Converting a Drill Press into a Milling Machine
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- Опубліковано 26 гру 2021
- In this one, I convert an old Walker Turner 900-series drill press into a usable milling machine using a linear screw jack, compound table, 3-phase motor and cheap VFD. It works well, too. Mostly. Follow up videos: Machining hardened steel with the drill press mill - • Table gear shaft and b... New spindle bearings for the drill press mill - • Angular Contact Bearin... New collet chuck - • Chip Guard and New Col... New stand, wiring and testing - • Homemade Stand for the... New square column upgrade - • I made a better drill ...
- Наука та технологія
Hey Robert. I’m a machinist of about 25 years. Obviously you’re not working with precision machinery, but we work with what we got right?! It’s a low budget option to manufacture and handle simple tasks around the home and garage. I just wanted to give you a few tips I noticed that may make your life a little easier working with your little drill/mill. As you mentioned about the bearings you didn’t notice a big difference in the finishes, between the standard and angular bearings. A lot of that has more to do with the actual tool itself that you are using than the bearings turning the spindle. The first thing I noticed is that it looks like you were using a 3/8 4 flute end mill with 1 1/4 flute length, with maybe a Tin or a TiAn coating. You only want to use that kind of tool to cut steel, in aluminum the extra flute creates a smaller chip and has less room for chip evacuation. The coating also creates more friction and gets gummed up by aluminum leaving a bad finish. For aluminum a standard carbide 2 or 3 flute end mill is gonna leave a much better finish, a little cutting oil will also go a long way in achieving a better finish. Also always use the shortest tool you can, to handle the job you are trying to accomplish. If you are just facing a part, a 1 1/4 flute length mill is to much. I would use a 1/2 3 flute end mill with 1/2 inch flute length, and then you always want to load the end mill right up to where the flutes start. You don’t want more than that sticking out unless you need the clearance. Using that size tool, and loading it that way is gonna increase your rigidity in your tool 3 fold, compared to a smaller tool sticking out an inch and half, Therefore creating a much more rigid tool, which is gonna reduce much of the chatter and leave a much better finish. The next thing, and you did kind of hit on it, when manual machining you always want to conventional cut, and not climb cut. What that means is that when you are cutting a side wall you want the chip to evacuate in front of the direction of travel. In CNC machining we do the opposite and want the chip to evacuate behind the direction of travel. So, if you are cutting a square part, you want to work in a counter clockwise direction. So you want to start on the front side facing you and for the tool to be on the left hand side, and the cut direction moving to the right, then the right side of the part you want to start in the front and the cut direction moving to the backside and so on. The next thing that’ll make your life much easier and save you tons of money on tooling, when cutting steel or harder material you ALWAYS want to use at minimums a 4 flute carbide tool. I prefer a half inch end mill with as short a flute length that I can get away with to complete the job, and chuck it up right to the beginning of the flutes. That’s gonna give a much more rigid tool and set up, and help eliminate flex in the tool, which will really help in reducing chatter, and leaving a better finish. Also when removing a lot of material I’ll use a roughing and finishing tool. The roughing tool you want to be exactly the same as the finishing tool but you want it to have at least a .020 radius. That’s a much stronger tool for taking larger cuts and not chipping off the corners of your flutes. Leave about .010-.020 on each side for the finishing tool to come in and clean up. I promise you’ll get a much better finish and save hundreds of dollars in tooling! Also Don’t mess around with high speed steel tools. You’re already working with a machine that’s not made for doing what you are trying to make it do so you don’t want to make your life harder than it already is by using cheaper tools! You can get away with it when cutting aluminum and steel but if the finish is important to you, you will never get the finish you desire using high speed steel end mills. Well I hope this helps! Good luck in your future machining endeavors!
Nick G.
High speed steel tools might actually be preferable in this use case since they are less likely to shatter due to them being softer
Machinist of 36yrs and there's some good advice here! 👍
Hey, great advise here. you want the shortest possible distance between bearings and tool for better stability, sort of like holding a bucket of water. The further away you hold it from your body the harder it is to hold. Just a thought but I would negate the set screws all together and tap and die everything on the spindle itself. I might also try removing depth gauge and replacing it for something with fine threads and instead of using the adjustable nut for limiting how far up and down it can travel maybe make a T handle adjustable nuts to both advance and to lock the head in position. Also I would consider shortening the handles that have the Balls on the end as they probably and don't require being torqued on in this setup.
