So the cheap plastic depth stop holder (and chip guard) on my dirt cheap drill press shattered. I nearly forgot about having a depth stop and then decided I would go to the trouble of making a new one out of polyethylene. The chuck had a taper and came out after wobbling and tapping a giant allen key (hex key) held in the chuck jaws. The new holder is shown in the photos below. I cut the big round hole with a forstner bit. My bits are cheapies from ebay, they are at the bottom of the first photo. The quill measured at 40mm, the bit was about 41mm. It clamped very tightly indeed and provides for a rock solid stop. I now no longer have a spring loaded chip guard (not that I trusted it all that much) and will have to be extra sure to use safety glasses.
My first attempt is on my vice. The material around the hole was not thick enough. The plastic was stretchy but had little elasticity. That is, it would stay stretched. In thicker sections it rebounded better and was harder to stretch around the quill. Tricky stuff.
Also tricky was getting the depth guide hole in the right spot. I did it by mounting the holder and marking through the hole. Measurements did not seem likely to work.
As always, this is not a how to guide. Just a record of what I did. Emulate my work at your own peril.
Benjamin's Bench 