# For Those Forced To Use A Drill Press For Milling



## Billh50

Here is a video I found on the internet about using a drill press for milling. ( which is how I do my milling as I cannot afford a real miller )


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## Bill Gruby

Before Rudy died he made many videos like this for the neophyte. I met Rudy on several occasions at different  shows. If he says it, it is gospel. Thank you Bill.

 "Billy G"


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## krprice84

I don't think you should do side milling, certainly not anything remotely deep. The forces on the cutter are trying to pull it downwards, and without a draw bar, your chuck will come out.

For light surface cuts, it works alright, I've done it myself in the past


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## Billh50

It can happen....but hasn't happened to me yet in 6yrs using my drill press as a miller. I do both surface and side milling all the time. Just have to take small cuts and slower feeds. Plunge cuts also.

It all depends on the drill press and the chuck.  my chuck holds endmills very tight.


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## the gentleman

Bad idea using a drill press for milling . . . . very dangerous . . . .


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## Andre

the gentleman said:


> Bad idea using a drill press for milling . . . . very dangerous . . . .


The worst that can happen is the endmill slips, drill chuck dismounts or you nick your workpiece. From what I've seen online, some very nice work can be done on a drill press.


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## Fabrickator

Or, the chuck comes out spinning at 600 or 800 rpm with a supper sharp 2 or 4 flute end mill taking a football bounce and you do the (un)Happy Dance to avoid it slicing your hands, arms, legs or foot.  Bad idea all around.


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## Billh50

well like I said....I am not like the guys who can afford to buy a mill so I use what I have. It has worked for me for 6yrs with no problems. I just make sure I don't take too heavy a cut. And the information was only for those who can't afford to buy a mill. I got the drill press for nothing and the cross slide was only $100.


So unless someone has a mill for sale for that low a price I can't afford it as that is about all I have left for hobbies each month because disability doesn't pay much.


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## David S

Bill as I have written elsewhere on this forum I have been using my JET-13R, made in Japan circa 1970's for a mill for over 6 years doing light clock work.  When I first got it, and before I thought of using it for a mill the chuck would come out drilling 1/2" holes in 4" steel channel.  I finally got so P'd off that one evening I cleaned up the taper, but some loctite sleeve retainer on the taper, slammed the quill down onto the table and hung a weight on the spindle feed.  It hasn't come off in 45 years.  Hope I never have to take it off.

I have made a few mods to the X-Y table and DP to control the down feed.  Fortunately mine has a rack and crank to adjust the table height.

David


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## Billh50

David.....we do what we have to to get things done.  And I wish I had a rack and crank on mine. Things would be so much easier with them.


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## Bill Gruby

Before I got my Clausing Mill I to used the Drill Press. I used a rotary table with X-Y capability. Just made a plate to use as an added feature. I hesitated all the time in telling people I did this for the very reason that is happening here. If you are careful and follow the rules using the Drill Press for a mill is not that big of a deal. This is my opinion. You know come to think of it maybe using those four words in a post would take some of the sting out of the negativity, "in my ipinion"

 As Bill said sometimes you have no choice.

 "Billy G"


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## David S

I have one more reason if I may.  Due to arthritis my spine is totally fused (not complaining just setting the stage).  My friend has a "real" mini mill, but I find that with a mill the quill moves down to the work piece and it is awkward for me.  With the drill press the work piece is raised up to the quill / chuck so I don't have to try and bend. It works much better for me.

As for the safety aspect, I am very aware of having the milling going on pretty high close to my face so I will use a full face shield if I think the job requires it.

I certainly don't mind members reminding us of the various safety hazards that can be present.

David


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## Round in circles

Some of you guy's would need clean trousers  if you'd  seen me using my big two handed plunge Bosch router with a decent guide collar to cut thick aluminium under a 19 mm HDF  stencil using  1/2 & 1/4 " cutters  . It was all bolted & screwed down tight , I'd  take a few thou of an inch cut at a couple of thousand RPM on each pass with the machine locked to the depth  . It has been a very good way of doing it  especially out in the farm sheds when I was setting things up .

