Mill as a drill press?

[Sangant]

Can a small mill (think Grizzly bench top) be used a drill press "as is" or does it need a special adapter, or is this just a really bad idea? Obviously it's not production work, just a few hobbyist pieces, mostly small bore stuff for safety wiring bolts and nuts.

 

[JJThrasher]

Ours is used as a mill, drill press, and tubing notcher.

 

[zkling]

Mill used as --> Drill Press



Drill Press used as --> Mill

 

[retrobuilder]

Depends on your drill bits..in traditional terms all you'd need is a Jacob chuck with matching Morse taper or similar).

 

[ihatelaramie]

Yes. It'll work great as a drill press. Kind of overkill though.

 

[Krokodil]

Sorry for the hijack, I'm no sure exactly what the background behind your question was, nut I have a similar question:

Can a mag drill be adapted to be used as a drill press? Or do they use special bits (I have no experience with them)?

 

[buzz4041]

Sorry for the hijack, I'm no sure exactly what the background behind your question was, nut I have a similar question:

Can a mag drill be adapted to be used as a drill press? Or do they use special bits (I have no experience with them)?

A mag drill is a portable drill press. Nothing special or different than a drill press except it has a magnetic base.

 

[Bib Overalls]

To use a aag drill as a general purpose drill press you will need to fabricate a stand with two features. First it must hold the mag press above the workpiece. Second, it must have an adjustable table to accommodate variously sized workpieces and drill bits of various length. Mag drills are usually sized to drill substantial holes and the chuck may not clamp down on small bits.

For certain jobs, like drilling bolt holes in truck frames, mag drills are indispensable. In my opinion, they are no substitute for a good, general purpose drill press.

In one aspect, a mill is much better for drilling holes as compared to a common general purpose drill press - speed control. As a general rule, the bigger the bit the slower the speed. My mill can be set to 80 RPM. My drill press goes down to 220 rpm. Really important when using hole saws.

 

[Krokodil]

I was thinking a mag drill could be made to work from a big metal plate as base. I was just not sure if they use special chucks for their bits. Seems like it is not a issue to convert for normal use then.

 

[Kevin54]

I've used a mill as a drill press for 30+ years. When machining, you do it all on a mill.

A drill press, you use it as a drill press and that's it.

 

[Bob C]

Drill press ***** as a mill because the tolerances in the drill press are horrible compared to the tight tolerances in a mill.

 

[Victorymike18]

I remember reading that most drill presses aren't designed for side load pressure on the bearings. Is that a concern?

 

[Ign]

A Grizzly bench top mill will drill holes all day, you just won't have much power or much Z space. You'll need a drill chuck that fits the machine, and a bench top may not be the common R8. Instead it may be an MT spindle, but that's not a big deal. You'll need a drill chuck arbor which is MT on one end and likely JT to fit into the drill chuck. Some chucks like Albrecht have an integral arbor (optional, not all models) which cannot be changed out. If a drill chuck did not come with the machine you'll have to get one, and the arbors are inexpensive and readily available in most configurations from mscdirect.com or use-enco.com. Also places like Traver's, Grizzly, Shars, CDCO, JTS and others. From what I've seen all of Grizzly's tooling is basic import stuff at slightly higher prices.

A mag drill will work, but you likely won't have much spindle travel for deep holes. Some mag drills are set up for annular cutters and won't have a 3 jaw chuck at all. In most cases you can retrofit a chuck, but not always, or parts may be difficult or expensive to source. All in all a lot of work.