Machining question ???

[Todd Z]

Any one convert a high speed drill press into a basic milling machine ????

How did it work ???

Thank you

Todd Z

 

[Ron N]

Todd, A few of our shall we say state employed workers at the prison made a couple.One was a standing press and the other is a table top press.They added an oil pan to the top of the standing press and used a double pivot vise. The oil pan was a metal box with copper line and a small valve,to allow the flow of oil to the metal they were working on, and a box below to catch the oil and filings.Several of the bits used were ground down drill bits. It took alot of measuring and leveling but they did turn out several good pieces. The table top is being used to make shafts and gears.They turn the press on its side and use a die grinder or a 4 1/2" grinder to round out the piece after welding on it to add metal.Measuring it with calipers.One of the inmates made a brass worm gear for an ice machine._Ron

 

[Adam Smith 2]

Generally speaking, this is a dangerous proposition for any drill press that is not specifically designed to handle milling operations. Ordinary non Mill-Drill drill presses aren't designed for the horizontal force on the chuck, and most Jacobs chucks will pop right out. If you have a heavy industrial-grade drill press with a morse taper, you can get end mills and shell mills that will work, but don't try to mill with a hobbiest grade drill press from Sears.

 

[Bill Lukus]

Todd

It is not worth the time.A new imported mill/drill is only about $800. and is OK for small jobs or to tinker.Your time is worth more completing a part Vs rigging a drill press. You would need to make or buy a movable table/vise and adapt collets to fit the quill for end mills.



Bill

 

[Gavin Allan]

Don't do any climb milling with a drill press! It won't handle that.

 

[Richard L]

Todd,

I have done some milling on my drill press. I have only used it to mill some aluminum stock so I do not use any of the cooling liquids. I just have a two axis cross-slide vise and a set of mills.



If you only want to do is drill flat bottomed holes, there is no problem, however if you are planing on face milling, or slot cutting it's not recommended. The problem is that drill presses are designed for downward pressure only, they are rather weak when it comes to side pressure which face milling and slot cutting will cause. It's also not very accurate because of the excessive side play in the drill press.



Again, you could get by milling some aluminum occasionaly, but anything harder will eat the bearings out of the drill press pretty quick.



I am looking into getting a small milling machine from Harbor Freight. They occassionally have a small on on sale for about $250 or less. Of course if you plan on working on larger projects, you will need a larger mill and the sky's the limit on prices.



...Rich

 

[Wayne Fajkus]

small milling machines are out there for $299 at harbor Freight. I think it has 11-14" of movement left to right.



Problems with drill press from me looking at doing it:

1. Instead of the head coming down and locking, the table would have to come up. To make the table come up will have some schlop in it. Not precise by any means.

2. The table (at least mine) flexes. You apply downward pressure and the table bends down. Once again, not precise.



My drill press is not a little table top unit. It stands about 6 ft tall- Delta

 

[Richard L]

Underdog,

My drill press is also a Delta. Mine is as big as the floor models but I don't have any need for such a tall unit. I have mine mounted on steel work stand.



I have never encountered any flexing of the table, but I have noticed some flexing in the spindle alowing the bit to drift off-center. I'm wondering if the long tube used on the floor models may be contributing to the flexing of the table?



Of course mine is 5 years old, drilled many thousands of holes in both steel and aluminum, and has been used for some light machining, so that may explain why mine has some looseness in the spindle.



I have already had to replace the stepped-pulley on the motor and the Quil retractor spring that pulls the chuck back up when you release the handle. I started out with a cheap $39.00 Harbor Freight model and destroyed that one in about 2 months. I actually broke the gears in it !!



...Rich

 

[Wayne Fajkus]

I'm not sure which it is Richard. The bottomline is using it as a milling machine doesn't appear to be an option. Too much schlop and no precise up/down movement. Plus no left/right or front/back movement available to begin with.

 

[Todd Z]

I am basically machine some small stuff, I don't want to bother going to the shop where I dot the Throttle body's at......



The slide vice for mine is only $25.00 bucks and the endmill and fly cutter were another $20.00...



I guess for $45.00 It cant be a complete waste....



i would love to spend the $300 on a small machine, but unfortunately I don't have the $$ or the room for it....



Would you like an update on how it works out for me ???



Thank you all for your feedback..

Todd Z

 

[Paul H]

hey todd....just let me know when you need the drill press i said you can borrow.

its here qany time you need it.

paul h

 

[Richard L]

Todd,

If all you are interested in doing is milling down the throttlbody shafts, then you can probably used the drill press if you take is slow and make shallow cuts.



If the Delta drill press is like mine, you can lower the cutter into the work and then use the thumb screw to lock the quill in that height and you can now start moving your slide back and forth to make your cuts.



You should also double check that your table is level, the vise is level and the shaft is mount in the vise level, or you may end up with some strange looking tapered shafts.



I would recommend getting some aluminum rods about the same diameter as the throttle shafts, and practice for as long as it takes to perfect the setup so that you can repeat the machining of the throttlebody shafts with a high degree of accuracy every time.







...Rich

 

[Gavin Allan]

RPM = Cutting Speed x 4 divided by diameter!