Crazy idea or not? End mill holder for WT 15in drill press

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mattthemuppet2

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Hi all,

I'm starting out in this machining hobby and I've been very lucky to be given or acquire very cheaply a bunch of cool old machinery, including a mystery mini lathe and a Walker Turner 15in floor standing drill press. I like making LED lights, especially for mountain biking, and the other tool that would be super useful for this is a small mill. However, we'll be moving soon, possibly back to the UK (hopefully not though) so it doesn't make sense to buy another tool, even if I had the money which I don't :)

I was originally going to make a small milling attachment for my lathe before I got the drill press, but after that realised that an X-Y table would be a much better approach. I know that milling on drill presses isn't ideal, but it will be almost exclusively in aluminium, I can take light cuts (it's not like I'm getting paid for this!) and the WT at least has 4 radial bearings and a quill lock, so I should be okay. One thing that I'm worried about is holding end-mills in the chuck. It's a Jacobs 6A, but it's on an integral male JT3 or JT33 taper, so I'm worried about side loading causing the chuck to wander off the taper.

However, after reading about Masteryoda's very impressive drill press>mill conversions, I got to thinking. First thought was an ER collet chuck with a female JT taper and locking pin/ screw (I can grind a small flat on the JT taper to locate the screw), but I don't have any threading capability to make the collet nut and collets = money. My next thought is to make an end mill holder with a JT taper and a 5/8 bore with a set screw for the end mill flat. As I have a 6pc starter end mill set, I'd then make a set of sleeves for the smaller end mills, either retained with a small set screw or with a hole for the end mill holder set screw to go through. Changing end mills would then just require unscrewing the main set screw, drop out the end mill (sleeved or not) and put in another one.

I don't want to bugger up my drill press as it is one of the most awesome tools I've ever owned and I intend to get a small mill at some point in the future, but being able to do small milling jobs would really open up what I can do. I'm not all that worried about the spindle bearings as I'd like to tear down and rebuild the drill press at some point in the future, so I can replace them then if necessary.

What do you think? Any obvious flaws or improvements? What sort of steel would work best for this? If I can find steel pipe in roughly the right diameters that would save a whole lot of turning and boring.
 
I definitely don't like the idea of side loads on a JT taper, set screw or not.

If it was pinned, I would feel a lot better about it, but it would have to be a through pin, possibly a taper pin would be best-and then I'd be concerned about losing the area that was drilled out for the pin on the JT taper, which might lessen the effectiveness of the taper when you put your drill chuck back on.

I think the best bet would be some kind of collar that included a bearing, and pressed against the nose of whatever adapter, pushing it up onto the JT taper. This collar would have to be attached somehow to the non-rotating part of the quill/spindle.

If there is enough meat on the quill around the JT taper, you could also attach a non-bearing collar of some sort that would rotate with the adapter/quill.
 
hmm, thanks Andy, food for thought. The spindle does have a couple of collars on it above the taper, at least one of which is used (according to the manual) to force the chuck off the taper when the chuck needs to be removed. I'll have to check the manual again.

Would incorporating this collar help? Ideally using the taper as a register and the threaded section of the spindle to hold the adapter. I'd have to double check which way the collar threads, having the adapter unscrew during use wouldn't be any better. I wonder if the upper collar could be used as a locking collar? Might just be best to pull the spindle before attempting any of this, just to see how stuff goes together as well as to regrease any of the accessible bearings.
 
I'll take some tonight, hopefully my camera will play along as it's supposed to hit 0F tonight!
 
G'day Matt. I know you want flexability but I would recommend against using the drill press as a mill. The machine was not designed to take side loads and this will cause it undue wear and problems later down the track. I understand the need to have a combined solution and that you want to keep the drill press. Couldn't you look at a cheaper benchtop mill? I had the same inner struggle and ended up with a combined mill / drill and a small bench top drill press as a compromise. I just don't want to see someone damage a nice old machine.

