My drill press table on my Walker Turner is in pretty good shape, it has some "Arc of Shame" going on but nothing huge. Just a few whoops holes and what appears to of been a hole saw dig in. Is there a way to fill the holes? Can I take it in and have a welder fill the holes and resurface the table?

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

I was lucky when I picked up my press the table was in good shape. I have seen a number of posts about differing ways to repair them, the most common is to use JB Weld to fill the holes and then sand it smooth. Welding cast is very difficult and takes a welder with experience in welding cast and even then it is no guarantee.

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My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist

never thought of JB thanks Ken!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

JB WELD is really good. I had an old Scott Atwater outboard motor (made for Montgomery Wards)  that I picked up at a garage sale that I later found had a crack in the combustion chamber into the water jacket (1 piece cylinder and head). I figured what the heck and I used JB WELD on the crack and used the motor for 5 years before selling the boat & motor and never had a problem.

John,

Thats not an arc of shame, it's a smile looking at you.

I've heard of people using epoxy with good results to fill the voids also.

 

Larry

I think the best way is to drill and tap each hole so you can put a cast iron plug in it, the kind ya use for gas lines and available at the plumbing or BORG stores.

Put some JB on the threads and thread in the plugs then use a file to file them flush. They will pretty much disappear into the table cause they are made of cast iron.

Wow, nice. A little bit of work but well worth it, and I get to invest in some tapping tools for this one. A great way to start building my collection of restoration tools.

These holes are just little holes, Shane, about 1/4" is the largest. I will put a pic up tonight to show you what I mean.

Shane Whitlock said:

I think the best way is to drill and tap each hole so you can put a cast iron plug in it, the kind ya use for gas lines and available at the plumbing or BORG stores.

Put some JB on the threads and thread in the plugs then use a file to file them flush. They will pretty much disappear into the table cause they are made of cast iron.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker