For Those Forced To Use A Drill Press For Milling

[John Hasler]

It really is going to depend on the drill in question. There is Arboga, they made mt2 quill "drills" with xy tables. http://www.lathes.co.uk/arboga/page4.html

And there is Avey: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...-for-making-my-avey-a-mill.20112/#post-171820 (It doesn't look quite like that any more).

 

[Billh50]

I know if I take light finish cuts, and sometimes a couple at same setting, I can hold a part within .002 - .003 of size and squareness over 3 inches. Depth can vary a bit more depending on the amount of cut and how sharp the endmill is. The vise I have is not the best so it is hard to get anything parallel or square that way.

 

[mikey]

I recently changed the bearings in my RF-31 mill/drill and know for certain that it is just a big drill press, on steroids maybe. The design of the head is almost identical to most drill presses. Aside from mass, it differs little. Based on my experience with my mill and drill presses I've done in the past, the key components that would determine the ability to mill with a drill press would be the bearings - both spindle and drive sleeve. While I agree that having just a taper holding the chuck arbor can be iffy, that isn't the issue. The real issue is that a drill chuck is not accurate enough for milling.

If I only had a drill press, I would swap the bearings to either angular contact bearings or deep groove bearings in the quill and use deep groove bearings in the drive sleeve. I would also look into a Morse Taper ER chuck. Then I think a drill press could handle light milling and produce decent work.

 

[Christian Poulsen]

...I once took a 77' Vette 4 wheeling LOL (But really!...I did get some good air and hang time before all 4 fenders had cracks up and around the centers and the steering column broke!...) A vertical mill makes for both a mill and a drill press due to head (including adjustment to table IE X, Y to dead flat or any angle), column, knee (castings), quill, bearings, table, leead screws and nuts, collett system, accessories (yada, yada) ...a drill press makes for a drill press but not much a mill but again (yikes!) ifn' it's all you got and for light hobby work refer to the videos here, advice and some pics here...sorry all, trying to be friendly here but the 1st 2 machines to obtain are a mill and a lathe or vicy vercy and almost every other machine tool (an old shaper might be alone?) is relative to them (or they are relative to every other machine tool?)...even a massive cast Moore jig borer will turn to junk if used as a mill instead of holes....and because a drill press looks kinda' like a vertical mill, it aint...

 

[John Hasler]

If I only had a drill press, I would swap the bearings to either angular contact bearings or deep groove bearings in the quill and use deep groove bearings in the drive sleeve. I would also look into a Morse Taper ER chuck. Then I think a drill press could handle light milling and produce decent work.

My Avey was built with angular contact bearings. I modified the spindle so that I can use drawbar-type Morse tapers.

 

[Round in circles]

Dave sighs & dreams ....dreams big .... a home made milling machine ?
Well it's not out the question that's for sure with welded up 6 inch steel girder as the skeleton .
I must have some more dream time , much more dream time .

I didn't fully understand what you guys were on about when you were referring to the draw bar ... I do now

So..... a lump of small bean can sized steel can be the holder for the threaded collar of the collet & tool holders so long as it is threaded & securely mechanically locked on to the driving shaft . I take it that adjustable pre loaded taper roller bearings round the drive shaft are the order of the day & I'm to make it so the bed vice raises & lowers to get different heights rather than make life difficult & raise the motor & drive unit head ?

 

[schor]

i finally gotta x y table busy bee for 50 bucks so i'll be using my drillpress tommorrow.wish me luck.

Make sure you video it. Use ominous music etc so that when the chuck falls off......

 

[David S]

This thread was originally started by Billh50. He stated that he was using a drill press as a mill based on economics.

There have been many subsequent post stating pros and cons...mostly cons.

I have been using my jet bench mount drill press for milling for at least 10 years.

When I first bought it around 1970 the chuck would come out when drilling 1/2" holes in 3" channel. I got ****** off and finally one night took the chuck off, cleaned the taper, smeared some loctite sleeve retainer on the taper, jammed the chuck back on and hung a weight on the quill handle to keep pressure on the chuck interface and went to bed. So after 40 years no more issues.

I repair old clocks and most of my machining is with aluminum and brass. I can do lots of great milling with my mill after all the mods I have made.

I made a presentation at one point to outline what I did to determine if a press would be suitable for light milling. I include it here.















My point of posting this is that yes a good robust drill press can be used successfully as a mill. Is it ideal? No. If the drill press is of appropriate construction, can it be used for light milling? Yes.

I have done tonnes of milling on my set up and so far have no desire to buy anything else.

David

 

[ogberi]

BillH,
What is the diameter at the top of your drill press spindle? I ask because if it's a #2MT on the business end, maybe the spindle could be bored for a small diameter (1/4x20?) Drawbar and the 3/8x16 thread in a 2MT fitted with a loctite secured Bush to 1/4x20. The slot for the tapered arbor removal tool can be used with a spanner to tighten/loosen the drawbar.

If you don't have a lathe & tooling to do that (if you're interested in doing that) I'm sure a list member would help. I don't think my 9x36 SB has enough bed to do that, and I have no steady rest. Just a thought to increase safety.

 

[John Hasler]

BillH,
What is the diameter at the top of your drill press spindle? I ask because if it's a #2MT on the business end, maybe the spindle could be bored for a small diameter (1/4x20?) Drawbar and the 3/8x16 thread in a 2MT fitted with a loctite secured Bush to 1/4x20. The slot for the tapered arbor removal tool can be used with a spanner to tighten/loosen the drawbar.

If you don't have a lathe & tooling to do that (if you're interested in doing that) I'm sure a list member would help. I don't think my 9x36 SB has enough bed to do that, and I have no steady rest. Just a thought to increase safety.

Another approach:

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/the-avey-lives.21320/#post-189867

I did redo the chuck mechanism with acme threads and thrust bearings and it does work better.