Drill press caution

David Stifle

David Stifle

Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
10,188
There's a post on Don Fogg's forum showing a fairly serious injury a maker suffered because he did not clamp his work down when using his drill press. The piece spun, cutting his hand serverely, and he may experience nerve damage. For new members, or even experienced makers, it serves as a reminder to ALWAYs clamp your work down.
 
I agree, I learned that recently the hard way, thankfully I was drilling my blade that did not have the bevels ground out yet, but after it bruised my fingers and ripped a nail off it hit the post of the press and put a nice little dent into the knife. My shop doesnt have a vise anywhere for hte press so I improvised by using bolts and washer to clamp it in place while drilling. I tried using c-clamps but found the bolts work better and faster.
 
Strategically placed dowel pins and a quick clamp are a great combination if a vice is not an option.
 
And knowing which bits to use for what materials. That will save you more hasell than even clamping will.

A standard drill bit into non-ferous or sheet stock will bite into the material with consistency. Relieving the edge of the bit will prevent this from happening and make working with the assecory metals much more enjoyable. You don't want to be the guy that lost knife making to a 1/32" brass sheet, turned spinning razor blade at 400rpm.

This picture shows where the drill bit gets a relief grind to remove the edge that bites in. It may save you some digits.
427549.jpg
 
I have not had this experience but I have seen a newbie mechanic get the sleeve of his shirt caught by the spindle of a drill press, fabric tears fairly easily unless its the cuff that get wrapped.
 
I see it all the time. Or a flimsy drill press vise the probably weighs 5 pounds that isn't mounted to the table. Getting into good habits early is key. Everything needs to clamped.
 
If you have time, go to Don's site under show and tell and take a look. The sight alone is enough to keep me aware of the need to clamp my work down.
 
That's a fact, Rick.
I often place a C-clamp on the table right next to the work piece so the rotation of the drill bit places the work piece right up against the C-clamp.

Rick Marchand said:
Strategically placed dowel pins and a quick clamp are a great combination if a vice is not an option.
Click to expand...
 
I have a woodworker's cam-clamp which fits in the T-slot of my drill press which I use as a hold down. I need to get myself drill press vise still.

dont have a photo of it, but you can see it in this vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ouURpoWGRA
[video=youtube;3ouURpoWGRA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ouURpoWGRA[/video]
 
I need a table vise. This morning I was drilling annealed 1095 (broke a few bits, hate drilling this stuff!) and had the small piece "helicopter" a couple of times. At least I had it on the slowest speed, but those flying broken bits hurt.

Wear eye protection too!
 
i use a mini mill for drilign and everythign gets locked int the vice then i crank the blade around to the drilling points
for those that think that it takes too much time to clamp and move remember holw long a bad cut like that heals
 
Bad hand injuries don't heal, they just close up around thier new shape and functionality. :)

Ask my crooked pointing finger.
 
Just another reason to drill the way I do.

Note how the drill press is being used... Drilling a differentially heat treated 1095 blade.

[video=youtube;ktaUpPj8wg4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktaUpPj8wg4[/video]
 
As Mr Stifle has pointed out my recent injury (which is more than fine, since I hope it serves as a reminder to all makers, New and old, alike) I wanted to clarify something. The issue was not lack of safety equipment, it was choosing to not use said equipment, that resulted in the injury. I have a clamp that secures to the table and doubles as a stop. I chose not to put it back on, since it was one quick hole I was going to drill. That decision cost me four hours in the ER, 19 stitches, and at least a week out of my garage. All the safety equipment in the world will do you no good, if you don't use it when you've got it.
 
One thing I always do, in addition to clamping the blade securely, is to make sure that the blade is oriented so that the sharpened edge is not the "leading edge" in case it helicopters. Worst case scenario, getting whacked with the spine is less risky than getting sliced by the bevel...

TedP
 
I would like to throw in my 2 cents. I was using a step drill to drill a Micarta knife scale for "loveless bolts" when the bit hung up in the layer of canvas. The center hole was already drilled and the scales were attached and profiled. The knife "helicoptered" around and "grazed" the fat fleshy part below my thumb. I though myself lucky that it was just a scratch but when I spread it I saw that it was at least a quarter inch deep and shot a stream of blood up in the air. I shot some alcohol on a new clean shop rag and compressed it and my wife drove me to an emergency clinic for 8 stitches. I was lucky no nerves or tendons were in the way. I thought that I was a careful professional but obviously I was foolish and careless. Be extra careful when drilling Micarta because it will grab even a nice new drill bit. Oh, and always keep your feet back from under your buffing wheel too because they can throw a knife into your foot. It can happen to anyone who is not thinking about safety constantly. Larry
 
I need to bolt down my drill press vise. I was drilling a pipe "T" that was clamped in the vise. The bit caught as it was breaking through and the whole vise helicoptered even though I was hanging onto it with a death grip. The swivel piece on the tightening screw struck the webbing between my thumb and forefinger...hard. I thought I broke my index finger at first.

I know for a fact that my press creates over 550lbs of pressure when it spins because I left the chuck key in it once, which was hanging from the base by 550 cord. When I turned it on, it snapped that 550 cord without skipping a beat.
 
Broomhead said:
I need to bolt down my drill press vise. I was drilling a pipe "T" that was clamped in the vise. The bit caught as it was breaking through and the whole vise helicoptered even though I was hanging onto it with a death grip. The swivel piece on the tightening screw struck the webbing between my thumb and forefinger...hard. I thought I broke my index finger at first.

I know for a fact that my press creates over 550lbs of pressure when it spins because I left the chuck key in it once, which was hanging from the base by 550 cord. When I turned it on, it snapped that 550 cord without skipping a beat.
Click to expand...

In that case you can screw a pipe in one of the openings and let the pipe hit the vertical pipe of the drill press.
 
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