Drill press safety and Forged in Fire TV show..

Cadillac STS

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I have seen Forged in Fire where contestants are given a random piece of metal and are expected to forge a knife out of it. Knife is tested, winners go on to further forging test, etc.. Interesting and sometimes amazing how they forge metal like that.

But there have been several guys on the show that are shown holding stock on a drill press in one hand and feeding a drill bit down into it with the other hand. For drilling a wooden handle. Terrible safety situation.

I always want things held down with a vise or clamp or something before the drill bit comes down, never holding with a hand.
 
I watched an episode the other night where one of the contestants was holding the blade, drilling a hole....ummmm, o.k. He then proceeded to pull on the blade while the drill was still in the hole to make a slot. Genius! By the way, there's a nice shiny JET mill just sitting there not 20 feet from him. Some pretty hanky s-<t happens on that show. I find myself gritting my teeth often while watching.
 
My personal maximum is a 3/16" inch drill. Anything other than that and it either gets clamped or placed against the column (think sheet metal) to prevent it from rotating, while I hold it down with the "other" hand.

I've seen too many pieces of stock turned into "the whirling saw of death" because somebody didn't have time to mess with a clamp......
 
Helicopter parts are no fun! A simple bolt screwed by hand into a t-nut in a t-slot works fine for preventing helicopters while not wasting time...
The first rule of using t-slots is having t-slots on your machine. If not, other quick tooling like c-clamps can do the same job.
 
Here's something simple you may want to make. I made these stops to use on my drillpress. They are just T-nuts with a stud and a drilled and tapped shaft. They have a cross drilled hole to tighten them with the chuck key handle. Just so your vise or workpiece isn't caught and spun out of your hand. Since we all have a habit of drilling stuff without bolting it down.

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I have a vise with X-Y movement mounted on my drill press. That has been useful for everything. Clamp down and have ability to fine tune the drilling spot.
 
I use bike seatpost clamps bolts to hold my vise. It's much faster to use.

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Here is a great drill press vise. I do not have one, but if I find one at a decent price I will be picking it up! I suppose one could be shop made...
 
Float lock vises will save your hands but are tuff on the wallet paper. If your lucky enough to find one under $100. Grab it if under fifty grab me one too.
 
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