If the area being removed was too big to do it in one go say 9 inches or so across  @ 1/2 an inch deep  I'd make inserts that were screwed in place  to work round & mill round them to depth then remove the insert and put a new insert in the milled out area .


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## schor

I've done it a few times before I got my mill.






And sometimes it doesn't work.


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## Billh50

I will admit that most chucks will loosen, whether from taper or just loosen the end mill, during milling. But on some drill presses an adapter can be made for the spindle to accept end mills with a setscrew to lock them in. Most of these are the industrial grade machines.


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## Dunc1

I have seen various diy accessories (for eg., Pop Mechanics, July 1954 - there are others) to stabilize the drill press/chuck to resist side-loads better.
An old Delta (I think) drill press book mentioned replacing the drill chuck with a collet assembly (presumably on a Morse taper to insert into the quill) to provide better retention for the end mill. While perhaps better than a drill chuck it lacked, afaik, any means to use a drawbar to secure the assembly. 
That said, I have not personally tried any of these ideas and I would be extremely reluctant to give it a go.


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## Charles Spencer

Dunc1 said:


> I have seen various diy accessories (for eg., Pop Mechanics, July 1954 - there are others) to stabilize the drill press/chuck to resist side-loads better.



Here's one I saw that looked like a good design:

https://archive.org/stream/PopularMechanics1969/Popular Mechanics-01-1969#page/n177/mode/2up


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## Paul in OKC

The video above shows why this is not the best idea. I understand you gotta do what you gotta do, but........My suggestion might be to plunge the cut first, then mill it, if possible. Keep cuts as light as possible!


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## schor

Paul in OKC said:


> The video above shows why this is not the best idea. I understand you gotta do what you gotta do, but........My suggestion might be to plunge the cut first, then mill it, if possible. Keep cuts as light as possible!



I was skimming off very little each pass, but I did have the quill extended quite a bit and was getting chatter which is probably why the chuck pulled off.


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## mattthemuppet2

I've been using a HF XY vise (heavily modded) to mill on a 15in Walker Turner drill press with a collet chuck that George Wilson gave me. It has a female JT33 taper to match the spindle and a threaded retaining collar. Supposedly for using the DP as a router or drum sander. I made 1/8, 3/16, 3/8 and 6mm collets to go with the 1/4 one it came with, so I can hold most endmills with it and very securely too.

It works ok for milling - great for plastic, ok for alu and _very_ slow for steel. It chatters alot with steel and I have to be very careful with flex and wander when cutting alu, but it's better than not having a mill. Teaching me a ton about set up, speeds and feeds and everything else too. Currently milling a T nut for my 618 compound so that I can mount my new QCTP. It's slow work but way faster than using a file!

Trust me, as soon as I'm in a position to buy a mill, I will! Even a minimill will be better than this


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## Billh50

Matt....that's what I have been doing for 6yrs so far. It is better than a file and if care is taken can be done somewhat safely. But as you stated even a minimill would be better.


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## David S

Just finished making a frame for a tool I am making out of 1/2" aluminum plate side milling with a 10 mm two flute end mill on my converted drill press.  Not a perfect finish, but a lot better than a file.  I rough cut it out with the band saw first. (Black & Decker drill powered band saw at that ).  Finished all the edges square with the end mill.


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## mattthemuppet2

here's mine



QCTP T-nut made from mystery steel. Dimensionally it's not perfect, partly because the vise is pretty crappy on my XY table, but it fits and it works


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## David S

Matt your finish looks pretty much like mine.  Nice going.   Some times we have to do what we have to do with the resources we have to enjoy our hobby.

