Introduction: Homemade Vertical Drill Press Clamp

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Perfect for drilling pen blanks or any small pieces vertically in your drill press, easy to build and a must have drill press jig.

Step 1:

I always suggest watching the build video so that you have a better understanding of the project.

https://youtu.be/WEAv8imeBAQ

Step 2:

For this project I needed one 3/4 of an inch board, 3 inches wide by 3 feet long. Going through my scraps I found a board I could use for this project, and starting with my table saw by ripped the board down to the width I needed.

Step 3:

With my now 3 inch wide board, I needed to cut it to the right length. For this project I needed two pieces that measure 16 inches long, to achieve this I used my miter saw.

Step 4:

Next I needed to create a v-groove in both piece, this groove will run across the with of both pieces on one side only. I created this groove 7 inches from one end using a v-groove bit in my router table. With the groove completed and both pieces held together they should create channel as shown.

Step 5:

With my v-groove created I clamped my two boards together in the vise making sure the v-groove was lined up in both pieces, and then I attached a butt hinge at one end.

Step 6:

I now have a vertical clamping jig, perfect for things like pen blanks, dowels, small knobs, anything I need to safely hold in a vertical situation at my drill press. For example with a pen blank, I just insert the blank into the grove then with my hand apply squeezing pressure to the end of the jig with out the hinge.

Step 7:

Here is an example of me drilling out a pen blank, it works great.

This is a really easy clamp to build, and if you use your drill press as much as I do this is a must have in your accessories for it.