Light milling in a drill press

josquin

josquin

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I know this is not ideal, but it is possible/practical to do light milling in a drill press? By "light milling" I mean things like sight dovetails, surface milling of small parts, etc. I have heard that the quill and bearings of a drill press are not designed for lateral pressure, which makes sense, although there is lateral pressure on the other end from the belt. Obviously critical jobs requiring serious accuracy are not possible but I'm thinking of less precise jobs that are difficult to do accurately by hand. The proper solution, of course, is a small milling machine, and I'm looking into that for a little down the road.

:) Stuart
 
I knew a smithy/master machinist who had a mill attachment for his drill press. Don't have a clue who made it, but he used nothing else. It's essentially a mill table that moves in two directions and mounts on the drill press table, as I recall. Apparently, a company called Taig makes one.
 
I have tried it and it isn't worth a crap with metal... really not that good with wood either... it has to do with the way a drill press spindle works..

It will chatter and vibrate and quite easily break the cutter and make a mess. You have to cut dovetail one side at a time feeding into the cutter... which means you need to cut a straight slot through first and then with a smaller doveatil cutter do each side separately.

I gave up using a drill press (even with my Palmgren table) and do them in a milling vice in my lathe.
 
Been there, tried it, worked like crap. I ended up buying a used milling machine. The only thing I would machine that way (if I didn't have the milling machine) would be plastic.

If you need the work done then go to someone with the right tools. It will cost less than the table and you will have something in the end. If you want to do more machining then buy the proper tools.
 
You'll wreck the berrings in the dripp press too, typically they are set-up for vertical load, horrezantal load is not so good.
 
The fact that you are asking the question makes me suspect that you have an ordinary home workshop drill press and long before your bearing wear out, your two biggest problems will be vibration because the vice/ table is not solid enough and because the vibration will loosen the chuck and cause it to drop since there is no draw bar to hold it in place.
been there, done that.

cheers mooncoon
 
sunray said:
I knew a smithy/master machinist who had a mill attachment for his drill press. Don't have a clue who made it, but he used nothing else. It's essentially a mill table that moves in two directions and mounts on the drill press table, as I recall. Apparently, a company called Taig makes one.
Click to expand...


Remind me to stay the hell away from such "master machinist", ####ing joker!
 
Don't use your drill press for milling. It'll vibrate like crazy and the cutter will be damaged. Buy yourself a new mill. They are pretty reasonably priced at Busy Bee, and you can simply go on a monthly paying plan with approved credit. Works out, to I think only $40 or $50 bucks a month:)
 
guntech said:
I have tried it and it isn't worth a crap with metal... really not that good with wood either... it has to do with the way a drill press spindle works..

It will chatter and vibrate and quite easily break the cutter and make a mess. You have to cut dovetail one side at a time feeding into the cutter... which means you need to cut a straight slot through first and then with a smaller doveatil cutter do each side separately.

I gave up using a drill press (even with my Palmgren table) and do them in a milling vice in my lathe.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Dennis. That's what I expected. I'll just wait until I have the appropriate tool for the job.

:) Stuart
 
It's much like using a drum sander on a drill press,it's NR,but we all do it. I have used a carbite burr laterally.It worked. We are talking about light,light cuts.Those Busy Bee milling machines aren't much above a good drill press. We have a better quality Advace at work. Busy Bee,KMS,and others have cross feed tables for around $100.
 
The Quill on a drill press wasn't meant to take stresses from side to side, only along its drilling axis (up and down). Any other side forces will damage the drill press, ie milling.
 
You are dead wrong,I just looked at my 16 1/2 "Jet,it has 6200 series bearings.In fact 6200 work better with radial loads than thrust.When at work ,if a 6200 breaks down too often from thrust,we switch over to the a 7200.A thrust bearing that will take radial loading.

These cheap drill press heads must be broached,you can't bore things that badly. And have no way of taking up wear in the head or clamping the quill,like the old North Americian made ones or the lite milling machines.So that's were you will problems will come,if you don't already have them.Most new presses are very sloppy,as in fractions of an inch,not thousands,

Use you table to adjust depth.Besides the slop in the head,your chuck will be out. My German made keyless one is 10 thou.
 
I am a tool maker and what most of the guys are saying is correct.
In a nutshell, regardless if it's not precision that your looking for, chances
are it'll look like s**t. Having a rigid setup is the single most important key
to decent machining, which a drillpress does not have. Second being speeds and feeds and then quality of the tool.
 
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