David


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## mattthemuppet2

yup, not great, but it'll do! I'll try and avoid cutting steel as much as possible though, it's really tough to do - I had a problem with the cutter pulling out of the collet which I've never had before cutting alu. Still, all good things to learn


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## louosten

Matthemuppet;
I'd like to make a JT33 collet chuck for my 15" Walker Turner, similar to what you've described. Can you post a few pics of your setup? I too have done extremely light milling on my 10" Craftsman DP and an XY table, taking very light cuts and going slow. A lot of racket, but in a pinch it will work until a proper mill can be obtained; thanks in advance!


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## mattthemuppet2

sure!












If I were to do one from scratch I'd probably go with an ER11 set up, as ER collets have way more range than the ones I made for this. You'd need to machine the JT33 taper, the ER (16deg total) taper, threads for the ER nut and threads for the spindle nut. File or grind a couple of flats on the chuck for a spanner, but an ER11 spanner and a set of collets and you're good to go  be great for drilling too, especially small holes.

Although I'm very happy to have some milling capacity, every time I do so (especially with steel) I am reminded by how much I really want a proper mill  Even a Sieg X2 or 3 would be awesome..


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## louosten

The pics are awesome! Thanks a lot; your setup and suggestions are just what I need to consider...many thanks!


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## mattthemuppet2

you're welcome  Another idea - if you can pin another ring below the spindle ring then unscrewing the spindle ring will push the chuck off the taper. At present I use (carefully) a screwdriver to pop it off.


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## FOMOGO

I have a lot of respect for folks who can make things happen with minimum equipment and dollars. I've spent the better part of my life getting to where I have the disposable income to purchase some fairly nice toys, and even now I'm generally looking for good deals on used stuff. For a long time I had to make do with what I had and make what I needed and couldn't afford to buy. I think that kind of path teaches us to think on our feet and in the end makes us more creative and well rounded human beings. Not saying we should throw safety and caution out the window, but with out a little calculated risk and original thinking where would we be as a country, or for that matter as a species. Mike


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## utterstan

i finally gotta x y table busy bee for 50 bucks so i'll be using my drillpress tommorrow.wish me luck.


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## markba633csi

Be careful the chuck doesn't fall out from the side forces unless yours uses a threaded chuck.
MS


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## savarin

I epoxied my chuck on my cheap drill press because any drill over 6 mm often caused the chuck to come off.
That was 10 years ago and its still permantly in place.
I did a bit of milling but due to the play in the spindle it was really a waste of time.


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## Billh50

Some of those cheap drill presses have too much slop in the spindles. The heavier built machines work better but you still have to find out how much material you can remove at a time. If you try to remove too much at a  time you will get some real bad finishes or possibly have the head spin on you and break something. Not to mention some have had the chuck come loose. 
I have had the head spin on me and pull the part right out of the vise and ruin it. I have also learned how to get better finishes with mine. But because of the limit of material I can remove at a pass it take me 4 or 5 times as long to make something. If you can ever buy a real mill I would say do so. I wish I had when I could afford it.
I don't do much in my shop now because I can't spend the time milling without feeling the effects on my health. It now takes me over a week to do what I could in a day with a real miller because of my health.
I do miss not being able to make stuff that I can't afford to buy. But I guess that is the way things go sometimes. I keep telling people " If it wasn't for bad luck I would have no luck at all"


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## David S

Utterstan I am not sure which x - y table you got, but you may have to make a modification to be able to lock each axis.  I had to modify the one I got from Busy Bee a number of years ago.

David


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## kingmt01

I would suggest against it but I too use tools outside of their intended use. I'm not sure I've ever milled on my drill press but I probably have. I do remember using it as a lathe a few times. It didn't work very well but ended up with a usable tool from it. I've even used the power train of my car as the lathe & my caliper bracket as the tool rest to face my rotors. I had a lathe big enough but I couldn't get the rotor off the hubs to face them.

