# Drill Press Stand



## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

Nothing special about this project! It was an exercise performed out of frustration of not having adequate storage space. Hopefully, it might inspire some others with similar issues to think about how to improve their work spaces.

A couple of years ago I bought 14" Jet drill press from a neighbor. It was mounted on a Shop Fox stationary stand, so it was not mobile. I needed for it to roll as I have a garage workshop, and all of the equipment needs to move. Nobody I asked, recommended placing it on casters due to the Center of Gravity being too high and presenting a tipping hazard. I couldn't accept that and ended up buying a Shop Fox mobile base. The stands' legs were each bolted to the mobile base.

This arrangement was extremely stable. Unfortunately, there was no adequate storage space for bits, fixtures, or anything else, other than a small shelf. 

I got tired of having to move things piled on top of other equipment in order to use the equipment. So, I built a cabinet to fit the mobile base and hold the drill press.

The cabinet has three deep drawers in front, and three movable shelves in the rear. Like the previous stand, it is bolted to the base. The footprint remained the same as the old set up, and when all was said and done I had gained approximately 7.5 cubic feet of storage space.

This was more than enough for the drill press items and possibly some storage for other tools, jigs, or fixtures.

Most drill press stand cabinets I have seen are wrap-a-rounds for floor models. I have seen very few "mobile stands" for bench top presses. So, If your looking to make a BT model mobile, this may be the way you can do it safely and gain some storage space.

Bill


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Hi Bill:
Nice work. I have a variable speed Delta 12" bench top drill press and built a stand for it as well. Stand is made from 3/4 birch ply, poplar drawer fronts, laminate top (for looks only). Three drawers with full extension slides - top two drawers hold an assortment of bits and the bottom larger drawer holds a sanding kit, mortise kit and a couple of cases for my portable drills/drivers. I put locking/swivel casters on my stand and had not heard that they could be a problem with the center of gravity. I've never had a problem with that issue.

I have a small basement shop and need to have some portability - I had a 13" floor model that I sold as a) it was a cheap model and b) it just seemed to be in my way. This portable stand gets rolled out when needed and rolled back when not in use.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Great storage solutions, Bill! 
Did you come up with a dead-easy solution to locking down the DP aux. table? Or is sort of a permanent fixed item?
I've been having mixed feelings on that; I don't want to get cutting oils on a wooden DP table from doing metal stuff, but I'm also frustrated with not having a really solid precision DP woodworking setup. Everytime I want to do something it's like Dogpatch.


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

vchiarelli said:


> Hi Bill:
> Nice work. I have a variable speed Delta 12" bench top drill press and built a stand for it as well. Stand is made from 3/4 birch ply, poplar drawer fronts, laminate top (for looks only). Three drawers with full extension slides - top two drawers hold an assortment of bits and the bottom larger drawer holds a sanding kit, mortise kit and a couple of cases for my portable drills/drivers. I put locking/swivel casters on my stand and had not heard that they could be a problem with the center of gravity. I've never had a problem with that issue.
> 
> I appreciate the comments. Yours is nice, also. It is just hard to find anyone who does this for a bench top. So with no good examples I just built it to my own needs.
> ...


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

DaninVan said:


> Great storage solutions, Bill!
> Did you come up with a dead-easy solution to locking down the DP aux. table? Or is sort of a permanent fixed item?
> I've been having mixed feelings on that; I don't want to get cutting oils on a wooden DP table from doing metal stuff, but I'm also frustrated with not having a really solid precision DP woodworking setup. Everytime I want to do something it's like Dogpatch.


The table is a Rockler and it came with the press when I bought it from a neighbor. It is just attached to the DP table with two captured 1/4-20 bolts through the table slots and held by washers and wing nuts. Removes in a jiffy and goes right back on. I just do some eyeball alignment for the through holes in the tables.

Bill


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## Tagwatts (Apr 11, 2012)

Again, Satan has got the best of me. I absolutely Covet all of you people who have wood working skills. If I can weld it, bolt it or by some other means, I can get it together. But my wood working skills are so poor, I can hardly get a nail in a board with out bending it at least once. I have found out if my wife holds the nails, it does not hurt my fingers any more..
Great Project you have created and so very usable. All I can say is Wow.


