My dog bought me a drill press a while back (she's the best 😉) and I want to build an add-on table to make it more useful with woodworking. Initially I have just clamped some scrap plywood across but that wasn't ideal.

I've been watching YouTube for ideas. I like the ones with t-track for clamping and to attach a rear fence. Also want to have a replaceable sacrificial insert so I can replace only that part when it gets too cut up. I have glued up a couple pieces of 1/2 plywood left over from my miter saw station to use for the table base (oversized and not squared up yet).

The current factory table doesn't have any holes to attach from below as done in the YouTube videos I have viewed so I'm trying to figure out the best way to attach the plywood table. Here's the factory table.

Thinking maybe some sort of clamp or fastner that would hold the top without protruding above? Tracksaw clamp like this might work if I can figure out the groove in the plywood table. Any suggestions or other ideas are appreciated.

Also would be interested in seeing what others have done to increase woodworking options for your drill press.

I got a plan from Shop Notes and it allows for drilling ends of much longer stock. It has two fences and a replaceable center panel.

I am not sure of the dimensions of the slots in your drill press table but I use these for T-tracks and table saw tracks. Some tracks require me to resize the bottom widths slightly. You can cut them to length. The new table will probably be more or less permanent so you could counter bore the top to have the nuts set flush with the surface

Flange bolts and they are in the plumbing section of the Borgs

I built mine similar to @Gerald's

Here’s mine, pretty typical.

Here's an old one I did, this arrangement didn't allow for me to tilt the table so eventually I replaced it with just a flat table (no crank to raise ti up down). But the one thing I want to suggest is the round insert under the chuck. You can rotate it to get a clean spot, after it's used up flip it over. After that's used up toss it and replace it with one of the spares you made. BTW, this is a floor stand DP, the cabinet is on wheels and can be pulled out for when I need the extra space. I think all this stuff was in Woodsmith magazine.

Edited August 24Aug 24 by Fred W. Hargis Jr

Something I forgot about when I first designed mine was the crank to raise/lower the table. I kept banging my knuckles on the table so I added this

This table was an early version. Later I added T-tracks used the flange bolts

Lew I did my handle almost just like that but I found a large handle at a antique store.

As to bolts NOT all T-track is the same size. I usually prefer the ones that fit hex bolts. Also they are different ticknesses so buy before you build as you will probably need to double the ply to allow for good fit of screws holding track.

look at THIS The second pic is the one I built.

By the way look up drill press table on YouTube and you will find lots of ideas

Edited August 24Aug 24 by Gerald

my drill press table. my own design. 1/2" ply with 1/2" of MDF on top, then some scrap laminate countertop material. i recall i got the hardware from INCRA, held to the factory table with bolts underneath that tie into the 2nd channel. replaceable MDF insert. i do have a stop that fits into the fence channel, just not in place at the moment.

Edited August 24Aug 24 by DAB

@Gerald @JimM @Fred W. Hargis Jr @DAB Great table pictures! I plan to do something similar with the t-track along the sides on the top surface. Have some t-track left from the mitersaw station that should work.

@lew I've looked at the handle travel and think I'll be ok with my plan, but have seen that be an issue in some of the YouTube so good point to verify. Like your solution

11 hours ago, lew said:

The new table will probably be more or less permanent so you could counter bore the top to have the nuts set flush with the surface

That's the only way that seems to allow use of the factory table t-tracks. Not sure why the factory table is built in that style (haven't seen this in any of the YouTube I have watched). Wish there were holes to attach easily from underneath.

Appreciate all the pictures, info, and suggestions. Will have some time to mull over a final design as my husband and I started installing some flooring in our house so that will consume my shop time for a while 🙄.

I like that handle design Lew has as well, I may have to look at incorporating that on my DP.

How is the factory table attached underneath? Is it a round part, clamped, so the table can be rotated, or ??

I would love to see a picture of the bottom, please. 😃

I like Lew's solution - I never even thought of that but it's pretty brilliant since every hardware store in the country has flange bolts in stock!

However, what I would do is get the right size machining hold down nuts for those table slots (https://www.mcmaster.com/products/t-nut-slots/t-slot-nuts-2~/t-slot-nuts-2~~/) and then use short flat head bolts to fix the wood table down to the nuts. Not the cheapest way, but flush mounted and pretty darn easy!

On 8/27/2026 at 8:53 AM, Wichman3 said:

How is the factory table attached underneath? Is it a round part, clamped, so the table can be rotated, or ??

I would love to see a picture of the bottom, please. 😃

Have been installing flooring so missed responding. Here are some pictures.

On 8/31/2026 at 8:12 AM, JWD said:

However, what I would do is get the right size machining hold down nuts for those table slots (https://www.mcmaster.com/products/t-nut-slots/t-slot-nuts-2~/t-slot-nuts-2~~/) and then use short flat head bolts to fix the wood table down to the nuts.

Not sure I'm picturing this. Those fasteners go on the table in the slots and then the bolts would need to be countersunk from the top?

Thanks for the photos. My solution won't work with that style of table. ☹️

That would be the only way unless you want to drill holes in the table. Well, I guess you could make the new table oversized and have it clamp to the cast iron around the edges.

Edited September 1Sep 1 by Fred W. Hargis Jr

45 minutes ago, BB1 said:

Not sure I'm picturing this. Those fasteners go on the table in the slots and then the bolts would need to be countersunk from the top?

Yes, those are the very nuts for which slots like that are designed. Most typically they are used for temporary clamping on milling machine tables with a tall stud/nut arrangement and a clamping arm. The only tricky bit in your application is getting the countersunk holes in the right places, but that one is solveable pretty easily with careful measurement.

19 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

That would be the only way unless you want to drill holes in the table. Well, I guess you could make the new table oversized and have it clamp to the cast iron around the edges.

I don't have the courage to drill through the table! The side clamp had been my initial thought. Need to contemplate the clamp style and how I might incorporate that into the table.

imagine a piece of lumber, say 1" thick or so (double up some 1/2" plywood), about the size of that existing table. with slots cut on 2 sides, 2 slots each side, that line up with the slots in the table. and then you could carefully drop in and slide in some short bolts and secure the wood table to the steel table with some washers and nuts. ta da. now you have a wooden drill press table. and if you were clever, you'd steal some ideas from above to incorporate some channels for wooden hold down clamps (one is shown in my pics). and you could have a replaceable insert where the drill always meets the table. better yet, to avoid the risk of drilling into the steel table, make the wooden table at least 1-1/2" thick.

do i need to draw this out for you?

1 hour ago, DAB said:

imagine a piece of lumber, say 1" thick or so (double up some 1/2" plywood), about the size of that existing table. with slots cut on 2 sides, 2 slots each side, that line up with the slots in the table. and then you could carefully drop in and slide in some short bolts and secure the wood table to the steel table with some washers and nuts. ta da. now you have a wooden drill press table.

I have a start with two pieces of 1/2 plywood glued up, and have leftover t-track that I want to install for clamping a fence and hold downs (t-track just laying there in the picture).

Not sure I'm understanding the positioning of the slots in the bottom of the plywood to allow the attachment to the table.

I did pick up some toilet flange bolts to try if I just make a recess for the bolts on the top surface and hook into the factory table tracks.

Still working on some house reno so this is still in my mind only!