Can a regular drill press use an end mill bit and kind of convert the drill press into a crude end mill?
Hoow do those end mill bits cut? DO they go straight down like a drill bit? Do they make a square instead of a hole?
The answer that I saw, quite convincing, was no. The method of holding chucks in a drill press (taper) does not hold the chuck properly when a transverse force (horizontal) is applied.
i
I've heard the effect referred to as "hand grenading". A spinning chuck with a sharp end mill in it bouncing all over the place trying to find your flesh. Not a pretty thought.
Not all drill presses are made like that though. My Craftsman floor model, which I bought new from Sears about 43 years ago, has a round threaded collar with a spanner wrench hole in it which positively keeps the chuck from dropping out.
I doubt that the bearings in it are ballsy enough to take very heavy side loads, but I have on occassion cheated, grabbed an end mill in the chuck, bolted an cheepo x-y table onto the drill press, and done a little light milling of aluminum or wood parts.
YMMV,
Jeff
Yes, but the emphasis is on ***CRUDE***!!
End mills come in many varieties, and cut differently. Some are said to be 'center cutting', and will drill holes much like drill (but not as well). Others (the most common kind) need an existing hole to follow, as they cannot remove the material at the center of the hole. End mills can also cut on their SIDES, thus elongating a hole, or 'planing' the side of a workpiece. This is where the drill press falls down compared to a real milling machine. Such side cutting creates large side forces which the bearings and quill of the drill press are NOT designed to withstand. Thus the machine flexes badly, resulting in tool 'chatter' and cuts of unpredictable depth. Using a drillpress for milling is a very bad idea (but some get away with it, sometimes, due to luck or skill).
Another problem is that end mills create large AXIAL forces, trying to pull the cutter out of the chuck, or pull the chuck OFF the machine. Worse, the shanks of end mills (unlike drills) are hardened, so a drill chuck cannot really grip them. Drill press chucks are not normally fastened to the machine ... they are just pressed onto a taper, and be pulled OFF relatively easy. NOT good! The tool holders on a milling machine (usually milling cutter holders or collets, NOT chucks) are held into the machine by a threaded drawbar, grip FAR better than a chuck, and can't easily come off the machine.
These are just some of the problems.
Dan Mitchell ============
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