# Milling Table On Drill Press?



## taycat (Aug 7, 2015)

picked nice drill press from factory closure ( thats now 6 i have).
no table with it as they had jig on it, as got rack and gear still on it so fitting table pce of cake.
thing is someone i know is getting rid of milling machine ( benchtop type ) as needs all new bearings in head and motor is naff.
i can have it for scrap value, is it going to be worth trying to fit table from it to drill?


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## T Bredehoft (Aug 7, 2015)

A mill table  under a drill press head should be very nice for drilling accurately placed  holes, but the bearings in a drill press spindle will not take side loading, so I wouldn't mill on it. 

Be aware that the weight of the Mill Table will be far more than the drill press platform, and perhaps shouldn't be hung from the column, but supported by the base.


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## mike837go (Aug 7, 2015)

Another vote for "Go for it!"

Definitely will help getting the work piece aligned for drilling. Instead of it wandering off as you tighten the vise.


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## taycat (Aug 7, 2015)

won't use it for milling.
got project coming up that it'll be gret for.


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## Bill Gruby (Aug 7, 2015)

A better idea since there is no table would be a Rotary Table with XY capabilities.

"Billy G"


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## kwoodhands (Sep 27, 2015)

taycat said:


> picked nice drill press from factory closure ( thats now 6 i have).
> no table with it as they had jig on it, as got rack and gear still on it so fitting table pce of cake.
> thing is someone i know is getting rid of milling machine ( benchtop type ) as needs all new bearings in head and motor is naff.
> i can have it for scrap value, is it going to be worth trying to fit table from it to drill?



I had a milling table on my larger drill press, not from a used machine but a new purchase.Worked very well for accurate drilling of parts.I removed it ,still have it but not on the drill press. I'll put it back when needed.
mike


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## kd4gij (Sep 28, 2015)

I have an x y table on my drill press also. For drilling of cores.


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## louosten (Oct 4, 2015)

I have an older, heavy, 16" bench drill press that I'd like to do some part time 'light' milling on. I've done this on my 10" Craftsman bench model. Yes, it's not set up for milling, and the single row ball bearings near the chuck do not handle side loads, but you can do it if you're careful and take light cuts. The bearings 'take it on the chin' and will probably suffer an early demise, so keep I this in mind.


My question, in rebuilding the old machine, is, are there double row bearings available that you can obtain to replace the older single row OEM bearings, thereby being better able to handle the side loads? The quill and chuck on this old machine are pretty beefy and there is very little distance between the two, making it fairly rigid. I have an x/y table that would clamp nicely to the base, which has a machined T-slot surface.

Seems doable, and some of you may have already performed this modification on other machines. Let me know, and thanks in advance!


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## David S (Oct 4, 2015)

Lou the use of a drill press for milling has been discussed in other threads.  Most advise against for the bearing issue you mentioned, plus not recommending using a milling cutter in a drill chuck.

Having said that I have been using a bench top JET circa 1970's made in Japan drill press with an X-Y table for over 5 years with good success.  I mainly mill aluminum and brass for repair old clocks.

I suggest you measure the TIR of the spindle at the chuck before you begin.  Mine is still under 0.0015".  I had to modify the down feed so it can be advanced and held in position, and I added a DRO for the Z axis.   My X-Y table didn't come with locks so I modified a gib screw on each axis to provide the locks.

David


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## John Hasler (Oct 4, 2015)

David S said:


> plus not recommending using a milling cutter in a drill chuck.


I have a fix for that, provided that the slots for using a drift to drive out a taper are accessible when the quill is up.


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## David S (Oct 4, 2015)

John Hasler said:


> I have a fix for that, provided that the slots for using a drift to drive out a taper are accessible when the quill is up.



Oh thank you.  I don't need a fix.  I simply chuck the end mill in the three jaw chuck.  I was just stating that most will advise against it.

David


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