Convert a Pedestal Drill to a Mill

Hi All

Im looking into converting my pedestal drill (PD) like this one

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into a pedestal drill and a modified milling machine by using

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this compound table, albeit that the PD has 2 thou runout at the bottom of the taper shaft.

Any comments?

Anyone from downunder using the above compound table from Hare & Forbes, if so whats the quality like?

DazFNQ

Reply to
DazFNQ
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I've tried the same thing but with a heavier drill press. Its barely acceptable for light plastic or wood. I know of a guy who uses a much sturdier xy table with a heavy gear head drill press, its ok for plastic jobs but not much more. Depending on your expectations it might work for you but it didn't for me. :(

Reply to
Den

they are chinese manufacture. they do work but are bloody awful.

you'd be better off keeping the drill as a drill and buying a small mill.

check the rest of the hare and forbes cattledog. my son has the little HM10 and it seems a nice piece of kit for the size. one of my mates has one for making model aircraft engines. I have the HM50 and I'm quite happy with it.

Stealth Pilot

Reply to
Stealth Pilot

I don't think the spindle of any drill press like this is up to the task of milling. It's not designed for side loads. And I think you'll have a tough time keeping the #2MT tooling in place. Next issue is using a drill chuck to hold an end mill. The end mill tends to pull down and out of the chuck, no matter how hard you tighten it. I have used an old Craftsman drill press with an X-Y table for years and wouldn't be without it. It's on the table 99% of the time. In fact, I even have a simple wooden table, 8" X 10", glued to a piece of 2 X 6 that I clamp into the vise that's on that X -Y table when I need a flat surface. That way I don't have to take the X -Y table off very often and the wooden "table" can be considered sacrificial. ----So, I'm not against the X -Y table, I just don't think you'll be happy with using that tool for milling.

Many, many years ago I had a project where I had to mill a 1/8" slot in steel and I got away with it. But I had to take tiny cuts. This drill press, by the way has a threaded collar on the chuck that pulls the taper up into the spindle so it can't come loose.

from the upper side of the earth, Pete Stanaitis

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DazFNQ wrote:

Reply to
spaco

Newbie,

You came to the wrong place seeking advice re. milling on a drill press. It is common knowledge (here anyway): A drill press does not a good mill make.

Im looking into converting my pedestal drill (PD) like this one

formatting link
into a pedestal drill and a modified milling machine by using

formatting link
this compound table, albeit that the PD has 2 thou runout at the bottom of the taper shaft.

Any comments?

Anyone from downunder using the above compound table from Hare & Forbes, if so whats the quality like?

DazFNQ

Reply to
Robert Swinney

Good post, Pete. You endorse the idea of an X - Y table on a drill press. Great idea - but I though it originated with me. Oh well

Bob (GMTA) Swinney

Many, many years ago I had a project where I had to mill a 1/8" slot in steel and I got away with it. But I had to take tiny cuts. This drill press, by the way has a threaded collar on the chuck that pulls the taper up into the spindle so it can't come loose.

from the upper side of the earth, Pete Stanaitis

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DazFNQ wrote:

Reply to
Robert Swinney

Don't, it doesn't work. Steve

Reply to
Steve Lusardi

Try it, take notes, let us know what happened. Wear protective clothing.

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Better yet, dump the cheesy drill, and buy a Chinese mill drill.

They make a really fairly decent drill, better than an average working guy can find, in general these days, and they already have a drawbar, to keep the chuck from coming adrift at speed.

Much to be said for that last bit!

Cheers Trevor Jones

Reply to
Trevor Jones

Video! Set up a video camera on a tripod, so it can see the look on your face!

You know, for posterity! :-)

Or just morbid entertainment value!

Cheers Trevor Jones

Reply to
Trevor Jones

On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:25:30 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Trevor Jones quickly quoth:

Seconded!

Surely it'll hit #1 on YouTube.com by the weekend.

-- Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for. -- Earl Warren

Reply to
Larry Jaques

So -- "pedestal drill" is an alternate term for "drill press".

You gave the same URL twice -- for the drill press, not the table.

Yes -- *Don't*.

You'll probably get several other responses saying essentially the same.

It has a Morse taper 2 socket in the spindle, and Morse tapers are not good at handling side loads -- let alone the Jacobs taper likely on the drill chuck.

