Drill Press - Holddown Version 2

glenn bradley

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First I offer my thanks to the person who thought this up and shared it. I searched a bit (maybe not enough) and did not find the original post I stole this from. The jig allows your holddowns to reach in closer than your standard t-tracks might allow.

I was proud of my first version. My dad made one as well. Dad then recently reported that the apple-ply he had used had de-laminated under stress. Well, that put the whammy on me and my BB ply version de-laminated that very evening. :( Curse you dad, worker of evil voo-doo! :wave:

This led me to contemplate the ultimately wise words of our Ambassador and leading "just do it" philosopher, Larry Merlau who states in his sig line: If in Doubt, Build it Stout! :thumb:

I took the failure of my jig as a personal affront. A scrap of beech, a piece of t-track, some epoxy and a trip to the jig-parts box . . .

Version 2:

DP holddown-v2 005.jpg

The slots allow for angled positions.

DP holddown-v2 004.jpg

The knobs set low to stay out of the way.

DP holddown-v2 003.jpg

Good for grabbing small and odd shaped stuff close to the business end.

DP holddown-v2 002.jpg
 
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Ok Glenn I learn such a lot from your posts but i have been back and forth between the pics of the old and the new and cannot figure out why you changed the gold annodised hold downs to the black metal ones?

I can see the wood platform part which i thought was the only need for change. Am i missing something.

Great jig, interestingly just last night i went to the local hardware store to get a few things to do my own drill press table. Aint got the hold downs yet and franly never thought of them till i saw this post. Now you got me thinking.

Thanks for sharing and posting it.:thumb: I get a ton from your posts. Inspiration top of the list. :thumb: This is a good one for safety. I have had my fair share of wacks at the drill press from the "just quickly pop this hole in it" type of moves. Like a dumb animal i learn slowly.:rofl::rofl:
 
Thanks Rob. Yeah, the previous one was t-slotted ply which failed after many uses. The solid wood base and the aluminum t-track were the change. The holddowns were just whichever were handy at picture time. I use the same type of holddowns for my sleds that have track so I have a few around.

As to that "just this once" approach; I think we have all been there and learned just as slow ;-)
 
And for drilling a row of holes in a long workpiece, you can put a featherboard on the T-track to keep the workpiece firmly against the fence.
 
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