Another: Need a Slide Table for my Drill Press message... :(

[prokaryote]

Hello everyone. I am a "new" registered person to the forums, but I have been reading them for the past few months... lots and lots of information on here.

I did search around the forums for info before posting, but couldn't quite find an answer that I thought might fit for me...

My drill:
I have a Craftsman 10" drill press, model 21900. Nothing extravagant, it was what I could afford. It has a 6"x12" table and the center of the slots for screws is 4 1/2 " apart... So if i did attach a table to the drill, the screws need to be 4 1/2" apart. The drill works well.

I need:
A slide table. I need it to be relatively accurate, but my next statement is that I don't want to spend over 150$... and I know you get what you pay for.

My project:
I'm working with aluminum. Its a custom lower for my AR. It requires very light milling, and accurately drilled holes.

Okay, can anyone suggest a decent table for me? I have considered:

Highly considering to buy this one:
Shars Compound Sliding Table
http://www.shars.com/products/view/3..._Sliding_Table

Palmgren: too expensive. I cant afford them.

MicroLux X-Y Table Attachment (Micro-Mark: The Small Tool Specialists)
-Might be too small and not durable enough for my parts.

Grizzly G8750
G8750 6" x 18-1/2" Compound Slide Table
-Might be too long?

Grizzly 5757
G5757 Compound Slide Table
-I think I read on this forum that this product is cheaply made?

What do you all think? I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.

[doorknob]

You will probably get some comments about drill presses being unsuitable for even light milling because the quills or spindles are typically not designed to deal with lateral forces.

The Shars table to which you linked looks a bit unusual to me, because it seems to have a swivel in the middle. So rather than strictly being an X-Y table, it looks like the axes can be set to any desired angle. That table does not offer a lot of options for clamping objects to the table, and so you might find that to be too limiting.

If you're working on an AR-15 lower, are you starting with an 80% finished lower or something else? I'm not sure of exactly what work you will need to do to it. You will likely need a lot of flexibility in fixturing and clamping in order to hold it in the proper position for various operations (depending on what has already been done for you, for example, especially if the mag well needs some work or the buffer tube threading has not yet been done). But maybe if the major operations are already complete and you only need to do screw or pin hole drilling it will be less of a challenge.

Shars also has an X-Y table that is similar or identical to the Grizzly G8750 (see shars.com - Heavy Duty Mill amp Drill Table) that has more slots available for clamping workpieces. It is a few bucks less expensive than the Grizzly, but shipping might change the final price comparison. I have a Grizzly G8750 - I haven't done much with it yet, but my plan is to add CNC control to the X and Y axes and use it with my drill press for drilling positioning only (with manual feed of the quill, on flat aluminum workpieces).