The table on my drill press is more or less a 12″/30cm square which is fine for drilling smaller objects but once the workpiece is large enough that its center of gravity is more than 6″/15cm from the hole you want to drill, you either have to fight with the work to keep it on the table or clamp it down.
Sometimes clamping just isn’t practical so there are times where just having a larger table would be useful.
I made this extended table for my drill press from 1/4″/6mm MDF. It is 23″/58cm square (8″/20cm in front of the drill and 15″/38cm behind the drill) with a notch to clear the column. I used epoxy cement to attach four flat-head 7/16NC bolts into countersunk holes so they would line up with the slots in the main table.
Four washers and 7/16NC wingnuts hold the table in place for use.
I find it particularly useful when I’m drilling the holes for the screws that hold our ribbed papermaking moulds together. The mould has to lay face-down on the table and the holes drill quickly so clamping really wouldn’t work but with this large table even our 12×18″ moulds hold comfortably by hand on the table, and the wood surface won’t damage the mould screen.
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