Work holding options for a drill press

[pendragon1998]

I'm looking down the road to when my Craftsman 100 drill press is done. What is a good all-around work holding option for it? Should I be looking at vintage drill press vises (what's good?) or X-Y tables or ...? I don't want more than about $75-125 in it, but I don't want Chinese **** either.

 

[ndnchf]

I use a good Palmgren DP vise and find it works well for much of what I do. I think an X-Y vise is overkill for an average DP, plus its a lot of extra weight. I also have a vise-grip type clamp that bolts trough one of the table slots. Its good for flat pieces.

 

[astroracer]

I use an X-Y vise in my drill press almost exclusively. Very versatile for just clamping up a part and then lining up the drill. Saves a lot of time over trying to clamp and align with vise grips or c-clamps. Works very well for multiple hole patterns especially.
Mark

 

[larry_g]

Sta-put Vintage hold down;

I also have one of these on another drill press, http://www.penntoolco.com/wahlstrom-float-lock-drill-press-vise-mw-898/

Just another option besides the common vise which I also have and use. The Sta-Put is my goto hold down

lg
no neat sig line

 

[jakemac]

Most of the time I use Chinese **** because I can't find anyone in the US that makes these.

 

[rustyzman]

The two best vises I use for drill presses are Heinrich quick acting vises or Cardinal Speedvises. Both are excellent choices for a normal sized drill press.

 

[mikegt4]

I rarely use a vise on my DP. The one thing that I use and really like is a 3" long piece of 1" dia. rod with a drilled and tapped hole in one end. It stands upright on the table over the slot and is tightened with a knob/stud coming up from under the table. It is used as an anti-rotation stop. I just touch the drill on the punch mark, rotate the part to be drilled until it touches the stop and start drilling.

 

[damnesia]

I have a Wilton cross slide vise for my drill press. It's great for the money ( and for a drill press ). It's made in China but mine works well and is accurate enough for a drill press. I see a lot of people complain that the cheap vises aren't accurate enough for "machining". I definitely wouldn't use this on a mill and I have no plans of milling on my drill press, and I'm very happy I bought it. Moving clamps around when drilling multiple, different sized parts is a pain in the ***, at least to me. With this thing I don't need to.

They have smaller/cheaper ones but this is the one I bought:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009E0E9YK/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[rsanter]

One option does not work for everything
A cheap Chinese vise will do a lot of work, a good American vise will do the same but perhaps a little better.
You also need Cclamps, vise grips and some other things as well....

Bob

 

[Dave455]

Just look for a used, but good quality, drill vice! If you can afford it, get a small one and a large one! I know Americans like to buy American made, but British and German vices are good quality too!

Most of the time, you will be able to clamp your workpiece in the vice and position it by hand. If you need to clamp it down, don't bother getting a clamping set, just get a couple of clamps and hold down bolts from a firm such as Wixroyd..

You could certainly get all you need for that money in the U.K. and I'd be surprised if the U.S. is more costly!

Avoid cheapo / Chinese vices as you would the pox! I've used a couple and they can be frustrating as hell! Even if you think you have a good one, you will position, say, a round workpiece carefully, then find it rotates as you tighten the vice because one jaw lifts!

If you can afford it, get a v block for drilling round stuff, and a magnetic v block is a godsend if you can find one used!

If you do any repititive work, try to get hold of a quick release vice. They are often not that costly and well worth it!

If you struggle to get a used vice, firms such as MSC offer 'mid range' drill vices at reasonable prices!

 

[damnesia]

If you don't want things from China or Taiwan, watch out when ordering from MSC. Almost every drill press vise they have is made in one of those two places. The Chinese Wiltons aren't too bad, but I'll admit they could be better quality. However they are much better than the junk you can pick up from HarborFreight. Most drill presses don't have very tight tolerances. Mine is a decent one and the Wilton does fine, when something is clamped it does not move. Clamps with hold down bolts are nice too, but can be frustrating depending on the table you have.

 

[Zeke]

I rarely use a vise on my DP. The one thing that I use and really like is a 3" long piece of 1" dia. rod with a drilled and tapped hole in one end. It stands upright on the table over the slot and is tightened with a knob/stud coming up from under the table. It is used as an anti-rotation stop. I just touch the drill on the punch mark, rotate the part to be drilled until it touches the stop and start drilling.

Good tip.