Paul.
 
thanks Paul, I appreciate the input. However, at the moment even $60 for the x-y vise was a big stretch and something I had to save several months for, so even a small mill is out of my price range. I figure that if I baby it and lock the quill, the only wear will be in the bearings which I can (and probably should) replace in the future anyway.

Andy, found an interesting tidbit in the manual just now:

"However, when using the 7D11 collet chuck or 9D5 adapter the knurled nut is placed over the adapter or chuck after it is put on the spindle. In the case of the latter items the nut secures them to the spindle assuring their remaining tight despite the side thrust developed through their use."

The picture of the 9D5 adapter is so grainy as to be useless unfortunately. Also, the JT>MT1 adapter isn't secured using this knurled nut as the manual states it is subject only to downward force and no side loading. Sounds like WT anticipated these machines being used for something that side loaded the spindle, otherwise they presumably wouldn't have made the adapters that are mentioned in the manual.
 
hmm, interesting idea!

here are a couple of photos of the chuck/ spindle/ lock ring
IMG_3216_zps28cb6a0c.jpg
IMG_3217_zpsf807b5c4.jpg

I had a quick go trying to get the chuck off but it wouldn't budge, so I can't tell how that lock ring would keep an adapter on. It may have a lip, but I can't see it right now. There's another collar above it with 4 holes (presumably for a C-spanner) which I'm guessing is the lower bearing cover as it rotates with the spindle. As and when I need to get the chuck off I'll have to buy, make or borrow a pair of those little chuck removal wedges.

IMG_3216_zps28cb6a0c.jpg IMG_3217_zpsf807b5c4.jpg
 
O.K.,it looks like your WT drill press has the same collar as on my 1963 Craftsman drill press. These same chucks are still available from Jacobs today. I had to buy one to replace the original junk chuck on a variable speed Rockwell Chinese drill press I bought for the shop where I worked. They have eliminated any knurling these days as it is too easy to catch hair or clothing on.

So,your chuck should not fly off. I have used my Craftsman for routing wood back in the 60's,but they incorporated an annoying rubber ring around the spindle,so it jumps sideways. This was to absorb shock,they said. Just annoying in the end. I have ceased long ago from using the D.P. for routing except with 1/32" end mills when rough inletting pearl inlays into guitar fingerboards. I have the hi-lo speed attachment they offered back then,so I can get 10,000 RPM as well as crawling speeds. It does not jump with bits that small.

Long ago,I made a stacked and glued plywood fixture to clamp around the column and hold a router at the other end. It is 4" thick,and worked well. All that is passé now that I have milling machines.

Regardless of your chuck,it might be hard on your spindle bearings to do much milling. Drill press bearings are NOT DESIGNED for sideways loads. They REALLY AREN'T. If you are low on money,it might be a problem replacing them if they go bad. Aluminum is at least a relatively easy metal to mill. Use WD 40 or kerosene as a cutting lubricant. It works great,and will keep your cutters from loading up with impact welded aluminum on the cutting edges.

Also,it is NOT THE BEST thing to hold end mills in a chuck,so you know. They are more prone to slipping,and they are hard on the chuck jaws from sideways stresses. HSS end mills are very hard,and will burnish the narrow jaw faces over time,making your chuck to not run true,or not able to clamp small drill bits. If they slip,wrap a SINGLE layer of BROWN(clay less) paper around the end mill at least. Let the end of the paper terminate between the jaws so the paper doesn't throw the end mills off center. Non clay paper holds like crazy,especially in vise jaws. Your chuck jaws might just pinch through the paper with the sideways hammering,but try it. Do not use shiny paper of any kind. It has clay in it or wax,possibly.

P.S.: The locking ring unscrews downward. Why do you want to take it off? You may have already explained why,I'll check.

Tell me,what kind of things are you trying to make? How large are these parts you want to make? How large are the shanks of your end mills? Please answer these questions. It will be to your benefit.
 
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