However I am also limited on founds & reuse my arbors for my milling medicine. To pull a chuck I slip a end mill in the chuck & just touch it to the work. It always seems to yank it right off. I don't tighten it more then hand tight & it still pulls the chuck before it pulls the mill out.

My drill press is a junky HF that I bought 20 years ago for $30 or $40 the best I can remember. Sometimes I pull the chuck from just drilling.


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## John Hasler

utterstan said:


> i finally gotta x y table busy bee for 50 bucks so i'll be using my drillpress tommorrow.wish me luck.


I have one of those Chinese tables on my Avey, but I had to do a lot of work on it to make it usable.


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## Billh50

My Walker Turner drill press has taken a .020 x 2" cut with a fly cutter many times without the chuck loosening. The finish is not perfect but the a couple passes at .002 - .003 usually makes it passable. 
I think this chuck is so stuck on that it would take dynamite to remove it.


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## caspaincmonster

It really is going to depend on the drill in question. There is Arboga, they made mt2 quill "drills" with xy tables. http://www.lathes.co.uk/arboga/page4.html 

I have a "light" bench top drill from them without the xy table etc and it is a beast, around 90kg so I have no doubt their bigger version would be an acceptable mill. That said a real mill is worth it. L

Sent from my XT1072 using Tapatalk


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## Christian Poulsen

Yikes!...But ifn' that's all you have, this is a good video (quill up as far as possible to the head, locked (being rigid as possible everywhere) and tiny depths of cut are his main points)...and realizing that an end mill in that drill chuck and drill press clearances (tolerences)  will not mill you to precision tolerances if needed without some deep thought such as "sneaking up" on a slot dim. with possibly a series of reground endmills and/or leaving stock for hand filing  . (Note: If "side" milling, in X and Y, (say for to get 2 sides square), even just a few thousanths, will be troubles to the part and the machine)....


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## John Hasler

caspaincmonster said:


> It really is going to depend on the drill in question. There is Arboga, they made mt2 quill "drills" with xy tables. http://www.lathes.co.uk/arboga/page4.html


And there is Avey: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...-for-making-my-avey-a-mill.20112/#post-171820  (It doesn't look quite like that any more).


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## Billh50

I know if I take light finish cuts, and sometimes a couple at same setting, I can hold a part within .002 - .003 of size and squareness over 3 inches. Depth can vary a bit more depending on the amount of cut and how sharp the endmill is. The vise I have is not the best so it is hard to get anything parallel or square that way.


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## mikey

I recently changed the bearings in my RF-31 mill/drill and know for certain that it is just a big drill press, on steroids maybe. The design of the head is almost identical to most drill presses. Aside from mass, it differs little. Based on my experience with my mill and drill presses I've done in the past, the key components that would determine the ability to mill with a drill press would be the bearings - both spindle and drive sleeve. While I agree that having just a taper holding the chuck arbor can be iffy, that isn't the issue. The real issue is that a drill chuck is not accurate enough for milling.

If I only had a drill press, I would swap the bearings to either angular contact bearings or deep groove bearings in the quill and use deep groove bearings in the drive sleeve. I would also look into a Morse Taper ER chuck. Then I think a drill press could handle light milling and produce decent work.


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## Christian Poulsen

...I once took a 77' Vette 4 wheeling LOL (But really!...I did get some good air and hang time before all 4 fenders had cracks up and around the centers and the steering column broke!...)  A vertical mill makes for both a mill and a drill press due to head (including adjustment to table IE X, Y to dead flat or any angle), column, knee (castings), quill, bearings, table, leead screws and nuts, collett system, accessories (yada, yada) ...a drill press makes for a drill press but not much a mill but again (yikes!) ifn' it's all you got and for light hobby work refer to the videos here, advice and some pics here...sorry all, trying to be friendly here but the 1st 2 machines to obtain are a mill and a lathe or vicy vercy and almost every other machine tool (an old shaper might be alone?) is relative to them (or they are relative to every other machine tool?)...even a massive cast Moore jig borer will turn to junk if used as a mill instead of holes....and because a drill press looks kinda' like a vertical mill, it aint...


