Got a new Drill Press!! :)

[Lanse]

Hey yall!!

Well, a little while back, I mentioned that I wanted a new drill press. And the other night, thats what I went and got with the money that I got for my birthday, and so far, Im really happy with it.

I looked at some at harbor freight (some were nice, but not for me), and the Black Bull model at TSC, plus this Porter Cable Unit. It really came down to the TSC press or this one, and there wasn't much comparison. Everything on the Porter Cable unit was beefier and heavier and clearly better made than the TSC one, so I went to lowes and bought it, brought it home, and had it running in a few minutes.

And coming up from my 2/3 HP bench-top craftsman, its like Ive died and gone to heaven. The PC's slowest speed is 300 rpm compared to the craftsmans 640, so now I can really use hole saws and the like. This one is quiet and has a ton of torque, and its really hard to "stall" it out.

Im thrilled with it. Now all I need is a good vise, and Ill be set. Anyone have any recommendations?

Well, enjoy the video, and have a nice day...

Side note: I also traded an old tractor torch for a victor journeyman. Its a pretty sweet torch, and although I haven't cut anything with it yet, I did get to try it out
video1 video2
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[Puddles]

That's a very nice drill press! 8)
Now the big question, do you know how to sharpen drill bits? Always sets me back how many weldors, and fabricators that don't know how!




Two regular ol nuts is a great help for determining the angle of a drill.

 

[Sean Feeney]

Get it bolted to the floor before you'll be sorry

 

[Ken-Pa]

Oh to be young again . Lance , enjoy your youth because it disappears quickly . Sixty years from now , you"l wonder what happened to my youth & mobility .Always remember , don"t hurry into a final relationship . Today it seems marriages are just like a yard game party. After the funs over , leave .I was married 33 yrs , then mine left for playland . Its the only time in my life I wished I would"ve stayed single longer & enjoyed myself more as a single guy with money & cars & my own choices . Being able to buy tools as we want & can afford isn"t always what a woman wants in her life . Stay happy , keep smiling & further your your education on welding fabrications since it seems you enjoy it . God bless , Ken

 

[TimV]

Lanse: congrats--a good drill press is a cornerstone of any shop, and is useful for many purposes beyond drilling. A few hints--use all 3 holes to tighten the chuck--it's amazing how much better drills will hold just by using that one little trick. Also, print off a drill speed chart and hang it by the drill--most people want to drill too fast and ruin bits and workpieces as a result. Also, on a safety-related note, make sure to clamp your workpiece securely and wear safety glasses--a drill press can produce far more torque than you can hold by hand, particularly if a bit catches, and it's a great way to lay your fingers open or worse if you're holding it when it happens.

 

[Puddles]

Lanse one thing you might want to think about doing, is buy a Morse taper to 3/4-inch R-8 adapter, so you can use roto broaches on your new drill press. For drilling holes for bolts they work great.

 

[bc]

Puddles, I learned to give the bit a light half twist while lifting the shank a little as I pushed one side of the cuting edge into the grinder so it keeps about the same slope. Is there a better way?

It also appears that the margin is the key area. I then suppose that enough has to be taken off of the end of the bit until you are back to the full width of the margin. Is that correct?

Also good job Lanse. I have a little old Crapsman benchtop model with a 2.2 amp motor that won't drill its way out of a wet paper bag. Just wears out bits as it stalls out.

Anyone have a table of speeds and downforce pressure for various size bits of Black HSS, cobalt, and titanium? I've been wearing a bunch out trying to drill 3/8" holes in mild steel with the crapsman as it doesn't have any torque and no matter what speed I use or amount of downforce. Cutting oil just seems to smoke the bit even worse.

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The next item will be a verticle mill (Bridgeport). They are cheap these days as many small machine shops went out of business or don't use them anymore.

A fella can't have too many birthdays when they are young.

 

[Puddles]

bc I hold the shank of the bit in my right hand, and steady the flutes of the bit between my left thumb and left pointer finger. Aline the cutting edge with the grinding wheel. Ease the bit into the wheel, once the bit touches the wheel I wait until the cutting edge is ground flat across the whole cutting edge. Then I rotate the bit slightly clockwise, while continuing to push into the wheel, then lower the shank, all in one motion. The amount of force while pushing, and dropping the back of the drill bit determines the amount of relief.
On the bigger bits I grind down the bridge between the two flutes, to somewhat of a point.

