Drill Press X/Y Table

I previously made and used an X/Y table on my Delta floor standing drill press.  I've since sold that tool and replaced it with a Nova Voyager direct drive drill press. 

This post is about making a new (and improved) X/Y table for the new drill press. 

Nova Voyager Press

The previous table slid on 1/4" thick metal plate guides that slid in slots cut into plywood. With the leverage of threaded rods it worked well enough, but there is plenty of room for improvement. This version runs on linear slides salvaged from an old CNC project. 

A little sketching helped me visualize the assembly strategy.  There are 3 layers, a top, middle, and a bottom.  

Three Layers

1. The long rails mount on the bottom of the  top layer. 
2. The slides for the long rail mount on the top of the middle layer. 
3. The short rails mount on the bottom of the middle layer.
1. Four rails, 300mm long, were offset and used so the X/Y table could move forward 8.25". The 2nd layer is supported by 4 slides. 
4. The slides for the short rails mount on the top of the bottom layer. 
5. A removable fence mounts on the top rear edge of the top layer.
1. The fence/alignment strategy might mount on pins that drop into holes. 
2. The fence could be an L shape, with a short side and a longer side.
1. It could mount short side forward, or
2. Long side forward, or
3. Thickness edge forward. Perhaps the sides of the L fence are different thicknesses. Either thickness could be the forward edge. 
   
6. The height crank on the drill press needed to be accounted for.  Thus the notch in the rear right corner of the table. 
7. X and Y handles move with the table.  What they thread through is attached to the layer below. 
8. T-Slots running left to right on the top layer provide the best option for clamping parts down. Top layer is a sandwich of 12mm plywood with 5mm plywood between the tracks. The track is embedded into the 12mm layer so only 5mm sticks up. Track is .75" wide and .375" thick.  It works with both 1/4" and 5/16" t-bolts. One 48" long strip was cut in half to make two strips for the 24" wide X/Y table top. 
9. Strips of 1/8" thick plywood sit sandwiched between bottom layer and the drill press table. They account for the heads of the screws that hold the sliders to the other side. 

The bottom/last layer then was mounted to the drill press bed. I needed to screw up from under the bed into the bottom layer. There are square nuts embedded into the bottom layer's top surface.  8mm bolts screw up from below the table to hold the X/Y table in place. 

As I can move the top forward and back I see no reason to make the fence adjustable front to back, but it was  worth making it removable as well as variable in width and height. Fence yet to come. 

For the all-thread I used HDPE to make the blocks. One was drilled and tapped for the steel all-thread.  All were fit into CNC cut pockets for precise positioning and screwed in place. Between the bottom and the middle the all thread is flat on the bottom board.  I cut a shallow groove 1/16" deep below it using a 1/2" ball nosed bit it so it doesn't rub.  The second block is for the middle plate and collets to hold the all-thread in place. It took a bit of work after the CNC was done making it to get it to fit into the pocket made for it. Nylon washers are between the collets and the HDPE blocks. 

Y axis

X axis

Assembly started with the top.  T-track screwed into slots.  Rails screwed to the bottom. Collet block installed and screwed in place.  Middle layer installed by feeding it onto the all thread, and screwing it onto the slides.  Y axis rails screwed to the bottom side of the middle layer.  Bottom layer fed onto the all-thread, then screwed onto the slides.  

Last step was to mount this X/Y table onto the drill press table. 

Bolted down

The handles can slide off and be re-positioned if they bump into boards clamped to the table. The all-thread can also be turned quickly with a socket in my hand drill. 

The relatively thin 12mm Baltic Birch layers can flex under pressure of the drill press.  Support blocks I added between the layers to transfer any pressure down to the metal OEM table.  A single block centered on  the bottom layer stays in place as the layer above moved forward or back.  A row of blocks with Teflon tape on them stay in place as the top layer moves left/right over them.  No matter how much forward the top is there is always support directly under the center of the drill chuck.  

This X/Y table makes positioning work more precise, and allows spacing a sequence of holes easy by counting turns of the handles. One 360° turn moves the table 1/16". A half turn moves it 1/32".  A quarter turn moves it 1/64".   Sixteen turns move it 1". Eight turns move it 1/2". 

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A Wood Mallet made from Wood Scraps

I've made a few wrenches from wood scraps.  Time now to see if I can make a wood version of a heavy steel mallet I have. Basically a small sledge hammer. 

I had a nice block of dense white oak for the head, and a section of hex shaped oak that was going to be the handle for a tool chest that made a good handle for the mallet. 

