I have a very old Delta floor model drill press that I would like to use as a light duty temporary milling machine. I understand that this is a no-no but this may be an exception. There is a 5/8 draw-rod going through the spindle connecting a 6T Surpreme 33 taper chuck. My question is can this chuck be "driven off" and a end mill holder-adaptor be fit on? The chuck won't budge.
I doubt very much your drill press will be the exception, draw bar or not. Not unless it's been on a steady diet of steroids for a long time. The head of a drill press is not intended to deal with the forces of milling. It is built far too light, as are the bearings. The quill of a drill press is usually a slop fit in the head, so it has too much slop with which you'd have to deal. Drills cut on their ends, milling cutters cut on their sides, which creates considerable force that drill presses are not built to withstand. You'll experience, at best, lousy finishes and will be unable to hold any close tolerance because of the movement of the head under cut.
If you want the chuck off because you're not convinced, just start using it to hold end mills. It will be off and in your lap soon enough. If you're lucky it won't still be spinning.
I'm not saying your idea won't work, what I am saying is it will work VERY poorly. You and countless others have asked this same tired question as long as there's been RCM. Not worth the trouble. As much as I detest mill/drills, I'd highly suggest you abandon your less than good idea and buy one of those. Guys that have owned one and advanced to a knee type mill are usually more than happy to sell them to get the hell away from them. As bad as they are, they are a monumental step above a drill press. Get my drift?
Harold
Out of interest, here's a guy who not olny made a milling macine out of the garden variety drill press, it's CNC to boot. He can mill tool steel with a half inch end mill!
He seems to have a drill press with a through hole in the spindle, and a drawbar holding the jacobs chuck on. It probably won't extract as you envision.
My walker turner also has a JT33 jacobs chuck, which has a locking ring to hold the chuck on against inadvertant extraction.
This having been said, I have to argree with the substance of your comments. He could do it, but it won't work well. He does however understand that a draw bar is essential, and that end mill holders have to be used rather than trying (vainly, why do folks keep trying) to hold an end mill in a jacobs chuck. He's got that going for him so there would not be as severe a safety issue as otherwise might happen.
JIm
================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================
Hey Jim,
When I read about the draw bar, what came immediately to mind is the old Duro drill press that used to belong to my father. It had a splined shaft that appeared to be a draw bar, but was, instead, the drive for the quill. My mind went immediately to that concept, doubting that drill presses have need for a draw bar. I certainly could be wrong in that regard, but I'm sure as hell not wrong about the rest. I guess, for the initiated, because a drill press resembles, in many ways, a drip spindle vertical mill, the assumption is that they are one and the same, minus the table, saddle and knee. that would be true, assuming you're comparing with a drop spindle mill. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Thy typical drill press *may* (usually not, and by a long shot) weigh a couple hundred pounds, whereas any mill worth its salt (table top mills excluded, naturally) will weigh no less than 1,000 pounds, and the Bridgeports and knockoffs weigh near a ton, some more. As most of us know, mass, to a machine tool, is everything. The more precise the machine, the more mass. It stands to reason that something as light as a drill press wouldn't serve well. No need to go into the other qualities that make a mill a mill. That's already been said to death.
I think a good way to look at using a drill press as a mill is not a lot different from using a toy gun as a real one. Certainly, it could be done, but in the end, what would you have?
Harold
My later Rockwell (60's) also has the JT33 "C" locking ring but I speculate that it serves more to assist *removing* the chuck as it does to hold it on. These old drill presses were not sold for light milling.
For whatever reason, W-T and the later Rockwell/Delta chose to make these machines with a male JT taper instead of the more useful traditional MT2 or MT3 socket with a knockout slot in the quill. So they sold these funny looking adapters with the female JT socket on top with the lock ring, and an MT1 or MT2 sleeve at the other end so folks could use their MT shank drills, tapping heads, whatever accessories.
As JT's are meant to be fairly permanent I figured the ring was there so that you could pop the chuck off by just turning a spanner wrench, instead of hammering on it with wedges etc.
IIRC, the drawbar was actually holding the #6 taper (Morse?, B&S?, Jarno?) arbor into the spindle, and the Jacobs chuck was still being held by just a JT-33 taper, so the the weak point remains.
Now -- you could possibly replace the chuck and arbor with an end-mill holder of the same taper, and eliminate that hazard. If it is truly a #6 Morse taper, it is a serious sized drill press. But the other problems with a drill press still stand.
Enjoy, DoN.
Yep, that's why I suggested that if he's hell bent on using his drill press for a mill, all he has to do is start doing it using the chuck to hold an end mill. It won't take long for it to be off and spinning. I'm not convinced I've ever seen a drill chuck that has an integral tapered shank, all those with which I have been familiar have had the JT-33, as you suggest.
Harold
That's what I had assumed as well.
Harold
KICKASS! Damn, giving me ideas for our crappy 'press now...!
Tim
-- "I've got more trophies than Wayne Gretsky and the Pope combined!" - Homer Simpson Website @
I decided to scrap this idea. Thanks for all the replies-(warnings) and good advice. The old Delta drill press will stay a drill press and I'll just wait for a mill.
You'll be much happier with one, Chuck, you really will. If you're strapped financially, a mill/drill isn't all that bad, just real inconvenient because of the round column and no knee. Having a knee on a mill makes all the difference in the world.
Good luck!
Harold
You will be much happier with this in the long run. Wise choice!
Jim
================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================
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.