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## John Hasler

mikey said:


> If I only had a drill press, I would swap the bearings to either angular contact bearings or deep groove bearings in the quill and use deep groove bearings in the drive sleeve. I would also look into a Morse Taper ER chuck. Then I think a drill press could handle light milling and produce decent work.


My Avey was built with angular contact bearings.  I modified the spindle so that I can use drawbar-type Morse tapers.


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## Round in circles

Dave sighs & dreams ....dreams big .... a home made milling machine ? 
Well it's not out the question that's for sure with welded up 6 inch steel girder as the skeleton . 
I must have some more dream time , much more dream time .

 I didn't fully understand what you guys were on about when you were referring to the draw bar ... I do now 

 So.....  a lump of small bean can sized steel can be the holder for the threaded collar of the collet & tool holders so long as it is threaded & securely mechanically locked on to the  driving  shaft .  I take it that adjustable pre loaded taper roller bearings round the drive shaft are the order of the day & I'm to  make it so the bed vice raises & lowers to get different heights rather than make life difficult & raise the motor & drive unit head  ?


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## schor

utterstan said:


> i finally gotta x y table busy bee for 50 bucks so i'll be using my drillpress tommorrow.wish me luck.



Make sure you video it. Use ominous music etc so that when the chuck falls off......


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## David S

This thread was originally started by Billh50.  He stated that he was using a drill press as a mill based on economics.

There have been many subsequent post stating pros and cons...mostly cons.

I have been using my jet bench mount drill press for milling for at least 10 years.

When I first bought it around 1970 the chuck would come out when drilling 1/2" holes in 3" channel.  I got ****** off and finally one night took the chuck off, cleaned the taper, smeared some loctite sleeve retainer on the taper, jammed the chuck back on and hung a weight on the quill handle to keep pressure on the chuck interface and went to bed.  So after 40 years no more issues.

I repair old clocks and most of my machining is with aluminum and brass.   I can do lots of great milling with my mill after all the mods I have made.

I made a presentation at one point to outline what I did to determine if a press would be suitable for light milling.  I include it here.






























My point of posting this is that yes a good robust drill press can be used successfully as a mill.  Is it ideal?  No.  If the drill press is of appropriate construction, can it be used for light milling?  Yes.

I have done tonnes of milling on my set up and so far have no desire to buy anything else.

David


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## ogberi

BillH, 
What is the diameter at the top of your drill press spindle?  I ask because if it's a #2MT on the business end, maybe the spindle could be bored for a small diameter (1/4x20?) Drawbar and the 3/8x16 thread in a 2MT fitted with a loctite secured Bush to 1/4x20. The slot for the tapered arbor removal tool can be used with a spanner to tighten/loosen the drawbar.

If you don't have a lathe & tooling to do that (if you're interested in doing that) I'm sure a list member would help.  I don't think my 9x36 SB has enough bed to do that, and I have no steady rest. Just a thought to increase safety.


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## John Hasler

ogberi said:


> BillH,
> What is the diameter at the top of your drill press spindle?  I ask because if it's a #2MT on the business end, maybe the spindle could be bored for a small diameter (1/4x20?) Drawbar and the 3/8x16 thread in a 2MT fitted with a loctite secured Bush to 1/4x20. The slot for the tapered arbor removal tool can be used with a spanner to tighten/loosen the drawbar.
> 
> If you don't have a lathe & tooling to do that (if you're interested in doing that) I'm sure a list member would help.  I don't think my 9x36 SB has enough bed to do that, and I have no steady rest. Just a thought to increase safety.



Another approach:

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/the-avey-lives.21320/#post-189867

I did redo the chuck mechanism with acme threads and thrust bearings and it does work better.