Nick that was without a doubt the most thoughtful comment I've ever read. Knowledgeable sincere, and stretched out longer than a football field.. I'll be honest I was going to thank him for a very deceiving thumbnail that caused me to watch this video. It should have never been up loaded due to it being a complete failure. What was this guy thinking I should have fast-forwarded to the end to see what was inevitable. But then I read your comment. Your good man. Thank you.
just crap
I used this drill press ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxajoEbapTfqWaadnqb04h6U576yxXp-FE (they call it a workstation but really it's a drill press) a TON over the last few weeks. I've used it to make 8 cribbage boards (240+ holes in each board!) and a set of dominos. All in all I'd say I've drilled over 2,000 holes in the past 3 weeks. My impressions are that this is an absolutely essential little tool for anyone who has a Dremel, and even if you have the knockoff versions of Dremels, like the Chicago Electric tool, it really can't be beat.There are a couple little items to know though: First, there is a central bolt that holds your tool to the whole contraption, right at the center bottom. I would unscrew it and throw it out immediately. It should be replaced with a bolt of the same dimensions, only about 1/8" longer. The stock bolt just isnt long enough and rattled loose right when I first got it. It needs a bolt that isnt so short and has a few more threads and can be screwed in a little deeper. Luckily, if you're reading this, you're probably pretty handy and this is a super easy tweak that will help you a lot.Second, make sure your bits are absolutely straight and level in there. Because of the nature of how it drills, any travel will translate to funky holes or cuts on your finished product. You want to make sure you seat it properly before you fire it up.Third, I'd like to see some options for a fence on the baseplate. I had to fabricate my own using wood so that I had something to butt up against when drilling my holes. And ABSOLUTELY use some heavy duty hardware to bolt this thing down in place to your workbench.Aside from those small things, this has been an invaluable tool to add to my garage. I'm extremely pleased with performance, features (it's SUPER adjustable and can be endlessly tinkered with) and quality and price. Bravo Dremel.
Man, I love those old machines. Not only are most of them beasts, the craftsmanship was better than anything today.
There sure are some legendary machines out there from the old days, the thing is though they were extremely expensive when they were new. I've seen plenty of old poor quality machines as well. We're just lucky to live in a time where the good machines are now so old that we're able to afford them!
As the previous response stated you're kinda comparing apples and oranges. The older units were ungodly expensive and frankly should be more durable and better construction. The price paid for modern drill presses enables more people the opportunity to purchase that equipment and more than meets the accuracy required by the hobbyist.
Not quite sure how I stumbled onto this video, but I have to say that you must be doing something right. I say this not because you have all of the answers, but that your delivery seems to have invited/encouraged a kind of community where experienced folks are voluntarily sharing their own experiences for whatever can be gleaned from them. You may not appreciate what I am sharing but I hope that with time you will realize what a fantastic service this is to folks like myself who always have more questions than answers. You problem-solve in a very natural and Human way and I think that is what brings out the comeraderie I am tryi ng to describe. Looking forward to being witnesas to more of this sharing and thank you for all of your hard work. Best Wishes......
The problem with the drill press bearings is, they are designed for axial load not radial. You will continue to burn up bearings unless you can source proper bearings. I've tried this and no matter what I did I couldn't get a surface finnish that didn't look like angry beavers attacked the part.
Whether they are ball or tapered roller bearings, either will handle a radial load just as well as an axial load.
@@fredsasse9973 tapered roller bearings will handle more radial load and last longer than a ball bearings. Best to use for this application are self aligning bearings or spherical roller bearings but those are super expensive.
The problem is no matter what you do to the drill press the bearings/races and quill were never designed for radial load so you will always have a drill press. I thought the video was comical with everything this guy spent on his will never be a milling machine drill press. Poor guy seemed smart enough to understand that but I guess not.
@@b-radfrommalibu I have to disagree. Whether a drill press has ball bearings (same as a set of wheel casters) or tapered roller bearings (as in an automotive wheel bearing), both types of bearings are designed for a radial load. The examples I cited use both types of bearings where they are subjected to mostly radial loads. So to say that . . . "drill press the bearings/races and quill were never designed for radial load . . . " is an incorrect statement.
@@fredsasse9973 And some ball bearings are better than others for this application . . .
I like your ingenuity while keeping things cost effective. Thanks for sharing!
Great video. You have really good ideas and are not afraid of failure. Thanks for posting!
