# The Ultimate Pillar Drill Fence



## Orcamesh

This has no doubt been covered before but I wondered if anyone highly rates a particular design of a "make your own" drill press station/fence? 

So basically just a platform of say MDF or other manmade material with adjustable fence(s) and clamping locations etc.

Does anyone know of any online free plans or can point me to a previous thread?

cheers
Steve


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## Mike Wingate

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite ... press.html
This is a good start.


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## Orcamesh

Ah, that's magic Mike, thanks very much. Just the job!


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## Chris Knight

I need to make a new drill press table and one thing I intend to incorporate is a means of holding the hose of a vacuum where it can pick up chips as I drill. This will be especially useful when using Forstner bits that need withdrawing from a deep hole frequently to avoid jamming/burning etc.

Re the fence, don't forget to make some allowance for the handles on the drill press. These can foul a tall fence when using a shortish drill. I see the larger of the two MCLS fences has a cutaway, presumably for this reason. ON my present table, that problem is dealt with by having an "L" shaped fence that can be used with either the taller or the shorter of the legs of the "L" serving as the fence.


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## Orcamesh

Chris Knight":1fy325aq said:


> I need to make a new drill press table and one thing I intend to incorporate is a means of holding the hose of a vacuum where it can pick up chips as I drill. This will be especially useful when using Forstner bits that need withdrawing from a deep hole frequently to avoid jamming/burning etc.
> 
> Re the fence, don't forget to make some allowance for the handles on the drill press. These can foul a tall fence when using a shortish drill. I see the larger of the two MCLS fences has a cutaway, presumably for this reason. ON my present table, that problem is dealt with by having an "L" shaped fence that can be used with either the taller or the shorter of the legs of the "L" serving as the fence.



Yep, I agree Chris. I noticed the fence on the more expensive jig in Mike's link having the lower section so that the handles don't get blocked. Good idea about the hose too. Plenty of food for thought... 

Thanks
Steve


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## Mike Wingate

I have a large ply table with part of the top righthand corner cut away to allow the crank handle to turn. The fences are ok, as thet move to anf fro on slots in the table. I will build another with alloy T-slots. I have a large 5" dia replaceable insert that takes my biggest drum sander, that lies partly below the table surface so I can sand flush to the bottom edge of the timber.


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## Orcamesh

Mike Wingate":14kxyo16 said:


> I have a large ply table with part of the top righthand corner cut away to allow the crank handle to turn. The fences are ok, as thet move to anf fro on slots in the table. I will build another with alloy T-slots. I have a large 5" dia replaceable insert that takes my biggest drum sander, that lies partly below the table surface so I can sand flush to the bottom edge of the timber.



Yep, I think it is a good idea to use these alloy t-slots. I will do this. I also need to take into account the drum sanding kit I've got.

I'm surprised Steve Maskery hasn't got an "Ultimate Pillar Drill Station" in his videos, maybe that is something for the future perhaps?!!!


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## knappers

I have just bought the Axminster drill table (got it cheap as a return).

It wouldn't mount directly to my table, as the holes in the base are not in a square, whereas the slots in my drill table are at 90 degrees to each other. No biggy - it just involved me drilling new holes through the base to suit my slots.
The fence is quite well made, with adjustable gap, rulers and dust extraction. It also comes with couple of hold-downs. Overall not sure it's worth the full asking price - though by the time your've bought t-track and made all the bits and bobs, for what I paid I'm happy. Oh, and I got around the height of the fence by removing a couple of the "capstan arms" on my drill.

Si.


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## andersonec

Steve,

Have a look here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMZ0_jg8 ... re=related

Andy


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## Orcamesh

andersonec":14q3lr4i said:


> Steve,
> 
> Have a look here.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMZ0_jg8 ... re=related
> 
> Andy



Thanks Andy, that is useful.

Not sure I need to glue AND pin the fence parts though! I thought glue alone was good enough for this! Still I suppose if you've got one you have to justify that you have one!! :lol:


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## Orcamesh

knappers":11hkfaok said:


> I have just bought the Axminster drill table (got it cheap as a return).
> 
> It wouldn't mount directly to my table, as the holes in the base are not in a square, whereas the slots in my drill table are at 90 degrees to each other. No biggy - it just involved me drilling new holes through the base to suit my slots.
> The fence is quite well made, with adjustable gap, rulers and dust extraction. It also comes with couple of hold-downs. Overall not sure it's worth the full asking price - though by the time your've bought t-track and made all the bits and bobs, for what I paid I'm happy. Oh, and I got around the height of the fence by removing a couple of the "capstan arms" on my drill.
> 
> Si.



Si, thanks for this too. I guess you bought this one then?

