Drill Press: The Cats Meow for Woodworking.

[martin felder]

I was reading a couple of posts about drill presses, and saw the Nova referred to as the "cats meow" of drill presses.  I have a Powermatic.  It too has some bells and whistles - easy speed adjustment without changing belts, laser.

However, it just does not seem all that rigid and stable.  I got a Woodpeckers accessory table and fence, but to me it seems flimsy. Often I end up making a mark on the wood, lower the bit to the wood, move the wood around, and then cut while holding the wood.  Sometimes I regret not using a clamp, but I have had the clamps fail me. 

Anyhow, I came across this 1982 Rockwell radial drill press
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?146681-Benefits-of-Radial-Arm-Drill-press

Looking further, I found out it was a machine restored by a guy named Shane who had it on a shop tour video he posted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=...ime_continue=9&v=Nm0iLunAB7U&feature=emb_logo

Just a matter of opinion, but to me, a drill press like that is the cats meow!  I am not sure what that is worth, but I believe often these guys get them in not so good shape for very little money, but have the skills and devote the time to a restoration process that provides them with a machine better than money can buy new.

If I had that machine, I would make a table with a fence and stops and put is in line with my miter saw so there would be a lot of room.  Since the table does not raise or lower, and since the drill is what moves,  I would think that would allow one to leave not only the table stationary, but also the fence stationary making it very easy to index with stops. 

Anyhow, I just thought some of you may find that drill press interesting.

 

[rvieceli]

Martin if you are interested in radial drill presses here is a smaller Carlton that you won't have to worry about flimsy.  [wink]

Ron

 

[RJNeal]

[attachimg=1]I like my Boice Crane drill press. Gear driven three phase.
I enjo6ed the video on the radial drill press.
We had  a 12 or 16” column by 6 foot travel. Big machine. Everyone was scared to use it.  Sold itit to a welding shop in Napa.

 

[magellan]

Great video.  We also had two of these at work. One was. 4 ft and the other a 6 ft.  I believe one had a 12” Column and the other a 16” column.  I used it for many things. I believe we had bits up to 3.5”.  Our bit racks looked like a torpedo rack with all the bits.  Most guys never took the time to learn how to use it so they stayed away from them. 

The real shame was the company did away with our fabrication department and they scraped both of them and almost every other huge machine we had.  They claimed liability reasons. Sure a waste of fine never to be made again machinery. 

Thanks for sharing

 

[demographic]

Great video.  We also had two of these at work. One was. 4 ft and the other a 6 ft.  I believe one had a 12” Column and the other a 16” column.  I used it for many things. I believe we had bits up to 3.5”.  Our bit racks looked like a torpedo rack with all the bits.  Most guys never took the time to learn how to use it so they stayed away from them. 

The real shame was the company did away with our fabrication department and they scraped both of them and almost every other huge machine we had.  They claimed liability reasons. Sure a waste of fine never to be made again machinery. 

Thanks for sharing

One of the places I worked at whe  I was a teenager had something I knew of as a Radial Arm Drill, anyway it was made by Cinncinati (might have been Bickford but I think there was a milling machine in the shop by Cinncinati Millacron so can't quite remember for sure) and I can remember drilling out to 65mm with it for lifting eyes.
Think it could go as slow as 28 rpm and it was a beast of a thing that kind of scared me a bit.

Not having much instruction didn't help mind, it was kind of "Use that, that does that and that locks/unlocks that and thats the speed, there you go son theres 50 of those to do for Vickers" and I was pretty much left to it.
Shortly after then the company closed down as I think it got a lot of its money from defence contracts and a lot of the money went out of that when the USSR colapsed.

 

[blaszcsj]

[member=71926]martin felder[/member] walker turner has a similar radial drill press. I have been looking for a decent one for a while now. I agree that this would be an amazing machine to complement a shop.

 

[EdL]

The Walker Turner was the predecessor to the Delta, When Delta bought WT, they kept it in the line-up.

Over the years they were had 3 different base styles, enclosed cast, cast leg and finally sheet metal. There were also variations in the number of speeds and stroke length.

Delta was still selling them in the mid 2000's

I've had mine for a few years now, wouldn't know what to do without it.

Ed

 

[martin felder]

That Carlton is an impressive machine and an amazing example of the engineering and quality that went into the building of vintage metalworking machinery.

If I had unlimited space and someone gave me that machine in that condition, I would proudly display it, but for woodworking, I would favor something smaller. 

When I saw that drill press that I referenced, I thought that would be of all of the drill presses I have seen, one I would most want to have for a woodworking shop where things made are cabinets and furniture. 

Some day I would like to have a radial drill press.  However, I have not found many examples of fully restored machines.  For me, I would have to get one fully restored because I lack the machinist skills to deal with a machine that is at high risk for a mechanical problem and there is no customer support from the manufacturer for sure.  Still a risk, but less risk.

 

[Cheese]

That little Rockwell 1982 radial drill is indeed pretty sweet. I never knew they made them that small, my only real life experience is with the larger 8"-10" column radial drills...and they were a force to be reckoned with. [eek]  A Bridgeport is chump change (power wise) compared to a large radial drill.

 

[Cheese]

So this drill press thing is very interesting to me. I don't know what it is but I've always had a hankering for them as they are fascinating machine tools. So simple in their design (think minimalistic Wabeco stand with a drill attached) yet so versatile.

My current modern favorite is a Nova Voyager or better yet a Nova Vulcan. They have all the bells & whistles and convenient amenities, and are easy to assemble and light enough to transport into the basement down a flight of stairs. Reliable, equipped with digital controls and readouts and so much more of what we're accustomed to in the present century. Just yank the keyed chuck and replace it with a good keyless and you're good to go.