Using the CNC to cut the top details took some contemplation and experimentation. The hardest part was the chamfer around the edges. The easy parts were the top curved surface and the center hole for the handle. That hole was first drilled out at my drill press,  The CNC flared the top of the hole anticipating the wedge that will spread the tenon and trap the handle in place. 

White Oak Mallet Head

The old steel mallet is blessed with a nice patina and grace from being used and cared for over 5 decades since I inherited it from an Uncle. I'm sure he got good use of it over the time he had it. 

Old and New

Wood sealed

For a finish I applied tung oil on the red oak handle, and Danish oil on the white oak head.

Perhaps with time and use this wood version will acquire similar qualities. Time will tell.

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Updated Wrench Handle for my Bench Vise

New handle.  Teak Oil Finish.

While there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the plywood handle I made for my garage bench vise, there are a couple of changes that could make it more useful. 

Plywood Handle

The first issue it that the handle extends above the top of the vise when vertical, and has occasionally been limited in use by objects I want to clamp down that hang over the edge. The second issue is that it doesn't slip off easily.  If it did I could easily overcome the first issue by sliding it off and rotating it 60 or 120 degrees before slipping it back on.   I do this with the wrench handle I made for my CNC low profile vise. 

First thing needed was a CNC file and a piece of wood to make the new handle from.

Render from my Aspire software.

The wood used was a heavy and dense block of white oak.  The nut pocket, shaft hole, end hole, rounded off edges, and perimeter outline were all cut using my CNC.  The bottom side details were finished on my trim router table.  Holes for the pivot pin were drilled out on my drill press. 

When flat the new handle is the same length as the old one. The hinge allows folding the new one out to clear anything hanging over the edge of the vise.

Handle folds out.

This handle was sealed with teak oil as show in the first photo above, to protect the wood. It slides on and slips off easily but stays in place otherwise. 

Iteration is always a worthwhile endeavor.  The initial wrench handle worked, but use of it revealed the flaws that needed fixing.  Should the new handle reveal any new insufficiency a 3rd iteration may be needed.   Time will tell. 

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T-Square/Marking Gauge Add-On for a Small Ruler

Not all projects take a lot of time or a lot of wood.  A little scrap of Bubinga that was headed for the trash bin turned out to be the perfect material scrap for this project. 

Bubinga Scrap

Three CNC toolpaths.  Three vectors. Two router bits.  The slot that the ruler slides into was cut with a 1/8" t-slot bit.  The center area and curved edge were cut with the same 3/16" spiral down-cut end mill.  The blue friction tape keeps the ruler in place but still lets it slide out easy for compact storage. 

T-Square

This little block of wood turns a simple cheap ruler into a slightly more useful T-Square.  I plan to add this ruler/T-square to a drawing kit box project.  

A bonus feature is that the ruler can slide through.  This allows it to work as a marking gauge.

Marking Gauge

To insure that the ruler won't slide when using it I cut a recess under the friction tape for a small square nut, and added a thumb screw to lock the ruler in place.

Thumb Screw to lock it in place. 

 I'm delighted with how well it works and easy it was to make.  The bubinga scrap is delighted to be something useful.   😊

4D

 

Ash and Red Zebra Wood Plant Stand

White Ash and Red Zebra Wood

Among the scraps of wood in my garage I found a nice big block of what looks like white ash wood. It was thick enough and large enough to make another plant stand top from.  Roughly 9" x 9.5", and 1.1875" thick.  

Taller and Wider

A little larger in diameter, and taller than the previous stands I recently made., This stand has three legs made from red zebra scraps I had. They are 3/4" diameter legs rather than the 5/8" dowels used for the previous two stands.  My thought is that if 3 rather than 4 they should be a bit larger to hold up the same weight. Using a little math tells us that four legs 5/8" diameter have a total cross section area of 1.227sq.in..  Three legs that are 3/4" diameter have a total cross section area of 1.325sq.in..  So in theory this little stand should be easily as strong as the two with 4 legs each.  A few other factors come into play, but with similar joinery and nearly the same angle to the floor both should do well. 

Detail continuity:  The radius of the dome shape is simply derived from the maximum useful diameter and thickness of the board used. The center point of the dome arc is also where the legs point to, and the chamfer on the edge also points to the same focus point. There is nothing arbitrary about each design consideration of these plant stands.  Even the length of the legs was determined from the diameter of the top.  They stop right below the edge.  The woods used and the finish applied are the only variables.  

The white ash wood was a bit splintery and chipped out an edge of the top surface.  A scar to remind us of its hard life before becoming a plant stand top. I could "fix" it with a patch, but that may be more obvious than the little chip out.  

I'd love to see a comment or ten with thoughts on what these should sell for.  There is about $20 of wood and finish in each one. 

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