Supporting longer wood on a drill press?

[Markru2002]

Hello all,
I was wondering how you support longer pieces of wood on a drill press. I seem to need 3 hands when I try to drill the holes on the one end as the other end wants to fall of the drill support platform. I try using a spring clap but that takes too long after I have to adjust the clamp after every hole I drill. Thanks.
Mark

[Sunlion]

Mine is a bench drill, if I have had anything long I found something or several somethings same height as the drill bed and lay it across then clamp. A pain aye but better than trying to squeeze out a spare arm hehe.

Could you lower the bed or swivel it to the back of the drill, then put something larger beneath where the bed was and cover with a decent piece of timber and use that as a bed?

Sunlion

[wood-n-things]

Just place a third hand under it to the side. an extension arm or a board. Stop and step back and assess the situation and you will see a solution.

[Bill Wilson]

I have an adjustable height, single roller stand that I can use anywhere in the shop where I need to support one end of a long board.

[Ramjet]

I do what Bill does. If you have rafters you might hang a rope from them making a sling to put the end of the wood in.

Roger

[sawdustus]

Same as Bill. Very useful device for drill press, band saw, table saw, miter saw etc. Bought 2 when I was still making furniture but they do come in handy once in a while for scrolling.

george

[Frenchy2]

Instead of clamping the workpiece to the drill press table, clamp a long piece of scrap to serve as a table extension. If your scrap is very long you have the opporunity to extend the table in both directions - helps with balance.