I bought a drill press at the swap meet in Perry, GA last Saturday. The belt guard was missing so I made my own using what I had on hand. When it was all said and done…I ended up with a Rat Rod appearance. To make the hood…I used a hood from a ’96 Saturn. What other object could be more appropriate for a tried and true task. After measuring the dimensions and laying masking tape down to give me a straight line, I cut the hood with a cut-off wheel using my angle grinder. I made a makeshift brake from a piece of angle iron from an old bed frame and clamped together with Vise-grips and used a rubber hammer to fold the sheet metal. I used my “new” drill press to drill holes for the pop-rivets. The thin metal at the bottom side of the guard needed to be re-enforced to make it rigid so I use an aluminum brace from a wall mounted shelving. This also doubles as a handle to open the belt guard to change the drill speed. Again I used the drill press to drill holes for the handle. The hinge on the other side of the cover was enough to keep the metal ridged enough from flopping around.
There is probably somebody posting this thread on a Saturn Message Board so they can all cry that you cut up a Saturn hood.
Nice job! That's about the best use there is for a Saturn hood! That looks so much nicer than the top of a mailbox that my friend has on his!