 

[36 Coupe]

Keep your drill speed down.I have worked with radial arm drills that cut a continuos cut of metal, no chips.

 

[GordoSD]

I second that advice to get it bolted down. 350 lb neighbor with bibs on tipped mine over and broke the table mount in half. Geez, there was plenty of room for me there. LOL

 

[Billy NY]

I would 2nd that on the eye protection, repair shop owner, down the road, had an eye taken out by flying metal off drill press, absolutely a must do.

 

[Anonymous-0]

That is a nice drill press that turns fairly slow. Be real careful with the cuttings as you can slice your finger open real easy. Don't get in the habit of drilling things directly on top of the table or you'll eventually end up with holes all over it. You have T slots that are real nice. You should get a drill press vice and make a clamping system that will make drilling a breeze.

The first thing you need is some flat bar that will fit in the T slots. Cut several pieces about an inch long and weld some bolts to it. Then you can slide these hold down bolts where ever you want and use the bolts to hold things in place or the vice. Then you need a couple of pieces of square bar or tubing no more than an inch thick to set your pieces on so you don't drill into the table. Then all you need are some pieces of flat bar(3/8" x 2" works good) with a few holes for your T bolts to go through to clamp your pieces down. You could put a larger hole in the middle to drill through when clamping small pieces. for longer and larger pieces you use 2 of the clamps to hold it secure. This set up works way better than vice grips or c-clamps and holds your pieces more secure. I ran a radial arm drill and that's the type of clamping that was used. It's cheap, easy to make and works excellent. Most of all it saves you drill press table from getting full of unwanted holes.

 

[Dusty MI]

I bought a new floor drill press many years ago. The first thing I added to is was a foot switch. I've never regretted that.

Dusty

 

[casenut1]

on the vice, around here auctions are a good bet for a good vice.picked up one for $50, 6", a good old cast one, made in USA.

 

[Puddles]

Seems as all the machinist like the “Kurt” vice for milling. My Grizzly mill came with a vice made in China, works good enough for me. If I were Lanse I'd shop ebay for a used milling machine vice for his new drill press.

 

[bc]

Thanks for the help. I've figured out that I have been holding the bits with the shank to the right instead of to the left so shown in the picture. That made it so that I had the cutting edge touching the grinding surface in the wrong direction and then since I can't see the cutting edge I tend to twist too quick.

I don't follow you on the grinding the bridge down between the two flutes on bigger bits. Can you explain that further? I do know that most bits have to have a short, straight, and perpendicular point about the same length as when new and not a point like a needle.

Also is there anyway to sharpen the flutes when wore down from reaming?

As an aside, I recently bought a HF drill doctor and the cheapie $5 drill mounted sharpener due to my bit problems. The drill doctor seems to be worthless on 3/8" bits and the cheapie drill mounted on seems to work better especially for the 1/2" bits. Once I get the technicque down and get a finer grit grindstone, I'll probably ge in good shape again.

36: It seems like that 3/16" mild steel flat bar I've been trying to drill is more prone to come up in chips. Once I get the metal hot from drilling with a dull bit, the metal doesn't seem to want to drill again even with a brand new bit. Guess I'll just use that low power crapsman drill press for wood projects and as a vertical grinder/sander.

 

[Puddles]

Here's a picture of grinding the bridge between the flutes. On larger bits the point can get quite wide, which means you have to have a bigger pilot hole.

I never heard of anybody sharpening the flutes before.

I was given a Drill Doctor years ago, I gave it away, takes too long to get the bit into position. I can sharpen a bit on a bench grinder before I could get the bit loaded in the Drill Doctor.

 

[Lanse]

Cool man, thats sorta what Ill do. I just put an ad
up on the local craigslist, lets hope I find
something

 

[Anonymous-0]

Don't stall the motor-- adjust so the slippage is at the belt.Stalling the motor will build heat so fast it may cook it.