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Hi, I'm going to make a plywood drill press table for using with the Wagner planer and wondering what should be the proper size relative to the drill press size. My drill press's a bench top one with the distance from the column to chuck center of around 5".

Backs and sides planing will be my main task. Actually, I'm thinking about going it with the top as well but it's still a bit scary to me to run such machine on softwood, any advice on this?   

Thanks for any input.

The table doesn't need to be that big. The one I use is probably 12-16" wide. Make sure you either make it with a fence you can move or flip the table to take it out of the equasion.
Use a block to hold the piece down just before it goes into the Saf-T-Planer. It helps if its got some wax on the bottom of it.
Make sure your blade is spinning fast enough. There are specs on the box. Its easier for the blades to clear the material if its on the higher end of the range.
Try not to take much more material than 3/4 of the Planer's width.
Don't take any more than 2-3mm off at a time.
Leave yourself some room on the thickness to scrape out swirl marks that the planer will leave.
Those are a few tips that help me.
Its fantastic tool. I love it.
-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

Mine's about 1 foot deep by 2 feet wide on a 10" benchtop drill press.
Works great for me.

I made mine 900mm x 400mm x 25mm melamine (old desktop cut down to size).  I followed the Stewmac instructions loosely.  My fence is fixed at one end and clamped at the other.  Haven't used it for its intended purpose yet.

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If God had wanted us to drink beer, he would have given us stomaches.

The speed is important for keeping the kickback down too.   I was boring some large holes, switched out the drill, put the Wagner in, and forgot to move the belt on the pullys.  It took a chunk out of the head on my neck.  It now has some implants that weren't planned. 

By the way, is there a straightedge that will go over an angle and maintain a straight line?  I lost my centerline on the head, and the implants are not perfectly straight.  I tried a laser, but there are too many variables.  Stainless rulers will do the bend, but they are not reliable on maintaining a straight line over the angle.  I think I got pretty close with the laser, but I don't want to create any problems by having the head off a little.  Maybe it would only be a cosmetic issue, and might not be noticed.

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Waddy

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