Enjoyed the subject but, I got far more out of your experience thanks to your clear and comprehensive narration. These videos are priceless when we can understand what is going on. Some youtubers don’t get it. They think we can read their minds and just buzz through the process without explaining the flow or details. I usually walk away from those vids. You do a good job of teaching. Thanks.
New subscriber.
That’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me this week. Thank you.
This is something I always thought a person could do, like you say money and space, keep going love the content TSN
Massive , keep going ,failure brings the engineer out in us, to build is best , failure brings experience not sorrow, youve learnt ,through your efforts ive learnt , thank you
Thanks Robert, you are a true problem solver it is great to be able to modify for new use without using valuable shop space nice design.
Thank you for inspiring me to go out and buy an old drill press to turn into a mill! Most people I’ve talked to tell me it won’t work, but I don’t have enough for a bridgeport. I’m sure It’ll work just fine for what I need
Find a drill press with the largest column diameter you can. 3". 3 3/4". The bigger, the better. Good luck.
Reminds me of the fool that did not know it could not be done so he went ahead and did it anyway.
I really enjoyed the video especially how you built the table and made it operate like a Bridgeport 😊.
Really excited for more videos.
Thank you, Mo Tari. I appreciate it.
Enjoying your video's
Reminder that not everything has to be hard
Thank you! Oddly enough, I'm working on another drill press mill. It'll be the next video I put out with some really neat ideas to make these conversions more useful. If you're interested, keep an eye out.
Good video , I have been a tool and die maker for 50 + years and you are right I don't have the space for a Bridgeport and I don't really need one . I have had this idea since I retired and I am looking for the idel drill press . Your machine will be just fine once work the bugs out , good luck,
look foward to your next vido.
Good on you for sharing and building this machine, enjoyed watching it & got some learnings 🙏
Thanks, R R. It’s good to hear. I appreciate it.
Nice work. Most makers with a drill press will have tried milling at least once, until it pulls the chuck out. But horses for courses. For a fast emergency stop, some VFD's let you connect dump resistors, I used some 500W 30R ceramic wirewound's .This shorts the motor windings out with the resistors when triggered and stops on a sixpence. Ive a downham jig borer thats a solid machine but still only recommended for light milling. best of luck.
I have the same drill press, designed in 1935 evidently (from a patent document).The bearings, 4 of them, are hybrid metric/imperial (inside vs outside diameters) and 2 of them have extended inner races. They are special. Good news is that replacements are available, fully sealed unlike the originals. I bought a set some years ago from a company that specializes in providing spares for Walker-Turner machines. They were very affordable. Interestingly, the top cover is magnesium alloy, which I discovered when I had to repair a crack in it. The grinding dust sparkled when subjected to welding heat. I've seen remarkable milling work done on a drill press, but very slow and poor if acceptable finish. A basic Chinese mill-drill would be a luxury, as long as it's big and heavy.
Hi Robert. I was a ship engineer for a lot of years. I now play in my home workshop. I built a mill out of a 16 speed clark floor standing drill press. I made a big heavy floor standing base. Micrometer quill feed and a rise and fall machine head. I can take 1/8th cuts in aluminium with a 3/4in cutter. I often take .070" cuts in mild steel. It will also cut a complete dovetail in a single pass. I have also adapted a windscreen wiper drive for a table feed 2 speeds or change the drive gear to get 4 speeds. I also regularlly use the machine to cut gears. 16 dp and 20 dp all single pass. One of the things I came up against was bearing wear so I refashioned the quill with a bigger bottom bearing and altered the quill so I could preload the bearings. To retain the collet holders (er32 and er16) I drilled up into the quill and put a retaining socket screw up into it and I made simple extractor collars using the collet retaining ring to pull the holder out. By the way I only use High speed steel tools if I cock up I dont go into tears as they are cheap to replace. By the way I am english in England. The happiness is overflowing with the machine.
Thank you guys for all the positive feedback and engagement. You have some really good ideas. Follow up videos below. Give them a look if you enjoyed this one and want to see more.
New collet: ua-cam.com/video/TlELNh2FXUc/v-deo.html
New spindle bearings: ua-cam.com/video/7jPXbINsnqc/v-deo.html
Milling hardened steel with the drill press: ua-cam.com/video/DbchIEwkbJQ/v-deo.html
*Hi, I'll be taking a hobbyist grade 1950s drill press and marrying it to a screw actuator off an aircraft carrier.... one of these will fail first.*
I'm in! Very good content. Like you say not everyone has the money or the room for a big purpose built milling machine.