The thing that is likely to happen is that you will suddenly find yourself chased around your shop by a rapidly spinning chuck with a sharp milling cutter in it which has separated from the drill press spindle.

Yes -- Morse taper spindles do exist for some milling machines, but those have a hollow spindle for a drawbar to hold the collet (not a drill chuck) firmly in place while cutting.

Also -- the design of a drill press does not offer sufficient lateral rigidity to handle the side loads of milling, even if the spindle were not a problem.

Without the correct URL for this one I can't comment (aside from not being from down under anyway). I suspect, however, that it also is not sufficiently rigid to make milling practical.

You will be better off even with an inexpensive benchtop Asian machine. I don't know what the prices for these in OZ are, but they are quite inexpensive (especially on sale) here in the US. If you need to mill something large enough to require the size of the drill press, it is certainly going to require a machine designed for the size and purpose.

Good Luck, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

Thanks for posts guys

FWIW: I considered the idea for the main reason of

  1. It would save a lot of time when drilling many holes in a project, where you have to clamp then drill, unclamp then move then reclamp and drill and so on, and so on, and so on.

It would work ok for drilling, just not side load on the pedestal drill taper for milling purposes.

Thanks DazFNQ

Reply to
DazFNQ

Yep -- that is the sort of thing which those X-Y tables are made for. That particularly includes when you need a series of precisely spaced holes -- as long as you can trust the spindle to stay centered. I've used this sort of setup to make two parallel rows of holes spaced at 0.100" (2.54mm -- thank goodness that the X-Y table was calibrated in 0.001" units, so I did not have to continually add to get the spacing right). These were to accept a socket with wire-wrap pins to stick through the holes.

Precisely.

Of course, I still haven't seen the actual web page showing the table in question, since you posted two copies of the URL for the drill press. :-) Some of those are a lot better than others.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

Don

Here's the link to the compound table

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DazFNQ

Reply to
DazFNQ

=2E..

I used an X-Y vise to drill a connector housing to fit onto large wirewrap pins on 0.062" centers, for a homebrew computer. It worked, but there was enough play in the drill press that I should have done a manual layout and center-punched the hole locations. I only had jobbers-length drill bits then. Short stub-length drills or a center drill would have helped.

I was able to mill the nylon block for the connector with a router bit after hammering the chuck on very tightly. When I tried aluminum the chuck came loose as described. Luckily it didn't fly off and cut me.

I was in a hurry once and tried to drill a flat-bottomed hole with a chucked end mill in a mill-drill. Even drilling straight down with a solid machine, the chuck came loose.

Jim Wilkins

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Same table, less money

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There's a free shipping code floating around for orders over $50

Reply to
RB

Coordinate drilling is about the only thing those cross slide tables are reallty a bit good for. Even then, the locating of the holes is better done with some layout dye and some careful work with a center punch and scribe, rather than trusting the screws on those tables to be accurate in any way.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Reply to
Trevor Jones

He's in Australia. Dunno if Enco ships there.

With the amount that the Aus govt cuts on any imports, and the correspondingly lower import qty's, the price shown seems not too far out of line for all that.

The HM-30 (supect a purely Chinese machine) and the RF-31 (usually Tiawan made, better fit and finish, accuracy) that are sold by the same outfit, would be my bet for replacing the drill press altogether, if funds allowed that.

The X-3 series mills are supposed to be OK, but I have no hands-on time on them.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Reply to
Trevor Jones

O.K. A bit more sturdy than I expected -- though the resolution on the handwheel dials is a bit coarse -- only 0.1mm except for the largest one, which offers 0.02mm (pretty close to 0.001"). But it weighs a bit more than twice what the smallest does -- and costs about twice as much as well. I forget what the current exchange rate is, but at that price it should be pretty rigid -- even if the drill press (pillar drill) isn't. :-)

Take a look at this (a benchtop mini mill-drill) from the same vendor:

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The X-Y travel is only a bit less than the X-Y table you were looking at. I forget what the drill press cost (or do you already have that?) but the current price for this is: $722.73, so if the cost of the drill press is more than $541.82 then the mini mill-drill is the winner, unless you need to handle things larger than its work envelope.

And the mini mill-drill has a 3MT spindle instead of 2MT, so it is heftier. And it must have clearance for a drawbar.

Good Luck, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

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