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## Billh50

The spindle shaft it a bit small for boring that deep. Also the shaft has a Jacobs taper on the end for the chuck. Not an internal taper for MT.
It is a Walker Turner #900 and will never be anything more than a drill press with an x - y table.
I have stopped using it for milling because it takes too long to do anything and my health only allows me to spend a couple hours at a time in the shop. So now if I something can't be turned or drilled I don't do it anymore. 
Lack of money keeps me from getting anything better. So I do what I can for now. I had a list and plans of things I wanted to make but those are useless now.

I do appreciate all the thoughts of making the Drill Press better though. I have thought about a lot of them myself. But it is what it is.


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## Bill Gruby

Here is another can do drill press and it's not even top of the line quality.






 "Billy G"


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## Billh50

Many drill presses with x-y tables can make an excellent light milling machine. For those with little money and not in a hurry to make something they work well. Plastics and aluminum machine fairly easy on these. Steels take more time as one can only take light cuts. But if one can cut the stock close enough to what is needed then it makes it that much easier to make something. It does take much longer to machine things but when one does not have a real miller it does the job. I have used mine for 7 or 8 yrs now with only one minor accident. But that was my own fault for trying to remove too much stock when climb milling with it. Conventional milling I can remove as much as .020 at a time. But only a max of .005 when climb milling. The head tends to swing on the column when taking more off during climb milling.
After using it for a few times one can learn what it can and can't do.


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## John Hasler

Billh50 said:


> After using it for a few times one can learn what it can and can't do.


My cheap little table is the limiting factor with my converted Avey.    I scraped it in (I'm not much of a scraper but it didn't take much skill to improve it) and replaced the bearings and gibs but it's just too small and light.  With the knee powered I can leave the quill locked while cutting.  Of course, I've never used a real mill, so perhaps I'm just not spoiled.


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## Billh50

I wish I had an AVEY. That would be a big improvement over the one I have.


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## kingmt01

I have a pretty big machine & climb milling isn't any fun on it.

Where are you located? If your close enough I might be able to help with the use of a mill.


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## Bill Gruby

I live  ten minutes from Bill. He knows that if he needs one, my mill is always available to him.

 "Billy G"


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## kingmt01

I was thinking of temporarily homing my knee mill but that works also.


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## Billh50

Billy,
I know that. I just hate using other peoples stuff. I still remember an old timer at work telling me one time " If you borrow something 3 times it's time to buy one".
Well I never let it get to the 3rd time. If I need to borrow something more than once then I need to buy it or learn to go without.


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## kingmt01

I hate using other peoples stuff myself. However under some circumstances I'll let others use mine.


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## savarin

When you do not have either a lathe or a mill its amazing what you can do with a drill press.
I needed some custom pulleys for the cable steering for my lowrider bicycle so I made them.
Cast two pulley blanks



roughly cleaned and drilled for a bolt, the lock screw prevents the pulley slipping when turning.
When all the turning was done I cut the boss from the disk using a hole saw



Set up in the drill press with an epoxied chuck and faced it off with an old file ground to an edge. I clamped a block to the table to brace the turning tools against, just like wood turning.



Then turned the dia to size with the same tool.



For the pulley groove I ground a rounded tool from an old rat tail file.


These were made nearly 7 years ago and are still in use on the bicycle today.


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## Bill Gruby

Charles you never cease to amaze me. There aren't many of you from down under that do. You guys are a special breed. Please never stop being you.

 "Billy G"


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## Subwayrocket

Omg ...you guys are not only milling , but also turning on a drill press ?   ...oh my heavens, the sky is falling !


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## savarin

Thanks guys, when you havnt got the correct equipment you have to make do.


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## Billh50

One learns to improvise when the need arises.


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## savarin

Oh Yeah! thats where the fun is


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## Bill Gruby

Just call this group, "The Myth Busters."


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## kd4gij

Just don't mention TS's I got blasted for that.


