Craigslist can be a wonderful thing, when it comes to procuring quality tools at a low price. In this economy, who doesn't love a good deal? (By the way, I've noticed you can't ever find a used Kreg Jig. It seems no one wants to part with theirs.) A while back I found a Delta bench top drill press in my area for $55. The pictures looked impressive enough, so I made a phone call. Within minutes, I became a proud owner of a drill press! I picked it up that afternoon after work and shoved it into the back of my Ford Ranger.
When I got it home, I lifted it out and set it down on the cement floor of my garage. Man, that thing is heavy and clumsy. I knew that I couldn't keep lifting into place for use, and then lifting it back out of the way when I'm done with it. What this called for was a rolling stand. And hey, if I build it correctly, I could get some more storage space out of the deal.
At work, I used Adobe Illustrator to start designing how I'd put it all together. Liking my idea, I then went back to my faithful Menard's to get my lumber. They must know me by first name by now. I picked up some 2x4s, some plywood, hardboard, casters, hinges, clasps, and drawer pulls. I headed home excited to make the stand.
I cut the 2x4s down to size because I knew I wanted this rolling stand to have some strength underneath the weight of the drill press. 2x4s offer that strength quickly. I made two squares out of the boards, and connected them together with the remaining pieces giving me a VERY strong box. From the plywood, I cut out my base, using both the table saw, and then the jig saw to make it fit snug to the box frame. I screwed that in place and worked on the sides and back. Simple cuts and screws later, I had my stand taking shape.
I then allowed for an upper drawer where all my drill bits would be stored. Taking scrap wood from the Viking cradle project, I made my first-ever drawer by remembering how my dad used to make them. I raised my table saw blade just enough to cut a groove down each of the sides, and then made sure each was wide enough to accept the width of the hardboard. The result was a sure-fitting slide of the bottom piece. This was going to work perfectly!
The drawer was made and set aside. I later took two planks of the 1/4" plywood and cut them to the size of my top. I screwed them down, figuring that would be sufficient thickness for the drill press to rest on. My last part to build was the lower storage door. I made the door using the same principle as making the drawer bottom. I cut out four sides of my door frame, and again cut a groove to accept the hardboard panel. Once more, it slid in perfectly and created a really nice looking door.
I finally screwed the hinges in place and fastened on the drawer pulls, and finally attached the casters beneath. The result looked like what you see below:
I used the same stain as I did on the Viking Cradle, and then gave it a couple of coats of water-based polyeurathane. The result is a really nice looking rolling stand that allows me to easily access my drill press, and easily roll it back out of my way when I'm finished. I think it also jazzes up my workshop too. I have a picture of it finished below:
Update: 5/29/09
Here are my plans for those interested:
Great idea to look for affordable tools on craigslist. No use paying full price for everything. Do you have a good way of locking down your casters? What are you going to keep in that lower cabinet? I could see putting a very small shop vac in there and getting one of those dual-outlet power switches working so you could flip one switch to activate the drill press and vacuum, both.
Right now, it's drill bits in the drawer, and extra power tools (sander and Dremel) in the cabinet below. I didn't worry about locking down the wheels on this, simply because I don't foresee any backwards force on the drill press when in use. It's all vertical force, if any. If this were going to be a stand for either my mitre saw or table saw, then definitely I'd get larger casters and make sure they had the locking mechanism. That's all horizontal force.
OK, the plans are uploaded now. If you find you can't read some of the fine print, I'll answer your questions. I didn't want a super-huge photo on here, so I tried to keep it small.
Don,
In case you are at all interested in using a vacuum with this type of setup, like Derek B. mentioned, I thought I'd share this new Kreg product with you. It's a switch that lets you run both your main tool and a vacuum (or any other secondary tool) with just one switch.
Derek
May 28, 2009
Pagan Wizard
May 28, 2009
Don Grubish
May 28, 2009
Don Grubish
May 28, 2009
Don Grubish
May 29, 2009
KregRep
"OK, the plans are uploaded now."
Now that's service! Good job, Don!
May 29, 2009
Pagan Wizard
May 30, 2009
KregRep
In case you are at all interested in using a vacuum with this type of setup, like Derek B. mentioned, I thought I'd share this new Kreg product with you. It's a switch that lets you run both your main tool and a vacuum (or any other secondary tool) with just one switch.
Jun 10, 2009