I gave blood this morning. All over my radial arm drill that I got a couple months ago. The part snatched as the drill broke though. it rode up the drill and then popped the vice grip holding clamp off and threw it. Then the work made made a quick revolution before i could get out of the way.
I need to get a better way to hold work in the drill press. A couple vice grips and pieces of tubing just aren't getting it. I've tried using a spare Kurt type vise, but that is cumbersome. half the parts won't fit in and its difficult to quickly line the work up under the drill and through an open spot in the vise.
what's normally used to hold all sorts of odd ball one of parts in a large drill? Just fabrication grade work here. I use a mill and bolt the part to it for stuff needing accuracy.
1/4 steel and then mounting an arm on the steel that can be pushed up against the drill press column. That will stop the rotational force and still let you position the work freehand.
A decent drill press vice (lighter than a milling vice) is handy for smaller stuff. If there's a chance that it might get away from you then either clamp it with a T bolt, block and goose-neck clamp or just leave a T bolt sticking up out of a slot so that the vice will run into it if it tries to take off. Won't stop the work riding up the drill, but will act as a second hand if things get a bit lively. If the drill is big enough and the work thin enough that you might not be able to hold it down, then go back to clamping the vice on the table.
Better still, use the drill properly... Clamp the work solidly to the table with goose neck clamps, blocks and T bolts or similar and a bit of scrap for protecting the table, then move the drill head to where the hole needs to be. That's why its a radial arm drill :-)
Oh, and keep some superglue and insulting tape where you can grab them. Not for holding the work down, but for temporary leak prevention to bodily parts (Actually, I have used superglue many times for work clamping).
Regards Mark Rand (I do egg sucking lessons as well :-)
For smaller work on drill presses those quick acting cam type vices work well. They are typically heavy enough to be hand held and slid around to align the work under the drill.
formatting link
The above is a Wilton, the Enco brand looks the same and is somewhat less expensive.
There is a similar vice I've seen (never used one) that has stacks of swiveling plates instead of regular jaws to hold other than square work. Enco doesn't appear to have one but I think I'd like to get one. The one I saw isn't quick acting but has a screw.
To hold work that is too big or too scary clamp it to the table with T bolts and something like these hold down clamps.
formatting link
With a radial drill and work clamped directly to the table a good way to pick up a center punch mark is to chuck a dead center or a rod ground to a similar point and with the column and head loose and spindle running (I was always taught to use reverse but I don't think it matters) set the point in the punch mark then gently clamp the head and arm. You'll be right over the punch mark.
Hope it didn't hurt too much, but a bit of pain is OK. :-) We all learn quicker by punishment.
But what size of drill? Was the pilot hole too big? Sheet metal? Too small vice (not heavy enough)? Normaly, a stop in one of the T-slots is enough if you can prevent the vice from rotating. That stop is just a knurled round, about 100..150 mm long with a thread at one end and a mating T-slot screw.
Nick PS: Two cuts last sunday: One when I stumbled over something laying in the way and me graping for hold. Unfortunatly, that hold was a bit in the shaper sticking out and making a small cut. Moved that out of the way. And then pulling out some tool from a holder for several MT4 tools and drawing my finger over the edge of some 30mm mill. Outch! No more sharp tools in that holder. Lesson learned.
I have one. Its not long enough for the handle to get to the column on my radial arm drill press. So, i haven't used it much. You've got me thinking; I'll make up something to catch this unit from rotation that can be quickly removed when I need the full 2' throat.
I was in a hurry, first mistake. I need a bracket to mount a panel mount on/off rotating electrical switch. Found a piece of 1/8 x 3" by long AL at the finger brake. Bent it to a 90 and cut it to length, second mistake (no way to easily clamp now) Small drill had 1/2" in chuck so I punched and drilled pilot. Went over to big drill with 1 3/16 bit, clamped on 3' 1"x1" tube with vice grip and sat it on a small piece of 1" thick metal with a hole in it on the table. Flimsy set up, but I'm in a hurry. Its the third mistake that will really get you.
