Drill press to cheap mill conversion.

[great white]

Been digging and searching google for options on the quill play. I ran across a mini drill/mill that mounted the head on a dovetail slide and that was the Z movement. It still had a moving quill, but it could be locked and the dovetail slide portion gave it the vertical movement.

That's not a bad idea, except I'm starting with a cheapo drill press with not enough "meat" in the casting to make a dovetail.

Then it strikes me that I bought a cheapo xy vice a long time ago. it was a piece of junk, so I tossed it aside and haven't thought about it since. I dug around in the shop where I thought it might be and pulled it out of a bin. It's still as cheap and junky as I remember with many glaring faults like the top ways that mount the vice are actually cast on there crooked to the x travel ways. literally no way to travel the y axis without making an angled cut. No es beuno.

But, the bottom casting isn't that bad, certainly workable with a little clean up/finish machining. it's got about 4-5" of travel, an acme thread screw and most of the bits that are junk on it I would be cutting away anyways. It even has a dial indicator, although I highly doubt the numbers and marks actually indicate anything beside the fact they have been moved from their original position.....

What I'm thinking is machine the back of the drill head flat, machine the top part of the bottom dovetail flat and bolt the two together.

Then all I need to do is build a solid frame for it all to mount on. I've got lots of 1/4" plate and angle laying around, so building a solid piece to mount compound slide table to and the now moveable drill head to.

4" of travel is plenty for the Z axis, at least for the small bits I do from time to time. I always have the option of lowering the quill if there's not enough travel.

At the very worst, I can at least minimize quill stick out when machining (IE: increased rigidity). It also removes nearly all the "drill press" parts that are marginal or quite flimsy.

If it works out well and I find I need more, I can always machine out a longer dovetail piece and with a longer acme screw it will give me more travel. For now, using the scrap bits I have around is at least going to give me "proof of concept" and I can refine it later on, once I know it will work acceptably.

A test fit of the dovetail slide to the back of the drill head casing reveals they"re almost the exact same size, with the dovetail casting maybe a few mm wider than the drill head casting:



Almost like it was meant to be together.....with a little work that is....

 

[matthewsx]

So, I tried the drill press conversion. Even replaced the bearings with angular contact ones.

Then I started on this project.

Homemade vertical mill drill

Well, I guess I'm gonna try to make myself a mill for cheap. I found this column on Craigslist for $80. And I ordered this spindle I can power with a VFD I already have. And I'm going to get one of these cheap x-y milling tables. And probably look for a really flat piece of C channel...

www.hobby-machinist.com

It’s a slippery slope and I’m still probably getting a small mill which will help me complete my projects.

What I probably should have done is saved my money and bought a used mill/drill like the one I’m hoping to get now. However, I’ve learned an awful lot from the process.

Good luck.

John

 

[great white]

So, I tried the drill press conversion. Even replaced the bearings with angular contact ones.

Then I started on this project.

Homemade vertical mill drill

Well, I guess I'm gonna try to make myself a mill for cheap. I found this column on Craigslist for $80. And I ordered this spindle I can power with a VFD I already have. And I'm going to get one of these cheap x-y milling tables. And probably look for a really flat piece of C channel...

www.hobby-machinist.com

It’s a slippery slope and I’m still probably getting a small mill which will help me complete my projects.

What I probably should have done is saved my money and bought a used mill/drill like the one I’m hoping to get now. However, I’ve learned an awful lot from the process.

Good luck.

John

That's an interesting thread.

For the chinese milling table, did you ever figure out what makes it "inaccurate" and/or how to fix it? I have the same one on the way and was planning to tear it apart for inspection and refinements as soon as it hits my doorstep.....

 

[matthewsx]

That's an interesting thread.

For the chinese milling table, did you ever figure out what makes it "inaccurate" and/or how to fix it? I have the same one on the way and was planning to tear it apart for inspection and refinements as soon as it hits my doorstep.....

I tried making new nuts for it with some Delrin I formed around the lead screw.

Tightened up one axis but it was such a PITA I gave up and started searching for good deals on pre built ball screw stages on eBay.

I think you’ll find the unit you’ve ordered is good for locating holes to drill but not so much for milling.

The biggest thing I’ve learned is the side forces involved in milling metal are much greater than you imagine.

I don’t want to discourage you because what you’ll learn doing this will be of benefit in the long run. Just realize the money you’ll spend is part of that cost.

I enjoy building and rehabbing tools, it’s almost an end in itself. But, if you need to make parts getting a used mini mill will be the quicker and probably cheaper option.

John

 

[great white]

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think I might ditch the little drill press altogether.

I'm thinking a "rigid head" might be better for my uses. Easier to build as well. It would also allow me to use a drawbar to hold my collect holder solid to the machine.

Of course, that would mean I'd have to go to a knee mill type arrangement where you raise the table/work into the tooling. I've got a couple ideas on how to build it, but I can't seem to figure out how I can use a single lead screw to evenly lift a table. I'm thinking a wide dovetail and a lead screw in the center. the table woudl be mounted off the "female" slide. There's also the weight to consider if lifting the table into the work, seems like a fairly complex and (necessarily) robust part.

I've also been wanting to teach myself external and internal single point threading on the lathe. Making the lead screws might give me just the "excuse" I need to find the time to learn......

 

[great white]

Not sure how accurate it would be, but this is one heck fo a mill scratch build;

 

[great white]

Well, decided to bite the bullet and just bought a mill:

Opinions wanted on a BusyBee tools Mill

I'm considering spending some money (that I kinda don't really have) on a mill. I'm budget limited and about the only place I can get a "hobbiest" style mill is a place called Busy Bee Tools (Canadian). The other option is King tools, but their prices are virtually the same for the same (with...

www.hobby-machinist.com

The XY table I've ordered can live on my drill press.....

 

[Firstram]

Not sure how accurate it would be, but this is one heck fo a mill scratch build;

The speed reduction pulley set up at 18 min is brilliant!

 

[great white]

So, to update: bought a cx600 mill so the little 8” drill press has just sitting here and there in pieces.

I think, however, I have settled on a use for it instead of it just being a paperweight and eventually scrap iron.

I’m going to make it into a tube notcher. I’ve always had sporadic use for one but I’ve always just used a zip wheel on an angle grinder.

I’m planning to build a frame in the “moto martin” style for a cb650 engine:

and a dedicated tube notcher (with angle adjustments) will just make it that much easier to get a good fit up for tig.

Most of what I will need is either already on the tool shelves of in the scrap bins.

Will post pics of construction or at least on completion.

 

[ericc]

Getting a mill is a good idea. Good deals come around every now and then.

I just did some "milling" on my drill press yesterday. I drilled a hole in an angled surface. If I did this in the conventional manner, the drill bit would deflect immediately causing all kinds of unwanted effects. Instead, I made a ghetto drill guide. It didn't have to be a hardened guide; just a bent piece of 1/16" sheet metal with a hole in it was sufficient. You could see the drill bit cut on edge and even hear that mill cutting sound as the chips came out. The key to doing this is that the flutes don't cut well so they don't wallow out the hole...too much. Don't do this to a drill bit you like! Similar things can be done with a small boring bar, as long as you provide a pilot, which is easy to make on a lathe. The trick is to do whatever you can to minimize flexing and lateral forces, which cannot be resisted by the undersized quill bearings and flexing drill chuck.