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-axminster-pillar-drill-table-prod364868/

It looks pretty good although my first observation is that it seems quite small. Let me know how you get on with it.

Yep, removing one or more arms is also a good idea.

cheers
Steve


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## knappers

Yes, that's the fella. The base is 2' x 1', which is big enough for me.
Very similar to the one in the video, but less hassle, and if you can pick one up with money off (Axminster seem to sell them off on eBay quite regularly), probably not much more expensive.

Si.


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## Dackpsljc

Hi, I am new to this forum and must say there are a lot of interesting listings.
I would like to build the Pillar Drill Table shown on this Axminster link. Can anyone tell me where I could get the parts for this. I can find the T-Track on the Axminster website, but where could I get the clamps. Most of all, where can I get white formica. I had a sheet for years which has been used up and now I require more. I tried the usual places B&Q etc. Who would normally have white formica in stock these days ?. Thanks


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## Orcamesh

Dackpsljc":3cvy4gq5 said:


> Hi, I am new to this forum and must say there are a lot of interesting listings.
> I would like to build the Pillar Drill Table shown on this Axminster link. Can anyone tell me where I could get the parts for this. I can find the T-Track on the Axminster website, but where could I get the clamps. Most of all, where can I get white formica. I had a sheet for years which has been used up and now I require more. I tried the usual places B&Q etc. Who would normally have white formica in stock these days ?. Thanks



Hi Dackpsljc

Welcome to the forum.

Not sure if you can get the clamps on their own, but there was a suggestion in this thread to buy the Axminster pillar drill table which comes with the clamps and if you need to make a bigger deck then you can. 

Not sure where to get formica, I haven't bought any for years but I'm sure a quick search online would bring up loads of suppliers local to you.

Good luck!
cheers
Steve


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## Dackpsljc

Thanks Steve. I have found a website that sells various types of materials, Direct Plastics Online.
I am considering ordering this product from them. Nylon 6 Natural Sheet 1000 x 500 x 2mm @ 16.05 GBP 
It would be enough to cover a drill table and a new router table top.

Do you have any knowledge of these materials and what would be best ?

Dave


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## hobbler

Hi mind if I chime in. I made my own out of Melamine double layer 19mm its better if 35mm , used ali T-slot channel and some hold downs http://woolnwood.blogspot.com/2010/08/p ... shove.html

There are some pit falls to mine and many designs including the Axminster version these are.
If fitted the raise and lower crank handle will hit the underside of the table. An easy fix ( I still have to do this to mine yet) is an old socket ratchet fitted.
The height of the fence (mine is 150mm and the drill handle will hit when raised to max, make smaller fence.
MDF loves moisture and tensioning down over time can bow :roll: 
I set my T-tracks wide enough to mount my crosslide drill vice on many prefer to narrow the gap.
Epoxy as well as screw T-slot in
My tall fence also acts as a low front fence with T-slots 

Ray


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## custard

I've got the Axminster unit fitted to a Ryobi drill press, and it also suffers from the problem of the crank handle colliding with the table. Great suggestion about fitting a socket ratchet, I'll see if it works next time I'm in the workshop.

One other thing I've noticed is that you have to be meticulous about clearing dust away from the fence, a small rebate at the bottom of the fence might help as sometimes little chips get stuck under the fence and if you don't spot them they can throw the accuracy out.


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## Orcamesh

Thanks for sharing your jig Ray. It looks great and some very useful advice there too. I have only just started building mine and I need to order some hardware, t-slots, etc. I am using 18mm multiply (birch) which is pretty good quality. Let's see how it holds up in use!

Cheers Custard for your tip too about the dust clearance, I will have to think about that in my design.

cheers
Steve


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## jimi43

I built mine based on that design but mine has a very low fence..I have never seen the need for a high fence:







I turned up the handles on the lathe to save on hardware and used flat nuts...






...with hardwood slides for the T slots....

I moved it to my new drill press....and added a centre toggle clamp which holds anything up to quite a thickness in place really rigidly:






The toggle clamp raises right out of the way when not in use:






...and clamps automatically when lowered:






Some modifications I am going to do next week are:

A toggle clamp on a slider for the T Slot for front clamping and a stick-on ruler on the fence.

This transforms the drill press from a useful tool to the ultimate tool! It can be left in place and the fence comes right off for larger pieces.

Hope this helps...

Jim


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## Charlie Woody

Hi Steve

Just wondering if you have built your pillar drill table and fence? What was the final design and what materials and hardware did you use? Where did you source these items?

I hope to start a similar project so any help you can provide would be appreciated.


