Bench drill press anchoring

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Michael Rohmfeld

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I recently got a new bench drill press and need to anchor it to the bench. I would rather not drill holes into bench top to bolt the drill press to the bench. Any ideas out there?
 
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Tough requirement. You are not going to glue it. So the next option is a clamp, or 2 or 4. Bolt it to a board you can clamp to the bench?
 
Drill presses are usually pretty heavy in their own right. I did not anchor mine. If you do not want to drill holes in bench then a suggestion would be to bolt a piece or 2 of plywood under the base and have it extend out on all edges enough so you could clamp a clamp to it and the edge of the bench. You can easily clamp 2 sides which would be enough support.
 
I agree with John that they are pretty heavy in their own right. However, they can be a little top heavy and if bumped can wobble.

I like the idea of bolting it to a piece of plywood that runs from the back to front edges of your bench. This gives you two options to anchor it down:
  1. Use clamps to hold it down.
  2. Use the blue tape and superglue method. Put wide blue painters tape on the top of the bench and on the bottom of the sheet of plywood so that they are aligned. Not the whole surface, a few strips should do. Then apply superglue to the center of the tape on the benchtop and spray accelerator on the tape on the bottom of the plywood. Align carefully and stick together. You get one shot at this, it won't slide around after. Later you can pry them apart and the blue tape will fail and pull off of the bench top and plywood, but it is s good bond and will prevent tipping and sliding around.
 
jttheclockman said:
Drill presses are usually pretty heavy in their own right. I did not anchor mine. If you do not want to drill holes in bench then a suggestion would be to bolt a piece or 2 of plywood under the base and have it extend out on all edges enough so you could clamp a clamp to it and the edge of the bench. You can easily clamp 2 sides which would be enough support.
Click to expand...
I have several tools that I have used this method. Works very well, this is what I'd do.
 
Rather than attaching it to plywood, consider using 2x4's to make a carriage wherein you can drill forstner bit holes and thus sink the bolt heads below the surface and put the nuts on top of the DP base.
This gives you a flat surface to set on the bench without having to figure out what to do with things protruding through plywood.
image.jpg



This is just scrap wood showing the idea very roughly. The gap between 2x4's is for clamps.
 
GaryMGg said:
Rather than attaching it to plywood, consider using 2x4's to make a carriage wherein you can drill forstner bit holes and thus sink the bolt heads below the surface and put the nuts on top of the DP base.
This gives you a flat surface to set on the bench without having to figure out what to do with things protruding through plywood.View attachment 370355


This is just scrap wood showing the idea very roughly. The gap between 2x4's is for clamps.
Click to expand...
he can use 3/4" piece of plywood and some carriage bolts and sink them very easily. Nuts and washers on top and your are done Or nail 2 pieces together and do the same if you are worried about bolt heads.
 
Another vote for "I should anchor that?" haven't anchored mine and it's worked quite well without. It's down the counter from my miter saw and every once in a while the ability to scoot it back is nice. I think that's been twice in the last 6 or 7 years though.

If I were to anchor I like the idea of the wide plywood base with countersunk holes.
 
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