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

thanks for the input George, it is appreciated. I know just enough about hardening metals to know exactly how little I know about hardening metals. It is very interesting though and something I'd like to learn later on. I'll measure the spindle thread diameter and pitch tonight as it's a garage night. I'm hoping to finish filing/ stoning/ lapping the base of the X-Y vise tonight (the rest of it is sliding much more smoothly now) so that I can start machining the new lead screw end plates this weekend.
 
You are LAPPING the sliding surfaces of your vise? Be advised that you should not do that in the future. The abrasive gets into the cast iron,and continues to lap it,eventually wearing the surfaces out. The correct way to make your surfaces slide more smoothly is to scrape them. But,that is an advanced skill area. Only hardened steel(I mean FILE HARD) can safely be lapped. So,if you get a lathe or milling machine,do not try lapping or honing it with abrasives of any kind. You will hasten their demise.
 
There are a couple more references to milling with a drill press (not saying that I recommend it)
Pop Mech, Jan 1969 has a ball bearing support arm to resist lateral forces

Pop Sci Jan 1952 has a how-to tips article
 
ditto ^! It was Mother's Mag polish, so hopefully no long term harm as it's about as mild an abrasive as you can get. Yup scraping is way way beyond my abilities and equipment right now - I don't even have any method of measuring the surface. I'll definitely bear that in mind for the future though, thanks.

Didn't get any garage time last night as we took the kids to see Annie at the theatre (my youngest was completely captivated!), but I did measure the spindle threads as 1 3/64in and 20tpi.
 
Remind me to check a 1/4" collet attachment I have for my Craftsman drill press WITH the threaded collar. This gizmo was for holding router bits. Has a #33 Jacobs taper. I never use it any more. PM me if I forget.


P.S.: I have measured my collet chuck attachment. The threads seem to have a maximum diameter of 1 1/16",and ARE 20 TPI. The threads on the collar,when pulled upwards,start pretty close to 1/8" above the top end of the hole of the #33 Jacobs taper. (This wording sounds poor,but I have a headache right now.)

The collet is split into 2 halves,with a 1/4" hole. Actually,1/4" shank end mills would be on a more appropriate scale to use on that small drill press.


P.P.S.: Note that the diameter of my threads is as close a guess as I can make. The collar has a bevel inside it that sort of obscures the diameter of the internal threads. I didn't feel like taking my chuck off.

It looks like my attachment might fit your drill press.
 
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george wilson said:
Remind me to check a 1/4" collet attachment I have for my Craftsman drill press WITH the threaded collar. This gizmo was for holding router bits. Has a #33 Jacobs taper. I never use it any more. PM me if I forget.


P.S.: I have measured my collet chuck attachment. The threads seem to have a maximum diameter of 1 1/16",and ARE 20 TPI. The threads on the collar,when pulled upwards,start pretty close to 1/8" above the top end of the hole of the #33 Jacobs taper. (This wording sounds poor,but I have a headache right now.)

The collet is split into 2 halves,with a 1/4" hole. Actually,1/4" shank end mills would be on a more appropriate scale to use on that small drill press.


P.P.S.: Note that the diameter of my threads is as close a guess as I can make. The collar has a bevel inside it that sort of obscures the diameter of the internal threads. I didn't feel like taking my chuck off.

It looks like my attachment might fit your drill press.
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that sounds completely awesome George, I'd be more than happy to buy it off you if you're not going to use it. Even just some photos to get another idea would be really useful.

It also sounds something like what was available when WT sold this drill, as a collet chuck was mentioned in the manual.
 
I can't guarantee it will fit your drill press. Mine was made by Seeley thermos bottle makers,IIRC. Send your address in a PM to me. I don't want any money for it. But,I do want to know if it does fit when you get it. It is much like new,except for a little sawdust.
 
george wilson said:
I can't guarantee it will fit your drill press. Mine was made by Seeley thermos bottle makers,IIRC. Send your address in a PM to me. I don't want any money for it. But,I do want to know if it does fit when you get it. It is much like new,except for a little sawdust.
Click to expand...

that's incredibly generous of you George, much appreciated. PM on it's way. Don't worry, there'll be picture documentation as soon as it gets here :)
 
Matt,your collet chuck is in the mail. If you unscrew the nose,you can pull out the 1/4" collet,and the larger collet will take 1/2" end mills. Sorry,I was in a hurry to send it and could not find any 1/4" end mills to send with it,except for solid carbide end mills. They would likely snap off very quickly in your setup. They require very rigid circumstances to not break as they are very brittle.

Let me know when you try it,and tell me if it fits your drill press. If it does not,I would appreciate it if you'd return it.
 
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