Hey, I've got a new drill press table! If you read last week you'll know I was working on a new table but I ran out of 1/4x20 t-nuts and had to wait for them to show up. Thanks to Lee Valley I had them in hand by Tuesday and was able to finish up the main table. I already like it and I haven't even had to really use it yet. With all the mounting points I can use every jig from my table saw sled here as well. Just having all the toggle clamps available is so nice. I milled out the center to take 4x4 inch pieces of 1/4" material so I can both rotate and flip them as they get chewed up. I made a few out of some scrap pine. The fence is pretty dirt simple, straight piece of baltic birch ply with a few slots cut it in - just move it around as needed.
Next up came a plate to mount my cross slide vise on that would also have holes to mount on the table. I like having the cross slide and I think I'll use it more now that it's easier to mount. It was a simple job, just lay out some holes to put some bolts that lined up with the mounting points on the vise, drill out some recesses with a forstner bit and the bolt the vise to the board. Before you bolt it, though, drill holes that will line up with the holes in the drill press table. I used my CNC for that to get them really precise. Now, whenever I need the vise is a simple task to pop it on the table and lock it down. I have been asked a few times if I mill on the drill press and the answer is no. Drill presses are terrible mills - you could damage the machine or have a chuck fly off and maybe get hurt. But these vises can hold all manner of small things and move through the x-y axis nice and straight.
I spent a lot of time this week on writing my upcoming article. So that consumed most of my shop time. I still consider writing about woodworking to be woodworking, though! It's coming along nicely, at least I think it is. I've never written a magazine article before.
I wrapped up the week dusting off my last remaining copy of The Button box. This has been on the shelf a while. It needs two new parts created, which is why it got shelved earlier. These are just the slide locks and aren't a very difficult job, just a bit tedious to make sure the match up. The original two were a slight bit short I didn't like how they worked. Once those are done, I can put some oil on and then top coat. This box is already spoken for, hence why I'm wrapping it up. I just always seemed to be working on something else and never got back to this one. Hopefully it'll be ready in a few weeks. Feels good to finish this one up. This was a fun run of boxes where I learned a lot.
On a slight side note, I wonder if anyone else has been on a walk in the woods, looked at all the trees and sighed, knowing you can't use any as lumber? I love hiking and being out in the woods, but sometimes you see such great trees and know they have good lumber! But we can't use it all.
Until next week, stay dusty!