Amazing, thanks for sharing the successes and the struggles!
Excellent job buddy with the video so much information 👏 👍
Ive been trying to do something similar to be able to cut keyway on a shaft in my home workshop. Yet to find a proper solution though. This was a great effort great video.
Clever build. We shared this video on our homemade tools forum this week 😎
Awesome. That's pretty cool. Thank you.
This project is interesting to watch. Many commenters have made excellent input. I am guessing that this build is adding cost pretty quickly. When done, you still have a drill press mill mod and not a mill. I purchased my Bridgeport with variable speed head and DRO for $1000, giving me a mill and not a drill press mod. Required footprint space was easy for me to justify, as I got a mill and wasn't limited by issues you are addressing. I ran my 3 phase machines on my home built rotary phase converter until I stumbled on an Amish man willing to sell his factory made rotary phase converter to me for $10! I never expect to find that deal again!
Term definitions for the nerds in this chat group...
SPINDLE is the rotating part of the machine. The spindle has no Z axis movement.
QUILL is the Z axis movement function of the spindle.
A 3 axis milling machine commonly has 3 axis movement (X,Y,Z), but also frequently has a knee Z function as in this drill press modification. A Bridgeport style knee mill accomplished precision Z axis control with knee function. The quill function can have some light duty Z control function, but I treat my mill quill function strictly as a drill press quill function.
Machining control demands machine rigidity. All good efforts to overcome drill press mill modifications limitations will move you closer to abandoning the modification project to gain what a mill offers. The drill press round column squeeze table clsmp is a real rigity problem. Milling side load will encourage the table to swivel. The drill press quill lock squeeze clamp affords the same rigity compromises. Many have pointed out that drill press spindle bearings are designed for little radial load since drilling is primarily a thrust load condition. TAC bearings may be the best choice drill press upgrade due to space and size limitations and demands. TAC bearings respond to preload adjustment that can't be obtained by standard ball bearings.
Milling demands eliminating all system backlash or having enough machine mass and/or clamps to compensate. Your demonstrated milling failure is rooted in rigidity issues. You are best suited to determine what is moving. Mill slide fixture gibs may be too loose or clamping is inadequate to compensate for axis backlash. Quill locking rigidity, tool or tool holding may be a problem and work holding may be an issue. The drill press head clamp may be a suspect similar to the table clamp. Conventional milling preloads the axis backlash. Climb milling sucks the workpiece into the cutter causing the workpiece to be yanked from the vise or work holding or brea KK s the tool.
After all of these issues are successively addressed, machine mass is still an enormous issue to overcome in a drill press modification. I love projects and engineering challenges in the hobby shop, but I am investing my time in learning to machine instead of building a "silk purse from a sow's ear" to start my milling learning curve.
My very sweet and supportive wife encouraged me me to build my dream shop while I am still able to enjoy it. I kept my old shop for exclusive woodworking and built a 4600 SF building just for machining, welding and mechanic work. I am enjoying setting up this shop with machinery aquisitions, tooling and machinery rebuilding projects.
I have pontificated too much on the value of a real mill without applauding you adequately for your "seat of the pants engineering" efforts to make the drill press modification project successful. I envy your mag base drill and annular cutters. I haven't ponied up yet for this tool. Consider purchasing an import set of transfer punches. Treat them gently. They will last a long time, will simplify hole center location, and are very inexpensive.
I have 4 drill presses, because each size and style offers advantages. Sometimes patience offers rewards. I picked up a 1960's Powermatic for $10 that required some minor TLC, reassembly and paint. My best deal is a 3 phase, very large geared head DoAll for $100. I think that my shop paid about $4000 for this machine in 1993. I out bid my fellow employees because 3 phase scared most of them. I use the smaller machines with much greater frequency, but I use the DoAll for some jobs that exceed my Bridgeport capacity and precision location isn't critical. Your Walker Turner DP would be a nice addition to my DP inventory, but I would keep it for its intended purpose.
I bet that you and I could enjoy a long day of shop talk. I purchased a very large American Pacemaker engine lathe, but I am struggling to affordably rig it at home since it weighs around 9.5k #. When this gets in the shop I will have bragging rights for the biggest lathe in the family and the neighborhood. I can't wait to be able to make really big chips!
This is good information, Paul. Thank you. I'm going to pin it to the top of the post for others to find.
