Author Topic: Buying a drill press (Read 24675 times)

Acer Saccharum · « **Reply #25 on:** June 16, 2012, 02:48:09 PM »

Quote from: E. Smith on June 16, 2012, 05:13:59 AM

Side note: I am just not sure Snyder's drill guide would handle "ALL" the drilling that might arise in the course of a build. Anyone care to comment on that. I just don't know.

A drill press won't handle 'ALL' the drilling either. The toe of the buttplate screw is one that comes to mind.
Some screws, like patchbox screws need to go in square to the surface of the box so the screwheads sit properly when homed. These are hard to set up, because each screw goes in at a different angle. I do these by eye. You CAN use a drill press, but you may want a bag full of shot as a support, and an outrigger for the barrel.

Bob Roller · « **Reply #26 on:** June 16, 2012, 03:05:48 PM »

A drill press is a drill press and a milling machine is a drill press as well as a milling machine. I use my heavy floor model Rockwell drill press with the rotary and X-Y axis table to mill the "V"shaped cut in a lock tumbler. I have a fixture that secures the tumbler and a gauge that sets the depth of the cut (,075) and use a 5/64"two flute stub mill turning about 5000RPM. These miniature end mills thrive on high speeds and will grab and break at lower speeds. A very light cut like this is easy to do and takes little time to set up and get done. My milling machine tops out at 3200RPM according to the pulley/belt chart and too slow for this little job.
Acer is right about trying to use this drill press set up for general milling. It will wreck more than it will ever produce. Rigidity is the key to successful milling or slabbing as well as accuracy and accuracy is the goal as far as I'm concerned.

Bob Roller

Eric Smith · « **Reply #27 on:** June 16, 2012, 03:26:15 PM »

This is a Jet and quit a bit more expensive.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/JET-Bench-Drill-Press-3WRP4?Pid=search

Checked Craigs list for my area. came up with more of the same. No older American models.

Acer Saccharum · « **Reply #28 on:** June 16, 2012, 03:55:09 PM »

You need to be wary of older tools, some of them are beat to death, so if you don't know how to tell good from bad, sometimes you're better off with new.
Old machines can suffer from many different problems, but here are a few: bent spindles, bearings worn out, spindle guide bore worn and sloppy, electric insulation dry rotted and cracked, motor bad.

You can really score on older machines, but you need to learn what to look for, and have patience and keep your eyes open for a good one to appear in front of you. If you're hot to get a press now, you might best spring for a new Griz or Jet.

BJH · « **Reply #29 on:** June 16, 2012, 04:35:58 PM »

I have a really heavy off shore made bench top drill press. I have never found a long rifle related drilling job it didn't do just fine, providing I did the set up right. Through bolt holes on shot gun work are best done on a shop smith type machine. My friend's is real handy for that. A drill press is not a mill. My Grizzley bench top mill does this duty. Dove tails, custom sight blanks etc. BJH

Bernard · « **Reply #30 on:** June 16, 2012, 04:42:35 PM »

Ah yes.The question of what to look for in a drill press. I have a small machine shop and several drill presses a couple of lathes (never big enough) and a milling/drilling machine as wells a universal ExCell O milling machine (never quite big enough). What I found out with drill presses, floor or bench type is that they all had one limitation. The throat. The distance from the centre of the bit to the edge of the post. Always a problem. It varies a bit with different machines but it's always there. Now my ExCell O is what is known as a ram turret machine which allows me to adjust the machine head laterally to increase or reduce the throat measurement. Very useful but costly. A couple of years ago I found a drill press described as a "Radial Drill Press" than has an adjustable throat. I bought it immediately. It is a floor mount machine. I like it a lot. Crank the head back close for more rigidity or way out for those here to fore unattainable setups.
I see Grizzly has a radial floor mount drill press for about the same price as the bench model but 5 speed instead of 12. I'd trade some speeds for the versatility any day and from the description it looks like you can rotate the head sideways for drilling horizontally or working on your bolts etc. (Careful with that)
IMHO you should get the floor model radial drill press and if you need more speeds you can always put a motor speed controller on it.

Eric Smith · « **Reply #31 on:** June 16, 2012, 05:50:11 PM »

I don't think I'll be using this drill press for anything other than as an aid to longrifle construction.

Acer Saccharum · « **Reply #32 on:** June 16, 2012, 06:27:28 PM »

We like to talk about our drill presses.

I actually don't own a drill press, hahahahhahaha. This is because I have a Bridgeport milling machine!

T

Bernard · « **Reply #33 on:** June 16, 2012, 07:02:43 PM »

Well Mr. Smith whether you use it for an aid to gun building or other things, versatility is always good, and the more versatile the better. Many here have posted opinions with which I agree about bench model presses not having enough room between the table and the tip of the drill for the set-ups required for many operations. The floor mount model resolves most of those issues and the radial feature resolves virtually all of the others. For the money the radial press is the one to buy.

Eric Smith · « **Reply #34 on:** June 16, 2012, 07:09:51 PM »

[bench model presses not having enough room between the table and the tip of the drill for the set-ups required for many operations.

Is that what is known as the "swing"

Acer Saccharum · « **Reply #35 on:** June 16, 2012, 08:00:06 PM »

On a lathe, the swing is the diameter that can be turned over the ways without hitting anything.

I would imaging the swing on a drill press would be the distance between center of chuck and column. The largest circle you can drill to the center of.

Bernard · « **Reply #36 on:** June 17, 2012, 12:06:13 AM »

I believe you are correct Acer. The distance between the chuck and the table I believe is referred to as 'daylight' or vertical capacity. I don't see that value mentioned in the spec sheets of most presses I suppose 'cause it's a variable. Most bench presses don't have much daylight so by the time you get a drill bit protruding down and a vise or other fixture on the table you are hunting for some other way to do the job.

