Drill Press Stand

[Don Grubish]

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:

[Derek]

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.