# Base for benchtop drill press



## railaw (Nov 15, 2011)

Have am old delta home craft benchtop drill press with a 1 hp motor on it. The thing must weigh over 100 lb. I am thinking of constructing a base for it. The space I have is probably max 2 ft square. I am tall and probably want the stand to be in the neighborhood of 40 - 44" . I want to go completely barebones and use 2 x3 or 2 x 4 and a ply top. I am concerned though that if I use straight legs the whole thing will become unstable with so much weight on top. Any ideas on how much wider the feet should be than the top, ie the surface to which the drill will be mounted, in order to be stable? Or perhaps it's better to think about width of feet vs area of the footprint of the dp?


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## BigJoe16 (Feb 20, 2012)

I have heard that the legs should be as wide as 2/3rds the height of the table top. I don't know of that apples to here also. 

You could box the base in so it's more of a cabinet and fill it with sand or anything heavy. A drill press shouldn't move around a lot but you really don't want it to fall over so I would go a little over the top.


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

I'm not sure if this matters but.....

Yes. Weight on the bottom.

I know you want to go bare bones for now but you might consider adding a couple of drawers later for bits, and other drilling accessories.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

From a physics standpoint, the fulcrum of any vertical load needs to be behind a line representing the front of the legs.

Normally the maximum fulcrum would be when one of the handles is horizontal facing forward. If the tip of the handle in this position is not able to be behind the front of the legs, then you will have the potential for tipping.

Potential options to stabilize against tipping.
a) screw the base into a wall
b) screw the legs into the floor.
c) add weight to the bottom of the base. Bags of sand, bricks etc.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

For the base itself I don't think it really matters if the top is smaller than the bottom. There is so little weight in that slightly extra amount of wood compared to the DP that it won't really make a difference. I think your easiest approach would be to bolt the DP down and put a couple sand bags in the bottom. Make it as wide as you can with that space.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I'm with shop dad. The stand would be easy to make however it needs to be weighted down at the bottom or fastened to the wall.


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## railaw (Nov 15, 2011)

*thanks*

Thanks for your input. Here's a little more info that might explain why i want to do on the cheap and with a minimum of effort. 

First off, I expect (hope) to be moving within the next 18 months to what will be a permanent location (i.e. a new house). Right now I am renting and have a small basement space to work with. I don't want to make something good or nice for fear that it won't work in whatever the new space might be, and I don't have the time or money to waste effort. moreover, I have a very basic 2x4 frame, ply top that is 2'x4' that i think would be good to attach the press and bench grinder to eventually, but right now it is my main workspace. 

Second, since it's not "my" basement, I don't want to attach anything to the concrete wall or floor. 

Regarding the fulcrum point, whileI agree with everything you said, considering the weight distribution, if the the feet, say for example in front, are too close to the center of gravity in terms of lateral distance, the fulcrum will be the floor but very little force will be required to tip it. 

I hear what you're saying about weight, and as i'm writing this i've had a bright idea: I've been looking for a place to store the platform my very heavy belt driven bench grinder is on; I can make the stand large enough for the grinder on a bottom shelf. I'll add a tie around one leg to the pipe that runs right next to where it'll be so even if it does get knocked it's not going to tip more than an inch. 

So I've now killed two birds with one stone, or at least will, once I actually build this. Thanks all, for getting the gears turning.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Building the stand with 2x4 legs would be fine. The height of 40-44 inches would tend to make it a little wobbly so if you made cross pieces 8 to 10 inches wide at the top and close to the bottom out of 3/4" plywood and glued it to the legs, it should stabilize it. Then you could stack bags of sand for a counter weight.


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## RetiredLE (Jan 20, 2011)

Old car/truck wheels make good bases for tool stands. I used a couple of old school bus wheels ($10 each at the junk yard) and some large diameter steel pipe I had lying around to make bases for my vices. Work great.


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## 27207 (Jan 25, 2012)

RetiredLE said:


> Old car/truck wheels make good bases for tool stands. I used a couple of old school bus wheels ($10 each at the junk yard) and some large diameter steel pipe I had lying around to make bases for my vices. Work great.


My dad users the same idea. He welded a steel pipe to a rim as stand for his grinder. Works great!


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

That is going to be one tall drill press, most bench models are usually too high sitting on a normal workbench. Floor models come with a relatively small base and I have been around several that were not anchored to the floor, not a good idea, but this was done for portability and none to my knowledge had toppled yet.


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## railaw (Nov 15, 2011)

Honest question- what constitutes too high? I figure as long as the range of motion of the table is within a comfortable standing position for me it's good. 

Btw, the bench I mentioned is of 2x4 construction and i can shorten the legs as necessary when the time comes.

Weekends almost gone and I have t as much as looked at anything in my 'shop'.... Sigh. Those things called life and responsibility keep getting in the way.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

railaw said:


> I figure as long as the range of motion of the table is within a comfortable standing position for me it's good.


Yes, that is the best part of a custom stand, you can make it so it works for you.

I would want a comfortable standing position, and to be able to look somewhat down on a piece of wood as it touches the drill when the press is at its highest position. This makes it easier for me to tell if I am on the mark to start drilling.

I know what you mean about life sometimes getting in the way of our hobbies.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

How about building it from a single sheet of ply? I did that for mine, then put it on a rolling base I had left over from an earlier project...


Drill Stand Side by a_mckenzie_4, on Flickr

The box is around 12"x12", and probably around 40" including the wheels. (And yes, the wheels are at 90 degrees to the shelves... I mis-measured when I was cutting the plywood connecter for the wheels, but it actually works well this way.)

It's solid, cheap, and useful for storage. Not bad for $30 and an afternoon's work...


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## railaw (Nov 15, 2011)

Thanks for the idea. I do have some ply laying around (salvaged and somewhat warped though). I think I'll probably do a somewhat modified version of what you did, perhaps using some 2x3 instead of ply for the sides based on available materials. If that's sufficiently stable, then I'm less worried about the ideas that I had.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

Yeah, this is pretty solid. I may have been wrong about the dimensions -- thinking about it, those drill cases have got to be over 12" wide, but certainly not by much -- but I was pretty close. I've never had concern about it tipping, so I'd say it's stable. Figure the wheels probably form an 18" square, more or less. The bench it's sitting next to in the photo was just about exactly 38" high, so 40-44" to the base of the press.


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## railaw (Nov 15, 2011)

As a follow up to this thread, here's what I ended up with for the dp stand. I sized it so the framed ply I have the bench grinder on can sit on the bottom to provide stability and slide right out when I want to use it. His pic is a little old- I've also added a shelf halfway up. Thanks to all who contributed their thoughts.


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## snookfish (Jan 10, 2011)

*My 2 cents*

I went to the home center and bought 2 8' 2x4s. The top was made from some scrap 3/4" ply and the block of wood holding the bits was a piece of scrap as well.


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