Conventional cutting yanks work piece towards cutter as you are approaching your cut the tool is turning into the work piece on the leading edge as climb cutting the tool is cutting outward away from work piece on the leading edge( climbing out of the work piece).
Built one years ago and the mod that made the biggest improvement was converting the spindle bearings to a quality pair of tapered rollers with a fine preload adjustor. Eliminated the spindle's vertical movement and with that most of the chatter. Adding an 8" diameter by 5/8" flywheel up top allowed balancing out some peculiarities. Great learning experience.
I have a 6" diameter, 5/8 flywheel that came off of the treadmill motor I put on the mini lathe that I bet I could retrofit. Where did you mount it?
@@RobertAdairWorkshop right under the sheave/pulley.
@@RobertAdairWorkshop I had shortened the top where the original bearing was in order to fit a much finer thread bearing preload adjustor so I had room without having to make room. I raised the motor a quarter inch which was just to stop an old belt from complaining about the Irish spring soap. Having a milling machine and a lathe helped but all the work was able to be done as you're doing it. I had built the drill press from a box of parts a few fellow grade 10 students had made a mess of. Had a bet with my instructor and 8 days later a drill press. Two weeks later I got a drill press for my birthday so I started to what if for a while with my homemade one. Putting a dial indicator on our milling machine and drill presses and just a little finger pressure really showed the difference. Milling machine a small fraction of a tenth of a thou. Drill press 25 or 40 if I tried a little harder.
@@WireWeHere Great! Thank you. That's something I can do fairly quickly. I'm going to give it a try tonight.
@@RobertAdairWorkshop You've got a knack for making instructional videos. I'll be watching to see how it goes.
Best of luck.
This is a good experience to do if you have never used a mill. For soft materials, plastics, wood, aluminum, you will manage to get some use and work done. For harder materials like steel you wont have good rigidity. A mill allows you to lock the quill in the head which you cannot do on a drill press. Also a milling head is engineered to be much heavier duty.
The Walker Turner drill press DOES have a quill lock. But I agree, the bearings are not heavy enough duty to do anything but light milling.
Great project!!! Thanks for sharing!
You got my Sub, keep going!!
I have that exact drill press and it still works
Roland Schitt vibes from the beginning of the video. I love it.
I’ll take that as a compliment.
@@RobertAdairWorkshop Definitely. Subscribed.
great effort keep-up the good work
Excellent! I was faced with the same dilemma about the snapring in my own conversion, so I kind of gave up for a while. This video has given me awhole new perspective on how I should proceed with setscrews instead. I have virtually your same setup down to the xy table and a Delta floor model press. Next will be a vfd conversion. Thanks.
Thank you, Anthony. I may redo mine and try again with the snap ring. I hope yours works out, too.
I have the original jacobs chuck with the captive threaded collar and was hoping to copy that, but as you said, the collet is too hard. Good luck
Hi Robert. I like your idea and I respect your genuinely and sincerity , That is way I subscribed..
I have that same drill press it belonged to my grandfather. I have a cheap Chinese x /y vice mounted on it. and have done a lot of basic milling on it over the years.
I used to have that Sony stereo. Loved it.
Ha! I pulled this one out of a dumpster. CD player doesn't work anymore but I use the ipod functionality anyway. It is a good stereo.
Nice one mate. I really enjoyed this video. I learned a lot.
Glad you enjoyed it
Awesome video! See you on the XJ forums!
Was a bit concerned that you left the key in the keyway on the test motor, was expecting it to fly out.
Great job sir,I enjoyed the video, I have learnt alot from the video, more importantly is the know how, chattering of the tool really does not matter but what matters is the solution because machines are prone to defect any time .
Glad you enjoyed it
That was pretty cool, thanks
Thanks, Daryl Zorn!
Really enjoyed your video, very well explained, I bought a mini lathe last year and was thinking of doing something similar with a drill press, thank you for posting!
Thank you, Kent.
Ive been watching your videos for the last week or so because i enjoy the content. I do alot of the same things you do. When you busted out the lazer collimator that earned you a smash on the sub button. Birds of a feather flock together;) Clear skies my friend!!!
That's good of you to say. Thank you!
👍 great way to work with whatcha have!
For the VFD have an emergency stop between the VFD and the electric motor that way, you can be sure the motor will stop.
Also, you can do a make before break switch as well if you want to reducing arcs and it will work nicely.
( ~ Electrical Engineer )
jesus! i was freaking out watching that little key that could stay in the keyway!
