Drill Press Milling Machine

[dxdexter]

I know this sounds stupid, but here goes. Could a drill press be set up with a cross sliding table and used a a "poor mans" milling machine. I realize the precision and accuracy will not be there. I was just thinking about rougher cuts where great accuracy is not needed.

I'm just throwing it up for discussion. I can't be the only one who has ever wondered if maybe I could cut a keyway etc. with a drill press. Am I?????

 

[Sanctifier]

Can't afford a milling machine so thinking about doing the same thing to a 20" VS drill press. Both Grizzly and Enco sell them. AFAIK both sell seperate cross feed tables as well. Maybe someone else knows more about it.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I know this sounds stupid, but here goes. Could a drill press be set up with a cross sliding table and used a a "poor mans" milling machine. I realize the precision and accuracy will not be there. I was just thinking about rougher cuts where great accuracy is not needed.

I'm just throwing it up for discussion. I can't be the only one who has ever wondered if maybe I could cut a keyway etc. with a drill press. Am I?????

Yes you can perform double duty with a drill press, but only on small things, and with limited success beyond something such as the keyway example you offered.
The real problem with doing this to a drill press is the latteral forces generated against the quill, and the bearings that it rides in. If you do too much milling, and push beyond what the bearing will handle you will soon destroy the drill. My dad did that years ago, but he really never pushed his drill too hard. If you do that I would suggest getting a floor model instead of a bench type drill because by the time you place a cross type vise on the drill table you will have very little work room left between the table and the tooling coming out of the chuck.

Other possible problems with this method are effective means of holding mill cutters in a standard drill chuck.

 

[-lecroix-]

You're spindle is gonna be toast on very short order.

Drill press spindles are designed for Z axis (up & down) motion only ... not Y & X (front to rear & side to side) motion. The side load is going to ruin the spindle bearings pretty quick.

Good luck.

 

[MXtras]

It can be done, but you will be very disappointed by the results. There is just not enough rigidity in the quill of a DP to mill.

Scott

 

[W-Cummins]

The other NASTY deal with using a drill press is the chuck is held in the quill with a Morse taper adapter. The Morse taper is not designed to support large side loads and neither is the Jacobs taper the chuck attaches to the adapter with. What can happen is it will let go of the adapter / or the chuck spinning with your cutter in it.... Some small bench top mill/drills use a Morse taper but they have a draw bar to keep it in.

William...

 

[dxdexter]

With regard to the bearing problem, I realize that most milling machines use tapered roller bearings which can support heavy radial and axial loads, but I would have assumed the side loading X - Y (radial) would be easier on a drill press than the Z or axial loading since my drill press, and I assume others, use both 6206 and 6205 ball bearings (Single-Row Deep Groove Ball Bearing) on the spindle, which are more suited to radial loading.


Since I am in the market for a lathe, I think I will make or buy a milling attachment and go that route rather than risk my drill press also the price of a good cross slide table is just too much for me.

 

[66RICH]

Here's the setup your refering to on my 16 1/2"
Delta. As everyone said it is not meant for milling!
I do use it for spot facing, notice the MT2 milling
adapter on the table. I have done very 'light' milling
, but will chatter very easily under any heavy load.
That's a Palmgren cross slide vise (about $160) that
is really nice quality for the money. I love it for drilling
setups.
Rich

 

[dxdexter]

Here's the setup your refering to on my 16 1/2"
Delta. As everyone said it is not meant for milling!
I do use it for spot facing, notice the MT2 milling
adapter on the table. I have done very 'light' milling
, but will chatter very easily under any heavy load.
That's a Palmgren cross slide vise (about $160) that
is really nice quality for the money. I love it for drilling
setups.
Rich

That vise looks great. I have crappy smaller version which is a POS, the screws are sloppy and the graduations on the handles are purely for show. Someday I will get one as nice as yours.

At least it was FREE.

 

[MXtras]

Even the cheapest compound slide is better than a fixed table - period.

The bearings in a milling spindle are angular contact bearings in sets - not tapered roller bearings. Tapered rollers would work for a relatively accurate spindle but they don't really like spinning fast and are not as precise as machine tool quality angular contact sets.

Scott

 

[W-Cummins]

Even the cheapest compound slide is better than a fixed table - period. Scott

I don't really see the need for one. I would not pay any thing for one, a good drill press vice is all you need and I would not attach it to the table at all. The drill press is NOT a precision machine tool and a twist drill bit is not a precise hole making tooling device. Scribe layout lines, center punch and drill away. If the vise is not attached to the table you can "adjust" it as the bit starts to cut. If you need more precision than that method can provide, you should be using a different machine....

William....

 

[dxdexter]

Even the cheapest compound slide is better than a fixed table - period.

The bearings in a milling spindle are angular contact bearings in sets - not tapered roller bearings. Tapered rollers would work for a relatively accurate spindle but they don't really like spinning fast and are not as precise as machine tool quality angular contact sets.

Scott

I actually had no idea what kind of bearings a milling machine used prior to posting. I only assumed , I guess incorrectly, that all were tapered rollers since the Grizzly G1005Z describes the bearings in its parts list as "Tapered Roller Bearings 30205" and also in a few other models I checked.

Why would they not like spinning fast they are similar to those used on automobile axle spindles ? Are the RPM's and lubrication a factor?

 

[dxdexter]

I don't really see the need for one. I would not pay any thing for one, a good drill press vice is all you need and I would not attach it to the table at all. The drill press is NOT a precision machine tool and a twist drill bit is not a precise hole making tooling device. Scribe layout lines, center punch and drill away. If the vise is not attached to the table you can "adjust" it as the bit starts to cut. If you need more precision than that method can provide, you should be using a different machine....

William....

I tend to anchor my smaller vise to the table. I have seen my vise spinning around the spindle a few times when the drill fetched up exiting a piece of stock. I don't take any chances any more unless its very small diameter drills.

 

[W-Cummins]

I guess I shouldn't say this....

I hold on to the vise. That way you get feed back about how it's drilling in real time (that is also how you can adjust it to allow the bit to center after it walks to the center of the center punch mark). Unless you just ram it into the stock, it dose not normally snag. You can after a while, get the feel of the proper feed rate. The speed should be calculated based in the size of the bit.

DISCLAIMER
now of course YOU should never try this at home.


William...

 

[Charlie's68]

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=612433

 

[Uncle Buck]

I guess I shouldn't say this....

I hold on to the vise. That way you get feed back about how it's drilling in real time (that is also how you can adjust it to allow the bit to center after it walks to the center of the center punch mark). Unless you just ram it into the stock, it dose not normally snag. You can after a while, get the feel of the proper feed rate. The speed should be calculated based in the size of the bit.

DISCLAIMER
now of course YOU should never try this at home.


William...

I have done that too, however it is not the safest way, nor the way I was ever taught in any shop class how to use a drill vise and drill. I would not be brave enough to try that on a very substantial machine, only a small home sized job.

 

[MXtras]

Why would [tapered roller bearings] not like spinning fast they are similar to those used on automobile axle spindles ? Are the RPM's and lubrication a factor?

Yes on both counts.

They offer substantial rigidity but their radial accuracy and speed capabilities are not well suited for high accuracy, high ridgidity applications.

I will leave it at that for now...

Scott

 

[MXtras]

I hold on to the vise. That way you get feed back about how it's drilling in real time William...

Reading the chips does the same thing with far less potential for a trip to the ER.

Scott