tool_scrounge
Well-known member
The Bridgeport quil power feed is only rated for drills up to 3/8” diameter. You can go bigger with manual feed, but it will not hog material like a big drill press.
Bridgeport Mill, what is it worth?
- Thread starter pvanderlugt
- Start date
Ultradog MN
Well-known member
I too am an amateur and have one of each - for the reasons I listed above.
ez-duzit
Well-known member
Now down to just 3 drill presses, which take up less room than the mill. I customize yachts. So the work is quite varied. I keep the small benchtop drill press with a countersink in it, normally. The big drill press remains on low speed; the smaller drill press usually left on highest speed. This saves me time and is a matter of convenience. The workbench/cabinets married to the drill presses largely contain all the tooling related to them. The mill and lathe have their own set of cabinets for their tooling.
The cost to buy and toll-up a mill is a whole order of magnitude greater than for a drill press, one of which can commonly be bought for as little as $100. A drill press can be placed nearly anywhere, and is easy to move. A full size mill generally requires specialized equipment to move, adding another layer of cost.
The cost to buy and toll-up a mill is a whole order of magnitude greater than for a drill press, one of which can commonly be bought for as little as $100. A drill press can be placed nearly anywhere, and is easy to move. A full size mill generally requires specialized equipment to move, adding another layer of cost.
Huh? Who uses power feed for drilling? Do drill presses use power down feeds?
Maybe I’m ignorant. It sounds from this post that you can’t drill a huge hole with a mill. I know that’s not the case. Now my mill is a puny 1hp. I would think hp would limit either machine.
Having completely rebuilt my head and spindle I can say a Bridgeport spindle is way more robust than any comparably sized drill press I’ve ever seen. I think people use drill presses for convenience, not because they are better at drilling. I personally dont find my BP inconvenient for drilling. Only downside is hand cranking the knee down.
Otherwise absolutely everything about it seems better than a drill press to me. Just moving the table precisely under the spindle is pretty awesome in terms of drilling. I think the other huge downside of the mill is many of us don’t like drilling wood on them because we don’t want hygroscopic swarf on our ways.
Ultradog MN
Well-known member
Nice shop!Now down to just 3 drill presses, which take up less room than the mill. I customize yachts. So the work is quite varied. I keep the small benchtop drill press with a countersink in it, normally. The big drill press remains on low speed; the smaller drill press usually left on highest speed. This saves me time and is a matter of convenience. The workbench/cabinets married to the drill presses largely contain all the tooling related to them. The mill and lathe have their own set of cabinets for their tooling.
The cost to buy and toll-up a mill is a whole order of magnitude greater than for a drill press, one of which can commonly be bought for as little as $100. A drill press can be placed nearly anywhere, and is easy to move. A full size mill generally requires specialized equipment to move, adding another layer of cost.
Ultradog MN
Well-known member
A Bport will BORE bigger holes and will do myriad other things that a drill press can't do.
But for raw power, speed, ease and simplicity a good drill press will out perform any B-port for DRILLING large holes.
PS, they do sell a gizmo that you put in a cordless drill for raising and lowering the knee.
MushCreek
Well-known member
I've drilled 4" holes in steel with a hole saw in an old B'Port. How big a hole do you need? Usually when I'm drilling holes, I like to be able to place them accurately, which is probably the tool maker in me. Easy enough with a mill with a digital read-out.
I have a large (3/4" chuck) power feed drill press, but seldom use power feed as I like to be able to feel and see that I have feed right. Nothing beats the ability to just grab a part and throw into a drill vise to make a quick hole - but in my case that drill press table is set up to drill bolt patterns and can do so in a few minutes versus the hassle of hoisting the rotary stuff onto the mill (no DRO - yet). I have one set of lathe/mill/drill able to do decent size work and another set of tiny ones for very small parts and not intimidating to my grandsons as are the big stuff. You/I can indeed drill a pretty good size hole with a mill, but usually hand feeding annular cutters on mill or drill. On the tall/big part issue: 90% solved with mag drill and some planning/setup. But, overall, the big drill gets used far more than all other machine tools combined. Side note: used to be that tooling (drill bits) were kind of inconsequential in cost - I damn near faint when thinking what my index in 1/64 to 1" and 1/32 to 1 1/2 would cost today.
ez-duzit
Well-known member
One drill-press-type operation at which a mill excels, because of its large X-Y table, is precisely spacing holes.
y'sguy
Well-known member
I know zero about these BridgePort machines, So, I ask why is that area in the one photo of the original post covered with insulation tape?