It's pressed in there. It didn't fly out and kill me. But it sure could have ... :|
I have been using a drill press for years doing small stuff like that . The bigger bearing presses work the best.
Great tip!
Your bringing bact the 80s
I remember the 80's fondly! :)
Great video !! Easy to watch and I learned a lot. Your good at what you do brother. Keep it up! Thanks
Thank you, Andrew. That's nice to hear.
At 10:10 in,
He mentioned that he didn't want to bolt the plate to the table. May I suggest you use plastic bolts instead of steel? If you do something silly by accident, it's easy to fix and you won't break anything you care about.
I love this video! Thank you for sharing it. 👍
I don't have a killer screw jack like you do however I do have a treadmill that I have to take apart and get the aluminum out so I can cast a tapping arm as well as use the motor that moves the deck up and down. Should be working on that today. I'll let you know. By the way those first cuts are great.
nice job Great man👍
Cool project!! I used to have an old Craftsman model 150 drill press, I had the bench top version. You could order collets for milling for it. I don't recall if it was a standard mill collet like an r8 or if it was some Craftsman proprietary deal. I only used it as a drill, then I gave it to my son when I moved. When I realized I would have room for it at the new house I decided to let my son keep it and got a LMS 3990 mini mill, perfect for taking light cuts in steel and aluminum and comes with a drill chuck for drill press work.
That old head sure looks to be quite stable and straight- I think thats the key to any level of success. I did the same thing with a very cheap older, but not old enough to be high quality, drill press and the spindle just was not stable or heavy duty enough to withstand the forces even with light aluminum cutting.
realy awsome
Hello there, you can make your drill press column stiffer by filling up with Commercial Grade Countertop Mix / get @ Home Depot / also you can add some fiber glass to concrete mix for better results .
I feel for this guy as I've walked the same path and have many hours on a Bridgeport. A drill press isn't cut out for milling so expect a ton of compromises. Biggest issue is the lack of a robust quill for stabilizing deflections. And the crappo X/Y table doesn't help. But I love the VFD!
Thanks for the info.... I found an old delta Rockwell online for cheap going to pick it up tomorrow
That's pretty awesome! I wish I had 220 power so I could upgrade my drill press motor, and I would definitely have to replace the bearing's in my beat up old drill press too!
It is trivial to run a 220 volt circuit, which is in reality 240v because your outlets are not actually 110v, they are actually more like 120v, it got bumped up years ago. As long as you have a path to fish some wire from the breaker box to the garage. Plenty of videos on here by even licensed electricians showing how to do it. I'm a contractor and I do my own Electric and have been doing it for about 25 years. As long as you learn some things it's not difficult or complicated. It gives you a lot better options for tools having a 240 volt circuit.
That is the hard part of converting a drill press into a Mill. The Spindle Bearings and the Spindle itself are designed with looser Tolerances on a Drill Press. You will need High Quality Bearings so that You can pre-load the bearings so there is no up / down movement or side to side movement. You might have to design Your own Spindle to get the bearings set like they need to be. If You could find a used Bridgeport Head it would make Your life a lot easier. When it comes to chatter, slow down the spindle speed and use WD-40 to lubricate the end mill, You don't need a lot of WD-40 just a quick blast every once and a while. You MIGHT be able to get away with Wheel Bearings for a car setup just like the would be on the car (the tapers facing each other).
Further to my last comment The way to lock the quil is to split the quill house and fit a couple of blocks either side of the split and then put a lock screw through the blocks to close the split onto the quill. Solved!
that was fun....thankx for sharing :O)
Wow a mini knee mill awesome
Thank you!
I came here thinking you didn't understand side loads on tapers... I was pleasantly surprised and watched the entire video lol amazing work!
Awesome! Thank you.
@@RobertAdairWorkshop you're an artist!
Nice job, I also noticed that your up and down has left and right play in it enough to push the quill away from the stock in your vice.
Up and down on the table? I may reverse the decision and weld the lift jack to the table. Maybe make a track for it to ride on. I have some linear guide rail for another project that might be good for the task. Thanks for the comment.
Great video. Dich the music
Im kinda late
To see this, but definitely will sub and like very interesting. I’ve done several of these so its cool to watch others find solutions
Sweet. Thank you.
Not gonna lie, when that motor spun up I was waiting for that key to come flying out the shaft 😂
Vevor enjoyer!
I own a old Rockwell drill press..iv used to mill aluminum and steel..however everything had its limitations
cool/ I learnt some good things too.
Thanks!