And then...there's the old timers, that were relied upon for years upon years to perform their operations on a daily basis, day after day, year after year.

I have an older Delta manufactured in the 80's that weighs about 300#. It's worked well for the 30 years I've owned it. An Albrecht chuck and a few mods brings it up to modern standards. However I'm torn between old school and new school and the 1982 Rockwell radial drill just exacerbates the situation. That's a pretty sweet drill press despite the minuscule 1/2 HP motor mounted on it. Don't get me wrong, 1/2 HP is fine for wood, but it's not fine for metals. I also love the production table mounted on it.

So, over the years I've been looking to add a "real" drill press to my shop. These are my 3 favorites considering that anything in excess of 600# will be difficult for me to put on my back and carry downstairs.  [big grin]

Powermatic 1200 with VFD...continuously variable speeds from 250-4600 rpm and it's just under the 600# limit.

[attachimg=1]

Clausing 15" or 20" series with VFD...continuously variable speeds from 150-2000 rpm, however it pushes the scales at 630#.

[attachimg=2]

Finally an Ellis 9400 with VFD...continuously variable speeds from 0-1200 rpm. Obviously focused more on the metal market than on the woodworking market. However it also tips the scales at 675#.  Like the Voyager it also has an electronic reversing feature for automated tapping.

[attachimg=3]

 

[derekcohen]

If I wanted to look at machines, collect them, then I would have Shanes workshop. The drill he has is spectacular. Oh my ... all the old machines he has restored are spectacular!

But if I want a drill press to use, and one that will take my skills and work up a couple of notches, then I will talk about the Nova Voyager I recently purchased. For 25 years before this purchase I had a Taiwanese floor standing unit. It did the job - it does not take much to drill holes ... heck, I drill holes with a brace by preference for some holes ... but the Nova is a different beast, for a different mind set, and for different tasks. It has a beauty of its own, just a different type of beauty ...

I still love Shane’s ... sigh ...

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[martin felder]

When comparing the Nova to the Clausing and others, they are similar in that the head is stationary.  I did not get to see how the head moves up and down on Shanes, but is sure seems very easy to move the head from back to front and I would imagine there would be no flex.

I have never used a drill press like Shane's and never even saw one like it in person, but I love the idea of a stable non-moving table that is what a radial drill press is all about (in addition to the ability to drill farther away from the edge of the workpiece.  I think that a fixed height table would really open up options for fences and stops.  I could imagine being able to walk over to the drill press equipped with a large table at a height that will be flush with other things that open up more table support,  setting the stop to the marking like on a miter saw, setting the distance from the edge of the workpiece, and drilling the hole. 

 

[martin felder]

 

[Mario Turcot]

That drill press  [jawdrop] no but  [jawdrop] seriously  [eek]

[member=4358]derekcohen[/member] How did you like your table. Do you feel you have enough clamping capability?

I am at drawing mine and any input is welcome  [wink]

 

[Jiggy Joiner]

I love the old pillar drills and presses. We’ve had a few including Meddings and a couple of Fobco Stars, and I really think they were built to last a lifetime but’ I absolutely love the Nova Voyager, there really is nothing else like it, and it’s easy to use and efficient.
Since I’ve had mine, I do actually use the various speeds now, where as with the belt driven machines, I tended to use what I considered to be a general setting, and plodded on. As Cheese mentioned the stock chuck and arbor are probably it’s only weakness but, easily replaced.
I’d recommend the Voyager to anybody, and the smaller Viking looks superb too.

[member=66597]Mario Turcot[/member] I suppose the best size table, would be as small as you could get away with. In my case, the tables on our other drills proved to be too small a lot of the time. So I made a new one for the Voyager at a more suitable size. I didn’t want a cut out for the height crank handle, so I replace the crank handle with a wheel.
My overall table dimensions are:

750mm Wide x 450mm Deep x 35mm Thick.

 

[Mario Turcot]

My actual design is 760mm x 560mm x 36mm with a half moon in the back. I want to be able to puish back the fence as far as possible. No crank notch here too  [big grin]

I ordered an alum wheel crank and shaft + bearings to go with the coppler I found a few months ago  [wink]

I was wondering about Derek table, because in my desigh I have the same T-track design Woodpecker have. Two parallel track of ~300mm and another track across the front table. I was hesitant to use T-track at the beginning, because of the chips and dust getting clogged in the tracks.

edit: Wait, I just realized Woodpecker table do NOT have a front track  [eek] wondering where I saw that  [embarassed]

 

[Jiggy Joiner]

After I’d finished my table, I wondered if I’d got carried away with the channels but, they’ve proved to be really useful for all kinds of clamping.
They don’t clog, as I have an extraction port, and if that misses anything I just vacuum them when I’m finished:

 

[Mario Turcot]

That is for sure a nice table  [thumbs up]

I'm using the Lee Valley quad track. They will hold in place using 1/4-20 bolts. I'm always affraid of clamping too tight that the track would lift from the wood  [eek]

 

[rvieceli]

Mario I think you would like another t track centered in front of the middle of your table. Doesn’t have to be full length, just a shirt piece parallel to the others but in front of your insert. It allows you to employ a stop against the workpiece.

Ron

 

[Mario Turcot]

I see what you mean Ron, good idea. I'm about to cut the first layer of two 18mm BB. After that I will have to take a decision about the final placement of the T-tracks.

Thanks!