Attaching a bench top drill press to a rolling tool cabinet.

[dbhost]

I am upgrading my mechanics tool storage, and realized I can repurpose my old early 90s Craftsman 8 drawer 27 inch rolling tool cabinet to a drill press / drilling cabinet. I have some questions though, and I am not sure anyone here can answer them but I am going to ask..

I realize I am going to want to thoroughly clean this old greasy thing, no problem there, but once clean and free of decades of wheel bearing grease, spilled coolant and heaven only knows what else is stuck on / in there but....

Once the unit is clean, and possibly a bit of paint touch up to make it not look quite so, well, 30 years of abused, I figure I will need to make or at least size up a slab butcher block top. Affix the top the the tool chest, and then locate the mounting holes for, through drill for and install mounting bolts through the tool chest, block top and of course drill press base.

I am figuring 5/16 or 3/8 not sure yet bolts probably 2.5 to 3 in long with fender washers and stop nuts.

Now can anyone recommend a source for a good butcher block maybe Maple if I can get lucky, that I don't have to make that I can cut down to 27 x 22?

And I am sure I am going to have to get my fat hands in the cabinet to route the hardware, can anyone clue me in how to relase the drawer slides so I can pull the top 2 drawers out?

[Jim Frye]

Mine is lag bolted to a top made from 2 by construction scraps edge glued and biscuited together. I believe I used 3/8" bolts as that what fit in the holes in the DP base. The wooden top was attached the the old BT3100 steel base by screwing up through the base into the top (basically an upside down shallow box) with some deck screws.

[dbhost]

Considering how much stuff in my shop is made from construction grade 2 by and 3/4 inch plywood I'm surprised I hadn't thought of that.. Pretty darn good idea actually

[LCHIEN]

Dave, here's my take. I'm basically a lazy guy.

Your tool chest is 27" wide. Probably has a lip on the sides. with 27" clearance.
The top is probably thin sheet metal, too thin to attach the DP to directly because its so flexible and just supported at the edges.

I would simply cut 2 ea 2x4 x 27" long and set them on top of the chest. Place the DP on top of them with the pedestal spanning both front to back.
Adjust the spacing between them so you can put lag screws though the holes in the pedestal into the 2x4s close to the inside edges. making the 2x4 separation as large as possible to have the most forward and back stability. 3/8" lag screws with large washers should be fine even in oversized slots in the pedestal.

You can if you want fasten the 2x4 to the cart, but I doubt its necessary. You now have a 27" wide footprint that will be difficult to tip over sideways.
The front to back stability is probably good enough but you can add some outriggers with 2x4 feet to the ends of the 2x4 to extend them to the front and back of the top of the cart.
The lip at the sides and back will probably keep it from sliding off or moving around.

I'm betting there's plenty of weight and dimensional area now for stability and to not have to fasten it to the top of the cart by any more than gravity, unless it makes you feel better.

[dbhost]

27" wide by 18" deep with a 1/2" deep lip on 3 sides. I carried over my shop made rebuild of the Grizzly drill press table you sold me years ago that did NOT like how humid the Galveston bay area is (Not now or ever blaming you for that discovery, I just had no clue MDF would react that badly that quickly to my shop environment, learning experience for me. Unlike many folks here I will NOT use MDF for just that reason...).

[mpc]

What does the top of your tool cabinet look like - is it dead flat or are there vertical lips around three sides? My tool cabinet has raised lips... so instead of trying to attach through the top (and having to remove drawers to install the lock washers and nuts) could you instead simply drill holes through the lips and screw into the sides/edges of whatever wood platform you use? Then short lag screws would be enough to hold the DP to the wood platform.

What else might fit on that cart? Grinder for tool sharpening? Or a tray/tub for water/oil stones, diamond sharpening plates, etc.? Battery chargers?

As I recall, on my Sears Craftsman tool cabinet the drawers have arc-shaped cutouts in the sides that create half-round tabs facing downwards. Those tabs stick into the drawer slide mechanisms. Just a little lifting and prying was all it took to pop a couple drawers out years ago, leaving the slides in the cabinet body.

mpc

[dbhost]

It's a typical mechanics bottom box, there is a lip that is on 3 sides and about 3/4" on each front corner to capture the top box, probably 1/2" deep.

Something I am considering, Liquid Nails for projects to simply stick it down.

I am simply trying to prevent rocking. If I could avoid drilling the metal that would be better...

[LCHIEN]

How to remove Craftsman tool box drawers

https://youtu.be/fuDBfkdqjoY

[dbhost]

I think I am going to go with Jim Frye's idea, except it looks like he paired the 2x4s on end, I will lay them down, and probably plane them to 1" and make my own butcher block of sorts... Easy and cheap enough. Probably Liquid Nails the thing down and use lag bolts to hold the drill press ijn place.