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  1. #1
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    Default Can you use a drill Press as a simple Mill?

    This might be the Dumbest question on the forum but as a newbie I have to ask it anyway..... Just wondering if you could use a drill press for milling operations? What I was wanting to do is to cut some slotted holes in a piece of angle. My thoughts were to use a Colet to hold an end mill and use a cross slide to cut the slots. Am I just preparing to kill myself or is this an OK procedure. I know it would be better to have a proper Mill but I don't and was trying to work out a way I could do this rather than drilling holes and filing the slots out.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    Default

    I think they say the drill press is the most dangerous piece of equipment in the workshop. I know I've done some silly things on them, so won't stop you!

    Probably not too good for the quill with side load I'd imagine. Arboga did make a mill/drill thing that was designed for light stuff like that however.

  3. #3
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    By all means try it but my bitter experience is you will end up with.

    Damage to your drill - unconstrained Morse taper will fall out an break stuff including you. You could end up increasing any half decent run out you had to begin with. Mills uses a drawbar to retain the chuck - drill presses can't normally do this.
    Lots of Broken bits
    Ugly looking finishes
    Slots that vary in size all over the place

    These problems are largely caused by the fact that most drill press cross slides are just not heavy or solid enough to hold the work piece steady/form under the side pressure of a turning bit. the result is chatter and thats what leads to these probs. I started with a cheap 4" cross slide (Ha - dreaming mate) and thought my problems would be solved by a 5" slide but still dreaming. Then I tried a small cross side table - OK for wood but still not good for metal.

  4. #4
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    Apr 2012
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    Healesville
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Gaza58 View Post
    This might be the Dumbest question on the forum but as a newbie I have to ask it anyway..... Just wondering if you could use a drill press for milling operations?
    G/day Gaza, no its not a dumb question.

    Putting side load on the chuck will release the taper and the chuck will fall out, mills have a draw bar to hold the taper in place.

    cheers, shed

  5. #5
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    Mar 2019
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    Default

    Thanks Everyone... Question answered..... Will need to come up with another solution... Any suggestions? Or is a mill the answer? Would love a mill but space is a real issue for me.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    melbourne australia
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Gaza58 View Post
    Or is a mill the answer?
    Yep, a mill is the answer. Having said that, I don't own one for the same reason as you don't- lack of space.

    I have a milling attachment for my lathe which is OK for light work, but hopeless for heavy cuts or large X-Y movements.
    Chris

  7. #7
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Default

    A small mill about the size of drill press was all I could squeeze into my shed but the difference between it and my DP (which is a Heavy Duty DP with a 1.5HP motor) is like chalk and cheese.

    The motor on my mill is only 1/2Hp and while the work envelope is small compared to a full size mill its fine for small stuff and for short/small slots, flats etc.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    Melbourne
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    Hi Gaza,
    While I wouldn't recommend using your drill press as a mill there is absolutely no reason you can't use a slot drill to cut a series of holes which you can then file out to make your slot.
    The main advantage of using a slot drill is that a normal drill bit will wander into an adjacent hole if its too close, a slot drill will drill straight down which means you can overlap your holes leaving less to file later.
    You need to have your stock securely clamped so it can't move because a slot drill will not centre like a drill bit and will tend to pull the material being drilled around at random until it bites.
    Of course you can always use a normal drill bit you just need to have your holes further apart and do a bit more filing.
    Cheers,
    Greg.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
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    Charlestown NSW
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    Default

    Gaza.
    How thick is the angle,
    How many & how big are the slots you want?
    Also how often are you going to want to do them?
    If the answer is - up to about 4 mm thick, Not many, not very big and not very often then I'd just be marking them out accurately, drill out as much as you can, then set it up securely in a vice and cut out the remainder using a sharp cold chisel. Set it up in the vice so the line you want to cut to is level with the top of the vice jaw. Use the top of the jaw as a cutting guide
    Finally dress up with a file. Std angle is not very hard or tough so it wouldn't take very long.
    peter

  10. #10
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Depending on the length of the slot, the following is an alternative for "blue&white apron style" slots .

    Before I got my mill I cut dozens of longer slots in up to 6mm thick material by drilling a 6 mm hole at each end of the slot and then cutting out the waste with a thin kerf cutting wheel, and then grinding or filing out any excess.

    For short slots in thicker steel the wheel needs to be small, but there comes a point where it's not possible to get the wheel through the material as slot length limits penetration.

    I used a thin kerf wheel in an old WW table saw to cut a dozen 8 mm wide slots up to 450 mm long in 50 x 3 mm angle. Even though I have a mill I would still use this method today if precision is not required as it would be way quicker than my mill would be at doing this.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    Sydney, NSW, Australia
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    You guys will likely say this is rubbish but its afordable to be either a bench drill or something else if it doesnt mill

    Small in size cheap on price u might even be able to hack it with a decent motor

    https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/220V-Ben...gAAOSwMGVaUEin

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
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    melbourne
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    Default

    Probably ok for pcbs and the thin wood as it claims.


    Probably not ok for steel...


    For a drill press..

    https://sydneytools.com.au/product/b...xoC7HwQAvD_BwE

    Still not a mill though.


    Russ

  13. #13
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Default

    I wouldn't even buy it as a drill.

  14. #14
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    Sydney, NSW, Australia
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    Default

    It may be worth a hack maybe put some Japanese bearings in it with a small 240v electric motor hanging over the top on a variac but that would be another $150-$200 on top of the machine

  15. #15
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    Aug 2006
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    Melbourne
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    gazza2009au: It's hard to tell if you are joking or being serious sometimes. lol

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