Just to prevent swarf from getting in? Certainly it would't be a crack?
Just to prevent swarf from getting in? Certainly it would't be a crack?
American Locomotive
Well-known member
The mill has a digital position readout display installed. The tape is just holding the wire to the position sensor in place.
rsanter
Well-known member
Around here it would be $2500 to $4500
OccupantRJ
Well-known member
Smoke weed, happy happy, pull handle.
m.d.hunter63@hotmail.
Member
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2025
- Messages
- 13
Ummm.... nope, how would one even do that? Just did some quick measurements, 3.5 inch cast iron table, 1/2 inch air gap and 3/4 inch lead screw. Anyone that stupid should be prohibited from breeding, much less using a milling machine.
RoninB4
Well-known member
-This is not to hijack the thread, apologies if I do. Power feed can be a useful feature. I used to run a large radial drill press making/tapping larger holes in vessels, flanges, etc. When using twist drills there's a tendency for the drill lip to "grab" the material as it breaks through the other side with hand feed. This can result in very bad things happening like the drill shattering, stalling the DP motor, pulling the twist drill off the taper, or snatching the work out of the fixture while rotating. A power feed should control the up/down motion of the Z axis which controls how much downward feed the drill bites into in a controlled manner. It's much safer to use the power feed for operations like this IMO rather than risking the material pulling the helix of a twist drill into the work. Apologies for the topic detour.
IF your power feed drive is completely without any free play, otherwise it can still let a twist drill break through hard. Kind of why I like to hand feed - I can hear and feel when the hole starts hitting other side and back off feed accordingly. Also why I so much like annular cutters. I started with brazed carbide ones many moons ago, but soon found they would chip the inserts and become expensive waste.
RoninB4
Well-known member
-It doesn't have to be "completely" free of play and that's a relative condition anyway. I'm not stating you're wrong but I'm not wrong either. My comments were for twist drills only, annular cutters chew metal differently. I agree with you on that point.
Sweetcorn
Well-known member
If someone is that retarded they get what they deserve.
Sweetcorn
Well-known member
Some of the justifications for people in favor of drill presses is comical at best.
Not having the space, need, or knowledge for a mill = all pretty good reasons.
Some of the others are just sad excuses for people trying to justify inferior equipment.
Not having the space, need, or knowledge for a mill = all pretty good reasons.
Some of the others are just sad excuses for people trying to justify inferior equipment.
Sweetcorn
Well-known member
Important to point out there all sizes and kinds of drilling machines as there are milling machines. I have worked with a horizontal mill that was big enough to set up a card table and 2 chairs for the machinist and apprentice to watch the cut. Can't say I have seen a drill that big.
dr_clyde
Well-known member
RoninB4
Well-known member
Carlton made some pretty big drills.
-I used to run a G&L about that size and a few other makes that were a bit smaller. I like radial drills.
Ultradog MN
Well-known member
Oh, I agree with you there.
However, I thought we were discussing hobby/garage sized stuff.
It all depends on what you do in your shop.
A Bridgeport will do miriad things a drill press won't do. Not so much the other way around.
I have both - and use the drill a lot more than the mill.
There's quite a bit of overlap between the 2 machines but I don't see that relationship as competitive. I see it as complimentary.
I use my mill for milling and for precision layouts.
For simple hole drilling I use the drill press because it's easier to use, is quicker to set up, has a larger work envelope, and will DRILL big holes much better than a Bport can.
Ultradog MN
Well-known member
I collect brass tags and have them hanging in my shop office.
Here is one you might appreciate.