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## savarin

TS's??


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## kd4gij

Table Saw


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## kingmt01

I've used a table saw with a wafer in it. I have to say I wasn't that impressed. It wasn't worth all the work it took to get the saw dust cleaned out before I started.

I use a circular saw on thin stuff sometimes but I use carbide tooth blades on it. It's a gear reduction saw & I use a rheostat.


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## savarin

Oh dear, I've cut heaps of aluminium on my table saw. Wash my mouth out with soap and water.
Negative rake blade and it like a hot knife through butter.


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## kd4gij

I have an old craftsman made my Emerson Electric belt drive. Very easy to clean out. it breezes through Al. Of course eye and ear  protection And safety first as always.


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## Eddyde

I have a table saw I've dedicated to metal cutting, slowed it down to about 2200 rpm and put on a steel cutting blade. So far, I have cut up to  .750" aluminum and .250" steel plate with it. I use wax stick lube. The results are excellent.


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## Christian Poulsen

....one of the guys that trained me (Delbert Wacker) landed on a beach at Normandy, was on the whole push towards Berlin, ran a big Army "put together" maintenance lathe that ran off the engine of an Army truck....side by side he (we) worked with another guy that trained me (Bruno Weggemer) that was about 12 years younger than Del and was in the nazi youth corps at the same time (they all had to be when they were around 8 yrs old)...aaaand another guy that trained me (Ron Barton) was one of the 2 founders of Estes Model Rockets (He built the tooling and press (not unlike shotgun shell reloading) out of hopper scrap that made those 1st Estes Model Rocket engines (He sold his half to his partner Estes here in Colorado back in the 60's if I remember right (He was also a Paratrooper in the Asian Theater of WWII)....those 3 along with some other guys that trained me (including an Israeli (Leonard Karasik) from NY (Had had a hobby shop in Queens) made the tooling out of old scrap rounds and stuff that made the 1st of one of the worlds biggest industries (the extruded Aluminum Can (The Companys patent ran out, I think it was the late 70's or early 80's...I'll always remember those guys and have respect for the old timers (That is me now LOL) of these trades and I teach my kids to do the same...


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## kingmt01

savarin said:


> Oh dear, I've cut heaps of aluminium on my table saw. Wash my mouth out with soap and water.
> Negative rake blade and it like a hot knife through butter.


I've done some in the chop saw. I usually turn the blade backwards. It must do a nice job of honing the edge of the teeth because it cuts wood like a brand new blade afterwards.


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## David S

Bill Gruby said:


> Just call this group, "The Myth Busters."



Yes indeed.  However all drill presses aren't created equal.  I think there has been a lot of good advice here to help people determine if what they have would be suitable and how to go about the determination.

Regardless of what you do, you can't convert a drill press into a Bridge Port, but with the right press and modifications I have been able to mill some very nice components.

Good luck all.

David


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## bfd

while some things are dangerous we do them anyway, walking across the street. take the proper precautions and don't force thing and it should work. I have machined 1/4 plate with a router and carbide tipped router bits successfully milled hardened steel shafts with carbide rotary files and it worked sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. you be the judge and take the responsibility for whatever happens. not advice but just life.  bill


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## master53yoda

I have successfully modified drill press into round column mills  Attached is a thread that i started a while back.         http://www.alloyavenue.com/vb/showt...cessfully-convert-a-drill-press-to-drill-mill

Art B


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## savarin

Hi Art, any updates to that thread?


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## master53yoda

savarin said:


> Hi Art, any updates to that thread?


I've finished the conversion but I've been tied up producing aluminum ingots for sale,  The ingot business  started right after I started that thread,  I've processed 13,000 lbs of ingots in the last couple years, I'm in the process of building the 3rd version of the tilting melting furnace.  As the last one I made is getting pretty well worn out.   I'll take a couple pictures of the DROs  and the motor drive that I use on the Lathe and mill.


Art B


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