DB · « **Reply #37 on:** June 17, 2012, 11:15:54 AM »

Aside from being able to drill does the drill press have any advantage over a lathe.

Acer Saccharum · « **Reply #38 on:** June 17, 2012, 02:37:56 PM »

You can use a lathe as a horizontal drill press. Takes a bit of setup, mounting a vertical plate on the carriage. But if you can have only one tool, make it a lathe!

Tom Cooper · « **Reply #39 on:** June 17, 2012, 05:34:34 PM »

I have and use an old benchtop delta from the 40's, this thing is a tank and does all of the work I ask of it, think I seen somebody further up mention craigslist, that is a viable source.

Topknot · « **Reply #40 on:** June 17, 2012, 08:20:00 PM »

HEY MR. E. SMITH,
I have just bought a benchtop drill press from sears.its a craftsman and is very heavy . it has a half inch chuck. i know now that i should have bought a floor model,
but my space is very limited. it will have to do for now. i really like that drill press pin guide that you purchased. would you tell me how i could go about buy one
for myself? i would truly appreciate it greatly since im new to this game, and i admit i will probably need alot of advice on down the road.

thanks in advance

topknot

Old Ford2 · « **Reply #41 on:** June 17, 2012, 09:09:23 PM »

Hi Eric,
Like the fellows say get the best you can afford!
I did notice that the press drill that you are looking at has a drill speed of 140 rpm. That is good!
Most press drills run at 220 rpm (minimum) That is too fast for drilling steel. 140 rpm is great.
Any shaft that is turning 3050 rpm needs a good bearing to last.
A good option to have on a press drill is a keyless chuck ( saves time looking for that@#%$&%*@# key)
Another item to consider is a good vise. A good vise that has X & Y travel is a time saver. Those cheap vises that have the X&Y travel are handy at first, but their precision sucks.
I hope that the information helps.
Old Ford ( Fred )

roamer · « **Reply #42 on:** June 17, 2012, 10:00:51 PM »

Have my Dads 1954 SHOPSMITH , one function is drill press, does everything I want .
When you consider what the original builders had to use I guess anything we have is a lot better

bob in the woods · « **Reply #43 on:** June 17, 2012, 11:00:29 PM »

I have an older floor model Rockwell drill press that I purchased back in the 70's It works great,and I have even rigged it up as a vertical lathe on occasion. It is a solid machine. There is a tool called a "safety planer" that you can usein a good drill press, and it's useful for leveling surfaces, ie as when preparing a stock.

JWBlair · « **Reply #44 on:** June 17, 2012, 11:25:30 PM »

Quote from: E. Smith on June 15, 2012, 06:05:50 PM

Gentlemen, I am considering buying a benchtop drill press. My bench is 8 1/2' long, with another 4' long bench for other work. I am intersted in using this drill pres to drill holes in lock plates, buttplates, and for polishing work, plus turning and filing lock bolts. I submit this link for your perusal as to whether or not this" benchtop drill press " would fit the bill for the average gunstocker/smith.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-Speed-Heavy-Duty-Bench-Top-Drill-Press/G7943

Opinions welcomed. Eric the beginner

Those are not bad drill presses.They're marketed under many different brand names.The weak point on them is cheap chucks.Buy a good chuck and they will suffice for most purposes unless you're running a machine shop and doing that type of work where you can depreciate the cost of an expensive machine out on your taxes.Think about buying Morse Taper drill bits for some drilling operations.Doing anything that involves side loading the spindle such as polishing or using sanding drums is bad.It isn't that hard to rig something with an electric motor to do that,such as using one of the adaptors that fits on an electric motor shaft that you can put a chuck on.

Another source you might consider is looking to see if there are any used shop equipment dealers close to your area.Older industrial quality drill presses can often be had very resonable.Avoid any presses that came from high schools,they're usually pieces of junk,mistreated and abused.

Acer Saccharum · « **Reply #45 on:** June 18, 2012, 03:59:04 AM »

Just out of curiosity, I checked Craig's list, and wow, there are a ton of used drill presses.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites

T*O*F · « **Reply #46 on:** June 18, 2012, 04:08:42 AM »

Quote

Just out of curiosity, I checked Craig's list, and wow, there are a ton of used drill presses.

In a slightly related way, does anyone know if you can do a global search for an item on Craig's list without having to search each individual city?

Topknot · « **Reply #47 on:** June 19, 2012, 05:35:30 AM »

Quote from: E. Smith on June 16, 2012, 04:40:26 AM

I have one of the drill guides from Tom Snyder which will be used to drill barrel pins.

mr. smith, i sure would like to find out how to get one of them drill guides.

eagle24 · « **Reply #48 on:** June 19, 2012, 06:12:47 AM »

You will have to spend a lot of money to get a drill press that will equal what David Rase's drill guide/jig will do. I paid $600+ for my floor model drill press and it does a pretty good job, but if I want precision (want the hole to exit where I want), I use the SIMPLE David Rase guide. It takes a machine shop quality drill press to drill a straight hole without runout. Just my VERY AMATEUR, but spoken from experience, 2 cents worth.

Bob Roller · « **Reply #49 on:** June 19, 2012, 06:20:23 AM »

The expensive,heavy duty drill press is no better than the drill bit being used so try and avoid the ElJunkos from China and buy American made drill bits with TiN coating. I buy mine locally but also from KBC in Detroit.

Bob Roller

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Author Topic: Buying a drill press (Read 24675 times)

Bernard

Bernard

Bernard

DB

roamer

JWBlair

eagle24