[trooper1954]

Hi all,
Recently made a welding table with a 3/8ths steel plate top. It's solid, and I'm thinking of drilling 5/8th holes for dawgs and clamps.....anyone any suggestions as to how many would be useful, and the spacing? I don't have access to a magdrill, so am wondering if this is even a possibility with a 1/2" drill?
Thanks.

[BugHunter]

You'll have to predrill small starter holes and then use a 540RPM drill (slow) to drill the 5/8" holes. At the least, I'd make a drill fixture using a drill bushing for each of the sizes you'll drill, let's say 3/16" and 5/8", and either attach them to something you can clamp down or maybe attach with holes previously drilled. That way it keeps your drill plumb so the holes aren't a tilted pain in the xxx later down the road. It might not be that big a deal for only 3/8" thick, but I'd still do it. Just clamp a drill guide inside a chunk of steel angle with a base tack-welded on so you can clamp it fast and you're good to go.

How many holes I'll leave to the folks who've tried multiple tables with different spacings, and liked one vs the other.

[Oscar]

Thats gonna be a lot of hand drilling! I would not be looking forward to that.

[cj737]

4” spacing is often pretty common. Many equipment retailers also rent Mag Drills. If you do go that route, buy a 5/8”x1” annular cutter. It will drill through that 3/8” top in under 10” with a near machine-like finish. A little prep to layout, center punch your pattern, and then it’s perfectly professional.

I did my 48x72x.750 with 2” centers. That was a lot of holes. I have a decent mag drill with coolant so it was pretty quick and still kicking.

[Coldman]

You can hire a mag drill for a day.

[Jakedaawg]

Will those accessories even work with just a 3/8" hole?