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Geared head drill press: advantage?

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blazemaster83

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Lacey, Wa.
No belt slippage, although I have a 24" drill made in 1890 that runs on flat belts, and I can drill a 2" hole without it slipping. Are you looking at an arboga?
 

A_Pmech

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Geared drill presses are designed for drilling larger holes than belt driven machines. They are usually capable of lower spindle speeds and almost always have power quill feed.
 

A_Pmech

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What size of holes do you anticipate making and in what type and size of material?
 

Showkey

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When the drill grabs............gear drive will guarantee something else will break or spin the part being drilled.
 
OP
R

ron in sc

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6061 ta and 316 stainless steel mostly 1 1/4 for both. other stuctual steel . would like to use hole saws if possible at 3 1/2 inch and larger. smaller stuff too.

What about noise? Is one type quitter than the other?
 

Kracin

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When the drill grabs............gear drive will guarantee something else will break or spin the part being drilled.

yeah or not.



i've had it bend shanks on bits when they grab with larger bits like 7/8" and up.

never broke the gears, the motor OL or fuses are more likely to blow than the gears to break if it stops dead, after bending/breaking bits of course...
 

Kracin

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6061 ta and 316 stainless steel mostly 1 1/4 for both. other stuctual steel . would like to use hole saws if possible at 3 1/2 inch and larger. smaller stuff too.

What about noise? Is one type quitter than the other?

gear is going to be louder, but not by much. i kinda prefer to hear the gears whirring, vs the whisp of a belt/motor setup


yeah, just sounds as i hear them.
 

MO-Iron

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Dec 17, 2008
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SW Missouri
I have an Arboga Maskiner with a # 4MT spindle and a 24" Square table.
RPM is 70 to 1965.
This machine replaced a Buffalo belt drive of almost identical capabilities.
Advantages are faster speed and feed changes and the machine has a smaller footprint for the same drilling capacity.
Disadvantage is much more complicated to repair if you have a problem.

I was at the right place at the right time and bought this machine for little of nothing. If I had not had a friend wanting to buy the Buffalo, I would not have bid. That being said, the Arboga as served me very well,takes less space and I made good money on the Buffalo.

Would love to post pictures of her, but windows 10 and I are presently not getting along very well!
 
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Superbec

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Netherlands
6061 ta and 316 stainless steel mostly 1 1/4 for both. other stuctual steel . would like to use hole saws if possible at 3 1/2 inch and larger. smaller stuff too.

What about noise? Is one type quitter than the other?

you want as low rpm as you can get for the SS parts.

geared drills are also so much easier to change speed... just put it in gear " :)

now I read your post again... 3 1/2 hole saws in 1 1/4 thick stainless... buy a cnc plasma table or outsource ...
 

dr_clyde

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For drilling large holes with a twist drill, I would use an older geared head radial drill. They can be had cheap.


I wouldn't even attempt using a hole saw of that size in anything of thickness. At that point a waterjet makes more sense.

BTW, I have had nothing but bad luck with Baleigh junk. For a couple grand you can find some real nice american iron.
 
OP
R

ron in sc

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For drilling large holes with a twist drill, I would use an older geared head radial drill. They can be had cheap.


I wouldn't even attempt using a hole saw of that size in anything of thickness. At that point a waterjet makes more sense.

BTW, I have had nothing but bad luck with Baleigh junk. For a couple grand you can find some real nice american iron.

Bailey is the other I am looking at, I have looked for a restore american press but so far no luck. sorry to hear that about daily, other grizzly is gear head as I recall.
 

NOZZLEMAN

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Jul 10, 2010
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San Antonio, TX
Get an Ellis.. it's going to cost you a little more but is made in USA, is bulletproof and is variable speed with a standard VFD, it will go to zero RPM. Also... you will be better off using annular cutters instead of a hole saw. I have had my Ellis over three years and have hammered it with no problems.

Good Luck !!
 

dr_clyde

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I highly doubt the Ellis has the horsepower and torque to drive a 3.5" annular cutter through stainless. That's a pretty tall order for a regular drill press of any flavor.

Plus that cutter is gonna cost like $500, and will need a morse taper to Weldon shank adapter.

Without knowing the OP's application, it's hard to know how precise to go. For general drilling, the Ellis would probably work great. For those larger holes, you're gonna have a hard time "drilling" them. The economics don't add up.

Waterjet cutting will give a great hole for a much better price than conventional machining. If you're set on using a chip removal method, a trepanning tool would probably be the most economical, followed by a boring head if needed. If the part is small enough, you can use a rotary table on a mill, or interpolate on a CNC.
 

Wes J

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Mar 13, 2016
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Peoria, IL
If you want to do some real work, geared head is the only way to go.

This is my Victoria made in England around 1960. It's a #3 morse taper and has power feed. It's basically a radial drill minus the radial part.
 

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greasyfingers01

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yeah or not.



i've had it bend shanks on bits when they grab with larger bits like 7/8" and up.

never broke the gears, the motor OL or fuses are more likely to blow than the gears to break if it stops dead, after bending/breaking bits of course...
The gears aren't the weak link, the drill bit is. I run a large radial drill daily. If you don't watch your feed rate you will break a drill

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
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