a project coming up where I will need to drill a series of 3/4” holes and make them exactly 2.5” away from each other over an 8ft span and repeated over and over again. By my calculations there will be ~500 holes when I’m done. It will be done in 2x4s on edge so I don’t need a lot of “throat” distance.

TIA!

When you say exactly 2.5",  would exactly 2.52" over and over work?  Your signature doesn't imply you have a router, but if you needed a reason to get a router, holy rail and the LR32 setup, you could use that and go every other hole, 64mm is 2.52".  Maybe others could comment if the LR32 setup would have an issue with the bigger bit than normal.

 

[fshanno]

You can eyeball those holes with no problem.  It'll go faster than you thing.  Just mark and drill.  I bet it won't take more than 4 or 5 hours to mark and drill all 500 holes.  You're going to have a big mess though.  You'll spend more time blowing the chips away than on any other part of the operation.

$1000 will buy you way more drill press than you need for that job.  Actually a benchtop could handle it with no problem since you've said you don't need through holes.

You will need a fence so it makes sense to go ahead and rig up a woodworking table for the press.  You can make one but there are a bunch of adequate ones for less than $100.  Just search "drill press table" on Amazon. 

Since you're dealing with the tall side of the 2x4 a table with a taller fence might be right for you.  Wen has one with a fairly tall fence for $42 on Amazon.

To make it go faster you could rig up a second fence in front to sort of sandwich the boards in.  It would also help keep the boards vertical though that shouldn't really be a problem. 

I would have about 5' of support on the infeed and on the outfeed.  2 roller stands on each side of the table would do fine.

You will need an accessory table.  Just look on Amazon and search drill press table.  There are a ton of them that are so cheap it makes it almost dumb to make one unless you have t-track and stuff laying around. 

I would have support out to 5' on boths sides of the table. 

 

[Cheese]

When you say exactly 2.5",  would exactly 2.52" over and over work?  Your signature doesn't imply you have a router, but if you needed a reason to get a router, holy rail and the LR32 setup, you could use that and go every other hole, 64mm is 2.52".  Maybe others could comment if the LR32 setup would have an issue with the bigger bit than normal.

That's an interesting thought.  [smile]

 

[leakyroof]

You can eyeball those holes with no problem.  It'll go faster than you thing.  Just mark and drill.  I bet it won't take more than 4 or 5 hours to mark and drill all 500 holes.  You're going to have a big mess though.  You'll spend more time blowing the chips away than on any other part of the operation.

$1000 will buy you way more drill press than you need for that job.  Actually a benchtop could handle it with no problem since you've said you don't need through holes.

You will need a fence so it makes sense to go ahead and rig up a woodworking table for the press.  You can make one but there are a bunch of adequate ones for less than $100.  Just search "drill press table" on Amazon. 

Since you're dealing with the tall side of the 2x4 a table with a taller fence might be right for you.  Wen has one with a fairly tall fence for $42 on Amazon.

To make it go faster you could rig up a second fence in front to sort of sandwich the boards in.  It would also help keep the boards vertical though that shouldn't really be a problem. 

I would have about 5' of support on the infeed and on the outfeed.  2 roller stands on each side of the table would do fine.

You will need an accessory table.  Just look on Amazon and search drill press table.  There are a ton of them that are so cheap it makes it almost dumb to make one unless you have t-track and stuff laying around. 

I would have support out to 5' on boths sides of the table.

  He listed one of his needs is the occasional 3" hole to be drilled..... He'll need a beefy set-up for that.