Sacrificial Insert Makes for Cleaner Drilling
A drill-press table with a removable insert helps eliminate blowout while drilling.
When drilling through wood, it always helps to have a backup to prevent tearout. After spending years balancing work on pieces of scrapwood, I decided to make an auxiliary tabletop for my drill press.
I made the top by gluing two pieces of beveled 1/2-in.-thick medium-density fiberboard (MDF) onto a base of 3/4-in.-thick MDF, creating a dovetailed channel into which a beveled sacrificial board can slide. I offset the slot with respect to the drill chuck (instead of centering it) so that when one strip of the sliding board is used up I can reverse it and have a fresh area to drill into. The sacrificial board locks into the channel with a wedge. I fasten the auxiliary table to the drill-press table with screws from underneath.
Besides solving the problem of backing up holes, the auxiliary table is larger than the table that came with the drill press. This helps when drilling bigger pieces. The overhang also makes it easier to clamp fences and jigs, or the work itself, without fighting the ribs and unevenness of the cast table. It has been a great addition to my shop.
Drawing by Jim Richey.
Drawing by Jim Richey.
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