Drill Press Has No Hole In Center Of Table, Drill One?

Why do you need a hole in it??? Because it does not have one??? It does not need a hole in it. The factory thought so too!!! I would leave it alone.
 
It is up to you, as stated above. It is a metal working DP which don't usually have a hole so coolant doesn't run on the floor. Mine doesn't have a hole, but a cross slide vise lives on it 99% of the time.
 
I agree with the general consensus, would be not cool to drill the table. Study up on what a production table is used for. A substrate with a hole we be what I would do if necessary, but the use of a good drill press vise is the way to go. Get a decent one and dedicate it to the drill press table.
 
Are you going to use it as a "production table drill press" ? If not and if it were mine the first thing I would do is drill a hole in that puppy. You want pretty, or you want convenience?
Rom


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Thanks very much for the feedback. If I end up drilling lots of flat stuff putting it in a vise would not be possible but I guess swinging the table to the side would be the correct way to handle that. A sacrificial backing plate would also be good. Maybe an aluminum and a steel one (no wood because of flatness) and use the opposite type so I know when I'm through. I could also wait until I accidentally drill into the table then drill a hole to cover my mistake ;-).

Bottom line, I do like the pristine condition of the table so I'm going to wait until some future date to drill a hole if I ever _really_ get fed up with it.

Now I'm going to drill and pipe tap the drain hole for a fitting for the coolant. Is that more acceptable?
 
Yes if it isn't tapped, I would not hesitate to do that.
 
Tables like that are designed to use a fixture plate or plates. That is what the unusual t-slot configuration is for, mounting different sized top plates. You could make one or more plates and mount them using spacers between plate and table so you can feel the drill emerge through the bottom of the top plate. The fixture plates can be specialized to a certain task or perhaps just a pattern of drilled and tapped holes for mounting various parts for drilling. The plate can be aluminum and sacrificial. It is your table, so do what you want with it, and if you do drill it, most observers will be kind and not mention the defacing of it... 8^)
 
Just make a backing plate with a hole. Bolt it in using the t slots. I wouldn't drill the table.

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I vote no hole :) I keep a chunk of wood on mine.
 
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