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

Tagwatts1 said:


> Again, Satan has got the best of me. I absolutely Covet all of you people who have wood working skills. If I can weld it, bolt it or by some other means, I can get it together. But my wood working skills are so poor, I can hardly get a nail in a board with out bending it at least once. I have found out if my wife holds the nails, it does not hurt my fingers any more..
> Great Project you have created and so very usable. All I can say is Wow.


Frank,

If you can lay out something and weld it you can do this. This was just a simple case; 3/4" plywood, glued, and screwed, shelves are super easy and drawers only take practice. 

You remind me of my father! I guess I was about 10 or 11 and we were setting forms to pour concrete. I was holding the stakes and he was pounding them into that hard Pennsylvania clay and shale dirt. He would tell me to "hold on to the stake real hard" when I asked him why, he replied by saying, "If I miss and hit your hands it will keep going". Were you and my father related? 

As for nails, I had tennis elbow so bad I couldn't even hold a glass of water. I discovered nail guns and haven't looked back. You must have a great wife. I never could get my ex to hold the nails for me:wink:

Anyway, thanks for the comment.

Bill


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Bill; I was thinking about the caster question and I wonder if it has something to do with the centre of gravity shifting causing the wheels to kick out? Sort of like trying to remain upright while standing on a ball. There's so much mass on top of the column that stability is already compromised.
If the wheels had brakes that'd help a lot, I think?


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

DaninVan said:


> Bill; I was thinking about the caster question and I wonder if it has something to do with the centre of gravity shifting causing the wheels to kick out? Sort of like trying to remain upright while standing on a ball. There's so much mass on top of the column that stability is already compromised.
> If the wheels had brakes that'd help a lot, I think?


Basic physics; if the width is too narrow there is no lateral stability. With a drill press the weight is all at the top of the column. Hence a high CG. Any force against the press from the side and it could cause a tip-over. 

I'm sure that you have seen casters roll up to a small piece of debris on the floor and come to a screeching halt. If the momentum is right here comes the tip-over.

The original stand for my press had a 24" wide by 33" stance. Fairly stable, but add casters and the height of the tool goes up and the CG gets even more unstable. My bolting the stand to a mobile base created a slightly wider stance, and added weight to the base; which lowered the CG a little.

This arrangement worked fine and was really stable. But, no manufacturer would agree to just adding casters to the original DP stand. I might have been fine, but then again if it were to tip and someone got hurt, then the adviser (mfg. rep) would open up a product liability law suit.

The best way to minimize the instability is to lower the CG. The more weight you add to the bottom and the lower that center goes. Another way is to increase the footprint and create a more stable base. Casters should never be a problem as long as you don't get the mass too high up, or you create an adequate base to provide stability.

Think of a file cabinet. If you open more then one drawer at the top it shifts all of the weight over the front and the cabinet wants to tip forward. Open more then one at the bottom and chances are it will never move.

Hope I made sense.

Bill


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*Basic Physics Explained*

Mmmm...maybe I'll forget the casters...
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aYcboNB06aY/VUOfRLUeAnI/AAAAAAAAmEg/fgRRLWdrdSw/s1600/Skate.gif


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

DaninVan said:


> Mmmm...maybe I'll forget the casters...
> http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aYcboNB06aY/VUOfRLUeAnI/AAAAAAAAmEg/fgRRLWdrdSw/s1600/Skate.gif


Don't be afraid of casters. They are great. Easy and cheap mobile method. You just have to make sure that the weight isn't too high above the base. The footprint of the base is the main key, with getting the weight down as low as possible a plus. Just stay away from cheaply made casters (you get what you pay for).

In the original case of the DP I bought the mobile stand. I had to go to the biggest one Shop Fox made because of the DP stand dimensions. I caught it on sale at a local supplier. With something like the DP I knew cheaply made, small casters were not the answer. By the time I priced out four good casters the mobile stand was only a couple of dollars more expensive. I reasoned that eventually it could/would be re-purposed to another piece of equipment. So, the investment in the re-use potential of the mobile base was there.

The real plus was, that, I added weight to the base, provided a larger base profile and I was able to bolt the original stand legs to it. I never had to lock the mobile stand down. It was rock solid and never moved when I used it. When I did lock the Fox down I couldn't budge the DP. 