Nobody's ever given me a super thanks before. Really cool.. Appreciate it!
I've been trying to use my drill press for Milling, and the table wobbles too much, I think you showed me something I can do. Thank you very much.
Very welcome!
Seeing that 1/4" by about 2" key stuck in the keyway of that motor while you rev it up is unnerving as hell. Luckily it is stuck tighter than I might have expected.
I have a floor standing Delta Rockwell drill press that looks just like that
i was waiting for the key to come flying at the camera when u were testing your set up
I think maybe a dial indicator to check runout might help. Of course bearing condition will affect alot.
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I don't know how much you're spending on this but I just found one on Alibaba that will vastly outperform this, even if you did five times as much work as you have done for $868.000. I don't know the exact capacity but it weighs 264 pounds. It's not huge but way more than any benchtop drill press. They a bunch of different sizes. I'm looking at one for $1,059 that weighs 440 pounds. Shipping is probably not cheap but these prices seem really good. There are a lot of tutorials online on how to buy from them and not get scammed.
At 24 cutting a left hand thread on one end of the coupling and right hand on the other end would make life a lot easier.
I am so glad to hear someone else say he can’t drill a straight hole.
I have a Walker Turner drill press that works like a brand new one. And while I thoroughly enjoyed this video, I don't think I'd want to convert my drill press, lol.
I have one too. Definitely now looking for a suitable 3ph motor and VFD. Variable RPM's looks like a really nice deal vs changing belts.
Stick with it, it will be so handy when you are done.dave
Thanks, Dave.
If you put the tap in the chuck or collet after drilling the tapping hole you can turn the tap by hand and it will be true and with much less chance of breaking it. You only need to start it you can finish later in the tap wrench.
I'm really bad a tapping. That's a great idea. Thank you!
Does your vfd not have the external brake resistor connection that will aid you in stopping motor very quickly and smoothly
You're awesome! simply awesome. I really want to know the end result AT LEAST. I am that young hobbyist with little money and a lot of ambition, and I can comfortably say that I am at least a few years of income and know how to even touching a Bridgeport or its relatives. Heck! even the mini counter parts demand a pretty penny and still have a limit to them. But I recently came into possession of a cheap 100$ drill press, with the goal of a getting a mini lathe next, but with a tiny bit of research i see the better buy is a milling machine. And there I was thinking, well why the hell cant my one horse power motor drill press do most of what a mill can do and even close to the same material. Another big buck on a mill table, a vice, a collet and a plan to keep it on, maybe an indicator to help with runout and in all, a not so loud crowd of people saying "Its definitely possible, but you're not exactly getting a mill".. that's sounds perfect!
Long story short: I wanted to do this exact thing and you're even doing better than I thought was possible.
so please keep these videos coming, I would love the knowledge and simply the entertainment of your journey.
Thank you for the kind words. I’ve been using the drill press mill quite a bit lately and it’s working really well. The chattering issues I encountered mostly came down to operator error. It took me a bit of time to learn how to mill with it, correctly. It has a preference for feed direction and cutter alignment that I had to figure out.
I recently uploaded a video where I machined a hardened shaft with it and it did a nice job. I have another that should be out this weekend where I repair keyways with it and it did a nice job with that too.
I am working on installing angular contact bearings on the drill press’ spindle to replace the original 80-year-old bearings and should have a video on that out soon. I am waiting on some bushings to wrap it up.
Keep an eye out for the bearing video. I think you’ll enjoy seeing how it turns out.
Once again, a mill shows itself to be the most versatile machine tool by building itself. I’m inspired to try my own version of this drill mill project.
I use it quite a bit now that I have it. Just yesterday, I milled out the top of a universal-piston to clear the valves in a 70-year old engine.
Hey Rob, new sub!... great video... I've been wondering for a while if I could mill with a drill press... I'd love to give this a try, it's just a nightmare getting parts here in Africa and ordering online costs a fortune... nonetheless, there is a lot of food for thought here... I think I have the same mini lathe as yours, although it looks as if you've made a couple of upgrades... I look forward to exploring some of your other content... 🤘
Just found ur channel today man. I enjoyed this video. It's tough trying to turn a Drill press into a Milling Machine. I might have to strengthen up certain areas of the press as u go wwith some more steel/ Maybe some type of heavy guage frame to support that drill chuck area.. I'm not sure at all. Just thinking out loud Robert man.
Very good watch this was though.
