# Rolling Cabinet for Benchtop Drill Press



## mikentn (Jan 26, 2010)

Hello all,

Back in the Intro section I explained that I was wanting to build a portable cabinet for my benchtop drill press, and needing to use a router for the joinery brought me to here. Well, I finally finished it up last night. Granted, it's shop furniture made out of pine plywood, but it turned out OK, I think. I ended up making myself a portable router table for routing out the dadoes and joints, too. I also upgraded from a Ryobi plunge router to a Porter Cable 690, too! All in all, a fun project.

Regards,
Mike


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## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

Well Mike, if it suits you, that's all that counts. However, it looks like one fine portable cabinet to me.


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## allthunbs (Jun 22, 2008)

Hi Mike:

Nicely done. The drawer is a must and the shelves will be needed for the collection of corded and cordless drills that we always seem to attract. You might consider an upgrade and replace the shelves with drawers to keep the dust out of the collection. I like the oversized table supports too. I'll keep those in mind. I have to replace mine so those will be well considered during the process.

Thanks.


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## gal turner (Mar 3, 2010)

I like your support on left side. I made one like it & now can't do without it..hope you don;'t have to chase that around the shop while in use. I stopped using mobile stuff years ago just for that reason. I'm getting too old to chase tools down!!! Have fun with it


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Good job Mike

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mikentn said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Back in the Intro section I explained that I was wanting to build a portable cabinet for my benchtop drill press, and needing to use a router for the joinery brought me to here. Well, I finally finished it up last night. Granted, it's shop furniture made out of pine plywood, but it turned out OK, I think. I ended up making myself a portable router table for routing out the dadoes and joints, too. I also upgraded from a Ryobi plunge router to a Porter Cable 690, too! All in all, a fun project.
> 
> ...


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## mikentn (Jan 26, 2010)

Thanks to all for the nice compliments!

I just wanted to point out that the cabinet has the table supports on both sides, not just the left side. Looking at my pictures, I guess I should've taken one from the right side, huh? :wacko:

Thanks again!

Mike


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## dutchman 46 (May 23, 2007)

Hello Mike! I think that it looks great. Very nice. I wish i could build shop furniture that good.


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

A very nice project that will prove to be useful. If I may, I would like to use the support on an idea that I have for a workstation. Thanks for sharing!


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

Nice!. I also like the added adjustable supports for material. Having that built-in sure beats having to rig up a support for longer pieces. That's a great idea.


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## mikentn (Jan 26, 2010)

I wish I could claim credit for the table support design, but I can't. I found and bought a set of plans for this cabinet on the net. The original plans were for a cabinet to use with a floor model bench press; the cabinet had a cutout in the back for the column. I modified them slightly to remove the cutout, since I didn't need it for my benchtop model. 

I did find an item today at Harbor Freight that I might add to the table supports, though. HF sells rollers that could be mounted to the table supports to help in moving long pieces of stock across the table. I knew I should've stopped by there today while I was in the neighborhood!

Thanks again for all of the compliments!

Mike


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## mikentn (Jan 26, 2010)

Oops! One other thing I forgot to add to the discussion about the table supports - when I was gathering my hardware for the cabinet, I discovered that Lowe's was really proud of the tensioning knobs over in their hardware aisle. As I was pondering their purchase, I was thinking if there was a suitable alternative, and remembered that my lawn mower had a collapsible handle that used tensioning knobs and bolts to lock it in place. So, a quick trip over to the lawn and garden aisle netted me tensioning knobs that fit the 5/16" bolts and were about half the price of what the ones in the hardware aisle went for. :sold:


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## allthunbs (Jun 22, 2008)

mikentn said:


> Oops! One other thing I forgot to add to the discussion about the table supports - when I was gathering my hardware for the cabinet, I discovered that Lowe's was really proud of the tensioning knobs over in their hardware aisle. As I was pondering their purchase, I was thinking if there was a suitable alternative, and remembered that my lawn mower had a collapsible handle that used tensioning knobs and bolts to lock it in place. So, a quick trip over to the lawn and garden aisle netted me tensioning knobs that fit the 5/16" bolts and were about half the price of what the ones in the hardware aisle went for. :sold:


Neat tip Mike. Thanks


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

mikentn said:


> Oops! One other thing I forgot to add to the discussion about the table supports - when I was gathering my hardware for the cabinet, I discovered that Lowe's was really proud of the tensioning knobs over in their hardware aisle. As I was pondering their purchase, I was thinking if there was a suitable alternative, and remembered that my lawn mower had a collapsible handle that used tensioning knobs and bolts to lock it in place. So, a quick trip over to the lawn and garden aisle netted me tensioning knobs that fit the 5/16" bolts and were about half the price of what the ones in the hardware aisle went for. :sold:


That is a good tip. 
Which reminds me of when I was looking for some rubber matting to line my tool box drawers. The rubber matting was not cheap in the tool department, but a trip to the kitchen isle got me the same stuff for a bigger roll & at much cheaper price. I even use a big piece under material to keep it from sliding around while sanding.

I guess they figure that guy's will spend to protect their tools & not so much to protect their kitchen utensils.


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

+1 on the side support and prowling the other aisles for alternative part sources. It is amazing what you can find some days!


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## woodstover (Jan 6, 2010)

Nice job Mike, I also am impressed with the side supports, very useful indeed.


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## vredav (Sep 6, 2009)

Good job Mike,

I will be making one in the future (if I get the wife's permission) and that one look perfect for what I want.

Just a quick couple of questions.

Can the table supports lower down a couple of inches to touch the ground.
Would this help by keeping the cart from rolling when you don't want it to.
Using small stock it would not roll but what about larger peices.

Since you have built it and have used it is there any issues that I might want to change if I build one.

David


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

Well done, look practical and functional.


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## mikentn (Jan 26, 2010)

vredav said:


> Good job Mike,
> 
> I will be making one in the future (if I get the wife's permission) and that one look perfect for what I want.
> 
> ...


I'm sure they could. Just cut the panels longer and route the guide grooves long enough to let the panel touch the ground before it reaches the upper bolts. However, it'd be easier to just put locking casters on the bottom, which is what I've done. 

Truth be told, I haven't used it yet. I just finished the cabinet not too long ago, and haven't had a need to use the drill press on anything yet. I'm planning on making some props for Halloween (cemetery fencing) that will put it to good use, but that'll be later on in the summer.


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

jlord said:


> That is a good tip.
> Which reminds me of when I was looking for some rubber matting to line my tool box drawers. The rubber matting was not cheap in the tool department, but a trip to the kitchen isle got me the same stuff for a bigger roll & at much cheaper price. I even use a big piece under material to keep it from sliding around while sanding.
> 
> I guess they figure that guy's will spend to protect their tools & not so much to protect their kitchen utensils.


I'd long wondered about that. My local supermarkets sell rolls of what I was pretty certain was the same stuff that is sold as a routing mat, for less than a sixth of what tool companies charge. I've got a lot of it, but always wondered whether the tool stuff was perhaps better in some way. Since you were able to physically compare both, it sounds not!

Cheers

Peter


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