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## Orcamesh

Charlie Woody":8fx5tjit said:


> Hi Steve
> 
> Just wondering if you have built your pillar drill table and fence? What was the final design and what materials and hardware did you use? Where did you source these items?
> 
> I hope to start a similar project so any help you can provide would be appreciated.



Hi Charley

This is real spooky! You must be psychic! :shock: 

I have literally just come out of the workshop tonight after finally getting round to making this! I spent some hours on Sunday and tonight finishing it off. It still needs some further refinements but the basic thing is now done. See photos below...

I used some of my son's wardrobe which we recently dismantled, an old DIY built-in thing. It is like formica, if not the real thing and is about 27mm thick. I'm not too fussed what the jig looks like, just hope that it does what is required. The idea here is pretty much based on Jimi's excellent jig (thanks Jimi for sharing your idea all those months ago and sorry about delayed response). So I followed his idea in that it has a low fence. But instead of Jimi's lever clamp I have integrated some 3/4"/19mm T-track along the fence to provide means for attaching either adjustable lever clamps along the length of the fence or to place stop blocks for repetitive drilling. Although the drill press does have three rotating handles, each of them can be removed if they foul the fence when rotated, so one or more can be removed if they are a problem.

Not used it yet in anger but hopefully it should do the trick!

All comments welcome...
cheers
Steve


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## Charlie Woody

Hi Steve 

What a coincidence!! 

This looks a very tidy job .... well done. 

What is the core of the material you have used ..... is it MDF? My workshop can be quite humid and I was therefore thinking of using some birch ply I have and hopefully finding some formica like material (spent some time googling without success for this earlier) to laminate to the top. 

Where did you source the t track and knobs please?


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## jimi43

I much prefer your idea of the rail on the fence Steve!

You have made a great table and I shall be updating mine to include the track as you have done as I think this would be more flexible than the toggle clamps...although I think I will still keep the sliding toggle clamp blocks for additional support for supplimentary clamping.

I also want to incorporate a sliding sledge to hold a drill vise with XY adjustments. Still playing with this idea.

Cheers

Jimi


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## Orcamesh

Charlie/Jimi

Thanks for your kind comments. The core material is just bog standard chipboard, typical wardrobe stuff. Birch ply would be the _Rolls Royce Choice_ but I didn't have any the right size or thickness! The T-track is from Rutlands, I bought it during the summer when they were doing those offers for packs of 4. It's pretty good quality. I also bought a fixings pack from them which includes all the knobs, threaded sliders, inserts, etc. I'm sure you will be able to find it on their website.

As for the location of the rail on the fence, yeah, it just occurred to me that it didn't matter if it was on the top surface or the side face surface, and where it is now I can easily make L-shaped stop blocks to fit the knobs that you can see in the photos. I also plan to use Jimi's idea of having a toggle clamp fixed to a piece of ply which will slide in and secure (the ply) to the fence slide rail, so that this can be placed anywhere along the length of the fence for clamping the workpiece down.

I also still need to cut out a rectangular hole in the centre for fitting of a replaceable cutting block. Obviously this will have to be rebated etc. So still a couple of things to do...

cheers
Steve


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## Orcamesh

Hi again

Here's the link to Rutland's fixings/hardware kit for T-track...
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/workshop-...jig-making/DK2056/jig-hardware-kit---54-piece

HTH?

cheers
Steve


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## Charlie Woody

Thanks Steve

That's very helpful.


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## Steve Maskery

I think that the drill press table is one of the most challenging design projects in the workshop. So much depends on what shape the drilled object is! Is the hole close to the fence or a long way away? Is the workpiece flat or on edge? Thick or thin? How do you deal with swarf?
The one you see me use in my videos is good, but it's far from perfect, not least because there is no DX incorporated. One day I'll I'll put some serious effort into redesigning it.
Good discussion above, though, TVM.
S


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## Charlie Woody

Hi Steve

What size is your table, and how did you decide on the spacing between the two T tracks please?

I am thinking of using the 18mm birch ply offcut I have, but wonder if it is thick enough to remain ridgid where it is unsupported by the drill table? I was wondering if I should make the table 1000mm x 500mm as one of the things I want to use it for is drilling the 35mm holes for kitchen cabinet hinges?

My original idea was to find some Melamine or Formica like material to laminate onto the ply but I cannot find a supplier of either product. There are some offcuts on ebay for collection only but too far away. Any idea where I can get something to make the top slick and easy to clean?


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## Mike Wingate

My new one is 600 x 500 . It is of 2 laminations of Baltic Birch and is about 21mm thick. It has a low fence with T-track and the table has 3 T-tracks in an H configuration. No routing just 4 pieces of birch ply bordering the T-tracks. It is thicher than my old ply one which was fine. Round removable inserts allow a range of drum sanders to work well with a dust collection drawer under the centre insert. Pictures this weekend when it gets finished.