I often wondered if my cheap and cheerful drill presss could handle the change. I think u would probably be better building ur own from scratch.Steel is fairly expensive here in IRE right now as well. I have watched guys build Lathes from scratch with Square tubing, etc. Ok it costs a few quid but the results from some o these dudes has been staggering. Hope this works out for ya mate.
I sub'd and liked the video too BTW.
Thank you for the kudos. It's good to hear.
I was doubting this video was worth watching knowing about the very problem he starts off tackling. 👍
Now I'm excited again about making my own mill.
From my experience, I find the mill to be the most useful tool in all of machining.
Need a lathe? You can build one with a mill! 😄
Thank you very much for this video. 👍👏👏👏
Glad to hear it!
May want to check on angular contact bearings.
Robert, thanks for posting your successes and failure. It's how we all learn.
A couple of points if I may. To cut the wrench or spanner flats on the lock nut remove the tool post on your mini lathe and using a suitable bolt, a stack of washers and a nut mount the work vertically through the centre hole. Use washers to establish your relevant centre height , install your end mill cutter in the three jaw chuck or collet chuck and machine away. Rotate the part and cut the second face.
Your safety stop switch is excellent but it's location could be improved. If you mounted it on the front of the motor bracket at head height you would be able to bump the machine off with your forehead while still holding onto whatever you might be machining. This would, of course, apply more to a freehand drilling operation, rather than a milling one, where both hands are being used as hold downs.
Regards from Canada's banana belt.👍🇨🇦🕊️🇺🇦🤞
Thanks for the note, Ron. I just bought two more safety switches and plan to add one to both the Mill and the Atlas. I hadn't thought about mounting them lower for hip access. But now I'll have both. Appreciate it.
Thanks for sharing your interesting project. Machinist/toolmaker and new subscriber here. As long as you stay within the limits of the machine you should be able to do light work. Winky has the same mill/drill table which he disassembled and rebuilt much tighter. You might want to consider rebuilding yours with some way to put a little drag on the table during milling. Hopefully with new bearings you’ll get better results. Chuck your cutters up as close as possible. Rigidity is your friend. You can also do light tapping to about 1/4-20 on your drill press but you must have a hand operated forward and reverse switch. Good luck.
Thank you, Ellie Price.
A terrible machine tool is a lot better than no machine tool... As long as you know the limitations of your machine, you can do wonders with it. Keep it up, and thanks for the inspiration!
That’s a really good outlook. I like it.
I’ve done the same thing. The issue is that there’s a lot of weight sitting on top of the post that holds the drill up and it does wobble in the New role!Find a way to secure motor to the wall to keep the whole unit more secure. It makes a huge difference.
That's really good advice. Thank you.
Hi, looking at the extreme long pipe column frame and the rather small table clamp, this is only for drilling. Take an indicator, mount it on top and check it on the table. Lay your body weight of about 70kg on the table edge and you will manage easiely have your indicator dial move 0,5mm.
This is only the table mount. Use the drill handle and put a stud between spindle and table and it will even ad up.
Strenghten the back pipe frame with steel enforced concrete or epoxy is the usual thing to do, but useless here, since the frame is much too weak at all.
For doing a tiny little scratching material from any workpiece it works, but will never be useful for you. There are much stronger drill presses out there with 15cm diameter pipe frame and more robust casting mount for table and head. Those are suitable to convert.
at 31:50, AHA, you finally worked it out, YES, it is the spindle cartridge!!- they are simply NOT designed for side loads!! that is why you DON'T use a drill press to MILL, the set up is not thick or strong enough to cope with the forces involved.
Informative and cool
Hi Rob, great video, it has given me a lot of advice for my conversion project. Rob can you please tell me what is the name and size of the vise you are using on your X Y table. It sure is solid and I would like to get one for my XY table as it is the exact same one that I have. I would like to have all the hardware that I am going to need before starting my own conversion. Thanks Rob
Hi, Big Mc. It's a 5" mill vise. I got it on Amazon. I really do like it. I also bought their 4" and honestly, the 5" is much better made. Here's the amazon link. I'm not set up as an Amazon affiliate so it's just a regular link.
www.amazon.com/Bench-Precision-Clamping-Degree-Swiveling/dp/B07W4Y38MH
Are the original spindel bearings are suitable for milling ? Do you modify those, too ?
I guess, there must be at least also a thrust bearing, that stops the mill from digging downwards.
In general the spindel bearings for a milling machine must possibly be much stronger than for drill press.