Just pick and choose what equipment are caster candidates. Again, they work great for most things. In the case of my DP not so much. But, this is only one piece of equipment, not all. 

I don't know what you have in mind to make mobile, just be assured that it can be done safely with a little forethought.


Bill


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

I had a similar problem when mounting a band saw on a mobile base - the saw had to mount in one position because of the swing of the cabinet door. I wound up increasing the size of the plywood floor to give me enough room to bolt feet to either side of the cabinet (using the existing bolts for bolting the floor inside the cabinet) and then pocket screws through the feet into the plywood floor - this made it rock solid. While I was at it, I added a plywood stiffener underneath the cabinet top (a reviewer had mentioned that there was a vibration from resonance) and a couple of shelves for the inside. 

Tom


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## The Hobbyist (Apr 25, 2015)

Those metal stands with the wheels are nice, but they are expensive. 

You can achieve the same function by screwing one large (or two small) Harbor Freight Tool moving dollies to the bottom boards. For stability, you can either create a foot-operated drop-down leg system on the side of the cabinet, or do what I do. I take short lengths of small link chain and sling them around the bottoms of the wheels on top of the concrete. This ring of chain will prevent the wheel from rolling in any direction. You only need to sling chain around the two front wheels facing you. The others will not move if they cannot move.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Excellent (and cheap!) solution, Joe! 
As has been alluded to, the commercially made mobile bases have the foot operated device that raises the two front wheels slightly off the ground, eliminating the rolling function.
Biting the bullet and just buying that type of base is probably the most practical solution. Not necessarily the cheapest.

You tell me these aren't the same...
https://www.kmstools.com/general-international-universal-mobile-base-322
https://www.kmstools.com/king-canada-mobile-base-100938


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

DaninVan said:


> Excellent (and cheap!) solution, Joe!
> As has been alluded to, the commercially made mobile bases have the foot operated device that raises the two front wheels slightly off the ground, eliminating the rolling function.
> Biting the bullet and just buying that type of base is probably the most practical solution. Not necessarily the cheapest.
> 
> ...


The first looks identical to the ones that I use, but I'd actually prefer the second because the actuating lever doesn't stick out the side. Looking at the top photo in my post, the base is lowered and the levers are inside the base, When raised for moving, the levers stick out the side and are a trip hazard - I'm planning to switch mine around for that reason.

The advantage of the "store bought" version is that they only raise the machine up about 3/4" (1-1/2" in my case because of adding the floor to give me a larger support area). There are several options out there: look at the weight of your machine and base your selection on that - mine are not the heaviest duty out there, but then the bandsaw only weighs 120 lbs. Once you bite the bullet - someone always has them on sale, and I got a deal on a case of 5 - the convenience quickly makes you forget the cost. I bought a LD shaper a few years back that was mounted on a piece of plywood with casters underneath and the table height was noticeably higher than I was comfortable with - everything is good now that it's on one of these bases, probably 3" lower now.

Tom


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## IC31 (Nov 16, 2012)

Gotta add my .02. I like that cabinet and how you have it set up. What I don't much care for is a bunch of weight way 'up there' after rescuing my drill press from toppling over. My shop is pretty tight but I still felt the need to tie the table to something solid after that weight lifting exercise. Currently the crude table is lagged to one of the work benches but will eventually be bolted into the wall in a cleaner manner.


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

tomp913 said:


> I had a similar problem when mounting a band saw on a mobile base - the saw had to mount in one position because of the swing of the cabinet door. I wound up increasing the size of the plywood floor to give me enough room to bolt feet to either side of the cabinet (using the existing bolts for bolting the floor inside the cabinet) and then pocket screws through the feet into the plywood floor - this made it rock solid. While I was at it, I added a plywood stiffener underneath the cabinet top (a reviewer had mentioned that there was a vibration from resonance) and a couple of shelves for the inside.
> 
> *Great solution, Tom, I like it.*
> 
> ...


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## The Hobbyist (Apr 25, 2015)

The bases for the metal saws are made of a double row of 4' 2x10's screwed on top of two HFT moving dollies. Eight wheels support the machine and it rolls easily. The whole platform cost less than $25.00. The saws are positioned so that when the body is tipped vertical for the bandsaw function, the weight is still Inside of the wheel footprint. so the saw doesn't tip over backwards. :no:


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