Drill Press or Mill?

[Papa Charlie]

As I get closer to retirement and my home shop, I have been replacing many of the tools and machines that I had to give up or never had and always wanted.
I am debating what to use for a drill press. The first thought is of course to purchase a variable speed Clausing drill press. But I remember that I didn't use the last one I had (Grizzly floor drill press) as much as one might think. I am going to have a mill this time around and have thought that maybe the mill would serve dual purpose as a milling machine and my drill press.

I do remember that I was never impressed with the stability of the Grizzly drill press table and maintaining a trammed surface was always an issue.

So I ask the members here, do you use a Drill Press or do you use the Milling Machine for your fixture drilling?

What are the pros and cons of a single or dual resource for fixture drilling?

Thanks very much for your input.

 

[projectnut]

I use both. I use the mill when making bolt circles, or other configurations where high accuracy is important. I use the drill presses (I have 3. 1 floor model and 2 bench top models) where extreme accuracy isn't important.

The mill is a Bridgeport 1 1/2 hp variable speed model. The floor standing drill press is a 1-1/2 hp 21" Jet. The 2 benchtop models are 14" 1/2 hp models made in Taiwan and purchased under private brand labels at a local farm store.

If I could only have a single machine it would be the Bridgeport. Sometimes it's a bit more cumbersome to setup, but it can perform more functions than the drill presses. It's nice to have both in that I don't have to tear down a setup on one or another machine for a quick project.

Here is a picture of the floor standing and benchtop drill press.

 

[C-Bag]

Everybody does different work so there is no simple answer. I agree that your usual floor standing DP is not a good fit for what I do. The table is to small. A lot of guys here say their mill is the only DP they need. It has a big table (Bridgeport) and is accurate. Reversing spindle and lo speed for power tapping etc.

I have a RF30 drill/mill w/DRO and for super accurate stuff yeah it’s the way to go. But increasingly because I’m doing large frames for machines etc I needed a larger DP for less critical stuff and found the fit for what I do. It’s a 2’ radial arm drill with a huge cast iron table, so plenty of room for mounting stuff up that I would have just done with a hand drill. Wish had known this even existed 40yrs ago.

 

[tq60]

This drill press operation not easy on drill press but simple on mill...

4 inch 1/2 moon cut on 3/8 plate.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[C-Bag]

“4 inch 1/2 moon cut” ? Its not clear exactly what you’re doing there but cutting (milling?) is not what you do and a drill press. So of course it would be done on a mill.

 

[Papa Charlie]

@projectnut I like that variable speed drill. Looks more like a Clausing than a Jet. I got to admit I hate changing belts for speed and hate to admit that I have burned up too many bits because I was too lazy to change the speed. If I were to purchase a DP I would go with a floor mount unit and a variable speed unit like the Clausing or your Jet.

It would be nice to have both.

@C-Bag I can see where a radial arm might be nice as well. I have fought to drill large items many times and would have loved to have a deep throate DP. But they do take up a significant amount of floor space. So that would be a decision for once I get the shop. But something to consider for sure.

 

[C-Bag]

Papa Charlie I am constrained by floorspace too with a two car garage. So everything is on castors and is usually some kind of work station. There is no perfect solution for every situation and I don’t have the luxury of the biggest possible. So ever since I decided I was going to do my own machining I’ve thought really carefully what I wanted to do then went a little bigger. My old HD bench DP served me well for 30yrs until this solution came along.

 

[ttabbal]

“4 inch 1/2 moon cut” ? Its not clear exactly what you’re doing there but cutting (milling?) is not what you do and a drill press. So of course it would be done on a mill.

Notching with a 4.5" hole saw. I've run one of those in a DP, couldn't get it slow enough so it chattered like crazy. I'll have to try it on the mill next time I want to run a hole saw. The more flexible speeds and rigidity should help a lot with those.

I have a DP I got before I got a mill. I use it still, mostly for smaller holes where the faster speeds aren't a problem and for work that doesn't need the accuracy. And for the occasional tree carcass work...

 

[C-Bag]

Notching with a 4.5" hole saw. I've run one of those in a DP, couldn't get it slow enough so it chattered like crazy. I'll have to try it on the mill next time I want to run a hole saw. The more flexible speeds and rigidity should help a lot with those.

I have a DP I got before I got a mill. I use it still, mostly for smaller holes where the faster speeds aren't a problem and for work that doesn't need the accuracy. And for the occasional tree carcass work...

I get it now. Right now I also suffer from not being able to go slow enough with the DP and I would think it wouldn’t be ridged enough for a 4.5” hole saw. I have punched a 5/8” hole with it and it’s slowest speed of 450rpm wasn’t ideal but I didn‘t burn up or break anything. I’m on the lookout for a 1075rpm motor to replace the 1750rpm on it right now.

 

[reds]

I use both depending on how accurate it has to be...