I saw this idea for a work holder by +Christopher Landy over on Google+ — it’s not the first time I’ve seen something like it, but it kicked me in the butt to make one for my drill press table. Rather than a clamping the work piece to the table like a regular hold down, this work holder pushes the work against the fence to keep it from spinning, allowing you to move the work piece freely in one axis. This is handy if you have a line of holes to drill. It can also be useful for drilling large holes in small pieces of wood, like say a bracelet, where there isn’t much for a hold down to grab onto.
3 comments
Chris
June 29, 2012 at 7:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Nice Ben! This weekend I am going to add a piece for track to the holder so I can add hold downs as well. I had to order more track. I’ll blog about when I’m done. Glad I inspired you or gave you the kick!
Liverpool Cabins
September 3, 2012 at 7:08 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Nice, definitley looking at getting one of these machines for my workshop.
Thanks
Jim Roberts
October 3, 2012 at 3:24 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks for the pointer and photo. At first I didn’t see the usefulness… until I realized “third hand.” I often drill printed circuit boards using my benchtop press. There’s often long rows of holes to do, and the fence alone if fine for that. But the jig looks great for bulkier work, including using a hole saw.
cheers,
Jim