Drill Press Foot Switch

But if you are using a single phase motor, it will not reverse until the centrifugal switch drops out.

Dan

Capacitor start single phase motors only need to slow to about 80% full speed before they can be reversed. With the tap drag this happens fast. I have done plenty of this on small single phase motor lathes. Eric

Mills have a nice optional unit for tapping - auto-reverse on a set of gears in the unit itself. It goes into jaws (or holder...) and the tap into it's jaws.

Made just for taping.

Mart> >

If you are talking about a tapping head, they work just fine in drill presses too. I have two of them in small benchtop drill presses that I pretty much never take out. One almost always has a 10-32 spiral point tap in it, and the other a 1/4-20 spiral flute. They are HUGE time savers if you have to tap a bunch of holes. Adjust the clutch on a new tap so it doesn't quite slip tappping dry. Then always tap with a drop of Tap Magic and throw the tap away the first time it slips.

Whoever first told me about them. Thank you. I am sure it was somebody in this group. They have saved hundreds if not thousands of hours, and a fair number of parts that I no longer have to worry about removing broken taps from. LOL.

On mills another tool that is sometimes used is an extension-compression head. It doesn't auto reverse like a tapping head, but it does allow the tap to go in further or pull back a a little if the reversing operation isn't perfectly syncronized.

Sounds like a TapMatic, or a Procunier, or even a Buck/Ridgid Supreme VersaTapper tapping head. I have two sizes of the TapMatic, and one of the Buck for larger taps.

They all use planetary gears to slow the speed during tapping, and speed up during backing out.

I've fitted each with a MT-2 arbor to fit my drill press, but it will work just as well with a cylindrical shank in a collet or tool holder in the mill.

Mind you -- none of these are particularly affordable, new. All of mine came from used sources, and the Buck one is out of production anyway. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

No kidding. Even the small import starts at about 150-199. Still as machine tools go they are well worth that and then some if you tap a lot of holes. I tap so many 10-32 and 1/4-20 holes I hardly ever take my tapping heads off their respective drill presses. I'm actually thinking about setting up a drill press island in the shop. 6 bench tops around a table with my most common drills and taps all premounted and only removed to be replaced with the same size when they get dull.

Hmm ... have you looked at the Burgmaster turret drill press?

Search eBay on: "Burgmaster turret drill press"

and you will find a number, from quite reasonable prices to quite scary prices. :-)

I learned about them because my #30 Tapmatic was marked as being for a Burgmaster turret drill press.

The press has 6 spindles, so you can have it set up with three drills and three taping heads -- save a lot of space vs your island of six drill presses. :-) (Or, six tapping heads with drill-taps, if you are making through holes.)

The first hit is auction # 172509444719

but it has only 12 hours to go, so it may be sold by the time you see this.

If you are planning to buy six drill presses for your island, even one of the more expensive (and in better shape) ones might be worth your while.

Note that each spindle has its own depth stop, which makes it good for drilling and tapping with a Tapmatic head. (I keep planning to get one, but have not yet. :-)

Your island would make more sense if there are more workers in your shop than just you. The turret press is better for a single worker.

Good Luck, DoN.

Yes that is them. About fist size and normally black. I have a nice one that auto-reverse - haven't run it yet.

Mart>> Mills have a nice optional unit for tapping - auto-reverse on a set of

I walk with a cane, so I installed a footswitch about 15 years ago. That lets me work one handed, with the added feature that if something goes wrong just stepping back from the drill press will turn it off. Mine is wired in series with the rocker switch for the motor, and it is rated for 20A. This allows the light to be turned on, when it's needed.

At least you learned something, in the eighth grade! ;-)

The other thing I learned then was not to get my tie caught in that spinny thing on the left side of the lathe.

Ties are only worn for weddings and funerals. :(

Then and now. The safety rules we were given in the '60s had last been updated in the '50s.

I've only worn a tie about three times, since 1972. That was when I was in the Army. After that, it was for one wedding, and two funerals. Before you ask, it wasn't for the same people.

The shop classes I took in the mid '60s stressed removing any loose clothing, before class started. No ties, sweaters or baggy long sleeve shirts were allowed. If a shirt was long sleeve, the cuffs had to fit tight, and be buttoned. This was due to the fact of the metalshop and woodshop teachers having been hired from factories.

In the mid 70's I read an article that expressed surprise at the 'uniform' of a t shirt and jeans that had become standard for engineering in small high-tech startups, I think in defiance of IBM and Xerox. As recently as 10 years ago an article on Segway commented on the similar 'dress code' there. I never saw anyone imitate Dean, though.

-jsw

It's a dress-up day for me if I'm wearing shoes.