Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Among all the tools in your shop that are dangerous, the drill press…well, who worries about a drill press? Most of the time, it feels pretty tame compared to the other spinning tools in the shop. With woodworking, it gets dangerous when we don’t respect how easily a spinning bit can grab and rotate the stock.
For example: If I use a 1/8th-inch drill bit on a 2-by-2-foot-wide board, no one bats an eye. But if I take that same bit and try to drill a 3/8ths-by-3/8ths-inch scrap, suddenly it becomes much more difficult. The smaller stock is much easier for the drill bit to grab, rotate, or even throw.
The drill bit didn’t suddenly become more dangerous. What changed was the stock’s ability to resist the torque from that spinning bit.
Some will tell you that it’s because of this that you should always clamp stock to the table when drilling. And while there is definitely a lot of good advice that comes with clamping, it’s not always possible.
The lazy among us will also resist this practice.
But here’s the important part: you need to keep that stock from rotating.
If you want to make a small piece of stock harder for the bit to rotate, simply add a lever to it. Grab a clamp and clamp it tightly to your stock. Now, instead of the bit trying to rotate this tiny piece of wood, it has to move this much longer lever as well.
The clamp doesn’t make the stock impossible to move, and it doesn’t replace clamping to the table when that’s practical. But it gives you considerably more resistance against rotation.
It’s for this reason why I always keep a clamp next to my drill press.
Like step by step projects? Check out the second channel! → @makethingswithrob
Buy me a beverage! → buymeacoffee.com/makethings ←
Become a patron! → patreon.com/makethings ←
Huge thank you to my patrons that keep this thing going!
*MAKER TEAM*
Michelle B
Keith Current
Rich Lightfoot
Tutor the Barbarian
Aubrey G.
Nukebert
Sam W.
Aaron Knows DIY
G. Salazar
David B.
Marc B.
Richard B.
Ben. K
Bill Patterson
D. Lundman
Make Things
#MakeThings #mtbitesize
Among all the tools in your shop that are dangerous, the drill press…well, who worries about a drill press? Most of the time, it feels pretty tame compared to the other spinning tools in the shop. With woodworking, it gets dangerous when we don’t respect how easily a spinning bit can grab and rotate the stock.
For example: If I use a 1/8th-inch drill bit on a 2-by-2-foot-wide board, no one bats an eye. But if I take that same bit and try to drill a 3/8ths-by-3/8ths-inch scrap, suddenly it becomes much more difficult. The smaller stock is much easier for the drill bit to grab, rotate, or even throw.
The drill bit didn’t suddenly become more dangerous. What changed was the stock’s ability to resist the torque from that spinning bit.
Some will tell you that it’s because of this that you should always clamp stock to the table when drilling. And while there is definitely a lot of good advice that comes with clamping, it’s not always possible.
The lazy among us will also resist this practice.
But here’s the important part: you need to keep that stock from rotating.
If you want to make a small piece of stock harder for the bit to rotate, simply add a lever to it. Grab a clamp and clamp it tightly to your stock. Now, instead of the bit trying to rotate this tiny piece of wood, it has to move this much longer lever as well.
The clamp doesn’t make the stock impossible to move, and it doesn’t replace clamping to the table when that’s practical. But it gives you considerably more resistance against rotation.
It’s for this reason why I always keep a clamp next to my drill press.
Like step by step projects? Check out the second channel! → @makethingswithrob
Buy me a beverage! → buymeacoffee.com/makethings ←
Become a patron! → patreon.com/makethings ←
Huge thank you to my patrons that keep this thing going!
*MAKER TEAM*
Michelle B
Keith Current
Rich Lightfoot
Tutor the Barbarian
Aubrey G.
Nukebert
Sam W.
Aaron Knows DIY
G. Salazar
David B.
Marc B.
Richard B.
Ben. K
Bill Patterson
D. Lundman
Make Things
#MakeThings #mtbitesize
