Gut Shop Reorganization #10: flip top drill press

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This is part 10 in a 10 part series: Gut Shop Reorganization

I’m exhausted. I built this over the past 2 days which is a day too long. I wasn’t sure about the height and had problems making it fit the swing to below. I finally sorted out those details and made it work.

This is the same concept as my flip top planer. The pivot is offset so it sits out in front of the other tools when open. That way I can clear the other stuff when using it. I took the base off and mounted the stand directly to the pivot base. This saved me an inch or more.

The top table is short because the planer table would run into it if it were built the same as the planer flip top. But I need the same length to make it stand level. So I solved that by making the leg telescoping. It locks with barrel locks.

One more tool off the floor.

Losing fingers since 1969

12 Comments

Nice solution. It’s coming together very well Brian. Great work.

CHRIS, Charlottetown PEI Canada. Anytime you can repurpose, reuse, or recycle, everyone wins!

Well done Brian.
I like how you take the base. A lot of people wouldn’t.

you shop is taking shape nicely.

Abbas, Castro Valley, CA

Thats actually really cool. Great concept Brian. Looks nice too. I need to look at your other posts.

Jeff Vandenberg aka "Woodsconsin"

Oh hey Brian how do you like your Hitachi miter saw?

Jeff Vandenberg aka "Woodsconsin"

Brian,

Two days is six weeks less than it would have taken me! LOL And your solution looks like it will work perfectly.

L/W

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin

It works but it was hard for me to predict how this would swing. It’s taller and deeper than the planer. I should have made a mockup before starting. That’s why it took 2 days. The planer only took about 10 hours. Because I didn’t have a real plan I ended up disassembling it several times because of the height. In one botched attempt, I drilled a hole in the base to mount the pole from the underside. But then I couldn’t fit the drill table into it. Very frustrating. Also the overall shop table height and the planer (when upright) added more height constraints I didn’t have when building the planer flip top. After sleeping on it I came up with the idea of the telescoping top/leg. That solved a lot of problems.

Also, to make things just a little more difficult, I moved the CMS cabinet a few inches because I have a large plywood squaring jig for the table saw that would run into it sometimes. Now that’s cleared up. That took a couple of hours to reset and adjust the cabinet and CMS so everything is in proper alignment.

Losing fingers since 1969

Jeff, I like the Hitachi. It came out of the box nice and square and it does a fair job at dust collection. I hook the vac to it when in use. It’s not a slider. I didn’t want one because of the cost and also how much room they take. So I got a12", which handles pretty large boards and doesn’t take up much space.

Losing fingers since 1969

I’m kind of on a roll here. I wasn’t planning to get to my bench right away but now I’m thinking I should accelerate my plans and just finish this stuff off. The main reason I bought a drill press was to use in making my bench. Gotta have those nice straight dog holes.

Losing fingers since 1969

Well done Brian. I haven’t seen a swing table used for a drill press before, but I think it is a great idea since they aren’t usually the most used tool in the shop, but essential when needed. Your solution looks really good and strong too. I guess using 2 days on it seems a lot for someone with a day job and not a lot of free time, but I think you got it finished pretty fast.

Mike, an American living in Norway

I came up with an idea last night. I’m going to cut the pivot base so the drill overhangs nothing but the floor. That way I can turn a 10" drill into a floor sized one. I’ll have to redo the legs. I’ll probably ditch the legs altogether. Tonight I’ll get a mockup going.

Losing fingers since 1969

Nice. Really like this site for the innovations.

Keith "Shin" Schindler

Update: I got rid of the legs altogether and cut the pivot base substantially so that the drill chuck overhangs the floor. This will allow me to drill stuff larger than would fit in the table. I also cut the and repositioned the legs on the planer table for the same reason (to fit stuff under the drill).

Losing fingers since 1969