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## Orcamesh

For me this is a voyage of discovery (as usual!), so I had no pre-conceived drawings, I just measured up the pillar drill and looked at some off the shelf jigs which you can buy. Some links were provided in here from others plus plenty of tips.

My jig is about 24"x12" or 600x300mm.

I randomly decided on where the two parallel T-tracks should be located based on where the three securing bolts are located (these obviously can only be lined up with the slots in your metal pillar drill table). I don't think it matters too much where these two parallel T-tracks should be placed as long as the fence slides back and forth freely, i.e. they are perfectly parallel.

As I said the base is about 27mm thick and I think that this really helps with strength. I'm sure you could source some of this chipboard from kitchen worktop places and buy offcuts. I'm sure some of these sheds sometimes get rid of their offcuts or even talk to some kitchen installation companies they are bound to have an offcut which they will just chuck in a skip.

I agree with Steve's comments, this is a difficult jig to get right for all eventualities. As I have been making this I have stumbled across further problems and I am sure this list will grow. But you have to start somewhere! The holes I drilled for the sliding fence were too close to the T-strack mounted in the fence, this meant that the adjustable stop blocks could not slide past one or both fence fixing knobs which project out of the top of the fence. I have now drilled further holes further back towards the back of the drill. 

The back edge of the fence where the floor standing pillar is located also now requires to be cutout of the fence in a semi-circular shape so that the back edge of the fence fits around the pillar when the fence is pushed further back. This allows for a larger depth of cut from fence to drill bit.

I have made some adjustable fence stop blocks (x2), cut the rectangular recess out in the centre of the jig for a replaceable cutting block and still need to cut the semi-circle, but otherwise it is complete (as far as I am aware at the moment, time will tell!). I may make a thinner back fence or even a taller fence as required should a job require it.

I also spent most of Sunday making an adjustable rectangle routing aid! I didn't want to just make a one off rectangular recess jig for a specific sized rectangular recess. So I thought I should make an adjustable one out of T-track. Not so easy! This took some head scratching, now I have dandruff as well as wood shavings on the workshop floor. You can see it in the pics below, but the router bit (a straight bit with top mounted bearing) has somehow taken a wee shaving off the bottom edge of the T-track on the inside of the jig where the hole was being cut along the periphery. The jig is also difficult to square up but this may be due to my poor hand filing of the ends of the T-track where they meet another piece of T-track. Given some patience it works ok, but I still don't like overhead routing with this kind of setup as you just can't see anything.

Feel free to comment...

cheers
Steve


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## Mike Wingate

O.K. so I went for a medium fence. T-tracks in an H shape, so 4 laminates fit around the T-tracks and are glued to the subtop. This sits on a drawer unit that also acts as a dust trap at the rear section of the drawer used when sanding. A few rings fit in the removable centre to match some drum sanders. A featherboard can be fitted in the middle of the T-tracks. End stops can be fitted, 2 are shown. The crank has a clear swing, unimpeded by the table. A 5 drawer chest sits under the table, holding sharpening and grinding equipment and Tormek jigs.
http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p244 ... _52/Drill/


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## jimi43

Mike Wingate":34scmx5n said:


> O.K. so I went for a medium fence. T-tracks in an H shape, so 4 laminates fit around the T-tracks and are glued to the subtop. This sits on a drawer unit that also acts as a dust trap at the rear section of the drawer used when sanding. A few rings fit in the removable centre to match some drum sanders. A featherboard can be fitted in the middle of the T-tracks. End stops can be fitted, 2 are shown. The crank has a clear swing, unimpeded by the table. A 5 drawer chest sits under the table, holding shaepening and grinding equipment and Tormek jigs.
> http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p244 ... _52/Drill/



That's very very impressive Mike!!! =D> 

I think I might have to start again now!

Cheers 

Jim


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## Mike Wingate

The materials for the drill table and fences is all Baltic Birch ply. Nice and flat as well as stiff. The cabinet below is old pitch pine for the frame and drawer fronts with MDF top and ply sides and back. The bottom middle drawer is short as the central column gets in the way. The 2 larger drawers run on bargain sliders from Axminster. The T-Track and fittings are sourced from Axminster also.


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## Orcamesh

Hey Mike, that's an awesome jig! Well done. I like the use of the space underneath the table, I didn't think of that, d'oh! Ummm, more mods needed...

cheers
Steve


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## 9fingers

I've just come across this thread and thought I would throw in the work I did on my pillar drill a few months back.

http://thewoodhaven.co.uk/phpBB3/viewto ... =19&t=1702

Bob

Save the link quick - just in case it gets pulled by the mods


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