You're right, there's enough pain that I will get a large drill press vise for this machine and find a way to quickly mount and remove it
Radials are serious machines and you *MUST* clamp every part. A guy at a customer's shop (about two years ago) had his arm PULLED OFF as his shop coat got caught in a radial. (Since reattached - has some feeling/ movement)
Try and train your eye to be able to see if you've clamped the head over your center punch/drill mark when you're drilling. Eventually you don't need to stop the machine. By plunging the drill bit into the hole, clamping the head, and retracting it, you can tell if the bit is off center just be watching it come out of the hole. They will spring away if they're not right. You'll be able to drill quite accuratly, but it does take some practice.
I used to have to drill and tap hundreds of M16 holes in the trim die shoes during fitting. If I had stopped the machine to realign the head every time, I would have had my ass chewed hourly.
Don't forget, you can make your own (much stronger) by killing some hydrochloric acid with a handful of zinc. (I presume you have zinc lying around if you're galvanising stuff.) Otherwise use scrap galvanised steel.
A pendulum or telescopic antenna type trip switch for the drill, optionally connected to a DC injection plug braking system can be a life saver. The pendulum/antenna hangs down so that if the work gets away from you, you or it hits the switch and cuts the motor power. In the case of the plug braking system, it injects a lot of DC into the motor windings and the motor stops in a fraction of a turn. We have this setup on the little 4' x 3' table Richmond radial arm drill in the Labs workshop at work and it is very effective.
I had a similar adventure in my youth. No serious harm done, but it definitely gets your attention.
My favorite solution is a quick acting cam clamp that slides up & down the drill press column. The shop I used to frequent at MIT had one, and I bought one for my Dad's drill press and got one for the drill press at work. Unfortunately, the last time I looked they had vanished off the face of the earth. I've changed jobs & would love to have one on the drill press in our lab, but there are none to be found.
They were black oxide coated, with a small (~ 1 1/2" square) aluminum foot. There was a small round lever that activated the clamp. When it was loose, you could slide the clamp up & down the column and rotate it freely. Once you had the foot parked on the work, you flipped the lever around and it simultaneously locked the clamp on the column and applied considerable downward force on the work. I never had one slip on me. You could also use it to hold a small vise to the table.
They probably show up on eBay occasionally, but I haven't looked recently.
To me, the key is to install the mounting clamp. I wasn't 100% on drilling a hole in my drill press table at home. But I drilled one about eight inches to the right and two inches closer to the front of the table from where the quill touches. You can slide the clamp, swivel it parallel to the table, and even rotate it up from the table. You then tighten the clamp. It stays installed and I usually leave it with a little cheap "toolmaker' s vise" in the jaw.
The vise mounted on a plate is the single best tip I have seen in years. As soon as pictures were first posted, I started looking for a used Heinrich. Found a five inch, mounted it on a large plate. Slide it anywhere on the big Clausing table at work and a combination of two hold down clamps will hold it. Post of the decade.
As for the hold-down clamp that attaches to the column . . . My favorite solution is a quick acting cam clamp that slides up & down the drill press column. The shop I used to frequent at MIT had one, and I bought one for my Dad's drill press and got one for the drill press at work. Unfortunately, the last time I looked they had vanished off the face of the earth. I've changed jobs & would love to have one on the drill press in our lab, but there are none to be found.
The original was the Welch Cam-Lock Drill Press Clamp. Reid Tool sold them for years. Travers has (at least they did a few months ago), an import copy under the TTC brand. On the column if you need it. Out of the way, if you don't. If you drill much plate or flat material, well worth the money.
Don't forget, you can make your own (much stronger) by killing some hydrochloric acid with a handful of zinc. (I presume you have zinc lying around if you're galvanising stuff.) Otherwise use scrap galvanised steel.
The one which I have has that block designed to clamp to the edge of the table, instead of to a T-slot. Since my drill press (A Taiwan made one from about 1977 or so) has a round table which is too small for that, I have been keeping the Float-vise around waiting for a larger drill press with which to use it.
However, I think that I will now make a collar to slide on the column just above the table and to secure the sliding block fit for the arm. That should allow me to use it with the current drill press, and to swing it aside when it is not appropriate.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.