Advice on Buying a Drill Press or Mill in Europe

[MichaelW2014]

Hello guys. Mills and Drills. Why not just buy a mill instead of a drill press? what is a good drill press or mill for the hobbyist who seeks accuracy?

The woodpeckers drill press table with fence and flat stops looks good. Maybe I would like a drill press or mill with one of these attached?

 

[Lbob131]

Matthias  Wandell's  view on  drill press tables....

 

[MichaelW2014]

i'll give it a shot thanks. i usually like his videos, and learn from them, but he never seems to really go for absolute accuracy. he is more interested in the engineering or how things work rather than the product and the quality of the output--which is great, but not the same as my main focus.

 

[Cheese]

[member=27363]MichaelW2014[/member]
I watched the video...the reason he doesn't use a table is because he's using a bench mounted drill press, duh. I agree with him that if he was to mount a table to that drill press, it would become a ridiculous clumsy tool to operate.

However on a floor standing drill press it's a whole nother story. I've got the Woodpeckers table mounted on an old Delta metal working drill. Sweet...the table along with about 6 flip-stops make things alot easier for me. The original flip-stops were machined from aluminum, then they decided to injection mold them [sad] [crying] [mad], and recently they went back to machined aluminum with a stainless flag. Received some the other day and they are real nice.

Now Matthias, about using a precision caliper as a scratch awl... [jawdrop] that's just too painful to watch...even if it is on wood.

 

[MichaelW2014]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]
does it make a difference using a metal drill machine or a wood drill machine to work on wood?

 

[Cheese]

[member=27363]MichaelW2014[/member]
Not really, because I do some metal fabrication, I just prefer a metal working drill press because they usually have a a range of slower speeds to drill steel and cast iron. Also most metal drill presses will come with at least a 1hp motor, the quill and main post will be a larger diameter, the drill table is usually heavier and more solidly constructed and usually has T-slots for clamping items, the base is heavier and larger for better stability. It's usually just a more robust machine. Starting weight is in the 375-400# arena.

It works fine for either metal or wood with the Woodpeckers table attachment.  [thumbs up] If I need to machine some large piece of metal, I simply remove the Woodpeckers with 2 bolts and use the original production table.

 

[MichaelW2014]

hmm, sounds great. as i plan to have a metal shop eventually perhaps i will go in this direction.

 

[Hurricane Whisperer]

[member=27363]MichaelW2014[/member]
I watched the video...the reason he doesn't use a table is because he's using a bench mounted drill press, duh. I agree with him that if he was to mount a table to that drill press, it would become a ridiculous clumsy tool to operate.

However on a floor standing drill press it's a whole nother story. I've got the Woodpeckers table mounted on an old Delta metal working drill. Sweet...the table along with about 6 flip-stops make things alot easier for me. The original flip-stops were machined from aluminum, then they decided to injection mold them [sad] [crying] [mad], and recently they went back to machined aluminum with a stainless flag. Received some the other day and they are real nice.

Now Matthias, about using a precision caliper as a scratch awl... [jawdrop] that's just too painful to watch...even if it is on wood.

Good quality calipers are hardened and make excellent precision marking gages in wood or aluminum.  Harder materials are blued first before marking and you just mark the blueing. 

You can do this without harming the usefulness or precision of the calipers and they will last for many years as long as you use proper technique.  Any wear that occurs is just on the tip and the rest of the anvils are unharmed and remain precise for measurements.

I highly recommend trying it when you are doing precise work.