Thread: Drilling on a mill without a quill

My mill is an old Van Norman model 12 universal which has no quill, so any drilling needs to be done by manually cranking the knee which is a bit of a pain (only power feed is X-axis).
There were a couple of attachments for the VN12 that gave limited quill functionality, but unfortunately I don't have them.
I might end up making something similar - mainly for light accurate drilling operations (up to around 12mm diam) where there are a few holes required as I've got a reasonable drill press for general drilling.

I'm guessing on the larger universal mills the Z-axis power feed could be used, particularly if it has rapid feed to drop the knee back down when the hole is finished.

Just wondering if there are any other suggestions from fellow quill deficient owners?

Steve

Working from the knee is definitely a pain, I'm not sure if it's possible with the Van Norman but I find with my Victoria U2 that it's easier to work in the Y axis with a chuck mounted directly in the horizontal spindle. Still involves a lot of cranking and it's difficult to see the work area from the control position, but you don't have to crank the weight of the knee up & down. I'm doing a LOT of Y-axis drilling at present as part of a project to mount a Bridgeport head to the machine so I have a quill and don't have to do Y-axis drilling....

I would say there are two options really, some kind of powered z axis with one of those align servos, or graft some kind of drill head or Bridgeport on like Pete.

There are a lot of those van Norman's in the us have you kept an eye out for a head?

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I've sort of kept an eye out, but the sub-heads aren't very common - even in the US. Any that come up separately are usually snapped up for not insignificant USD$
Unfortunately I missed out on a complete VN12 with sub-head, matching index head etc in NSW about a year ago

It doesn't have a separate horizontal spindle, but the head rotates to horizontal so I might be able to drill in the Y axis. Hadn't thought of that approach. As you say - the visibility would suck though.
Here's an image of the VN12 with standard head for reference:

VN12.JPG

The sub-head mounts on the lower face of main head, and can be rotated 360deg, so if I had one of those I could actually drill in the X-axis using power feed on the table!!

I don't think that mounting a BP head would be practical even if it could be made to fit, but I haven't looked seriously at it.
I've considered something less substantial along the lines of the spindle/quill, motor and column from a mag-base drill mounted on the face of the mill main head (like the original sub-head was). The concept being that the whole spindle and motor assy moves rather than a quill extending.
Bit of a bugger that I had a damaged mag-drill that I gave away a few years ago when we moved house....

Have to confess that the more youtube videos I watch of machines with powered feeds and rapids on multiple axes the more I feel like I'm missing out in that aspect though....

Steve

I recently changed over to a machine with only 2" of quill travel and powered Z and I find the powered z is very hard on tools. You have to have the feed rate actually right first time. .

Hopefully I get properly used to it. Now being able to tap in the mill would be an absolute pain.

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2" of quill travel doesn't sound like much but I guess if you bring the table up to make the most of it then it would probably cover the most fastener holes etc.

Maybe I just need one of these
https://www.machines4u.com.au/view/a...anuals/481201/

ISO40 spindle, 100mm quill travel, power and rapids on all axes. What more could a bloke want apart from them to take a digit of the price

Steve

Originally Posted by OxxAndBert

Just wondering if there are any other suggestions from fellow quill deficient owners?

Steve

Buy another (second) machine with a quill.

Honestly this is the best approach. I'll bet you also don't have the speeds for small drill bits anyway even if the knee feed has sufficient range of speeds.

Been here done this. It's why I grab spare B/port heads when I find them.

Recently for fiddly little jobs I've been using the Emco FB2 bench mill. Less work than tearing down a setup on the B/port....

PDW

Here is a much cheaper TOS FNJ, looks if anything like it's in better condition too.

https://www.machines4u.com.au/view/a...achine/478550/

Thanks. Unfortunately it's no longer available at that price or it would be sitting in my workshop
It's actually the same machine that I posted the link to - the previous owner traded it...

Steve

Oh man that absolutely sucks. My commiserations

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All good - such is life.
Let me know if you find another one though - as I reckon it ticks pretty much all the boxes for me.

Steve

If you just want to drill holes, find yourself a drill press and remove the head. Mount it on the mill adjacent to the head you have and put up with having to crank the work across when you need to drill.

I also have a mill sans quill and so will centre drill in position according to the DRO but then once the milling is done, move over to the drill press - another way of doing it.

Michael