milling wood

Kevin McGovern

Kevin McGovern

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Jul 31, 2015
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I know it's a no go to mill metal with a drill press. BUT- can you mill slots for wooden bolsters on a drill safely? I would like to speed up/ increase accuracy of slots for hidden tang bolsters. If so, any advice on how to go about it?
 
I'll watch this thread Kevin - I'm not sure what type of slots you're referring to. Do you mean a slot (like a biscuit in woodworking?) in the edge to match a slot in the scale to provide a bit of extra strength for the bolster/scale joint?
 
I've done it. Go slow, take a small bite at a time. You can do it.
Keep your speed relatively slow and wear goggles. But the odds are small I think of flying anything.
I've had the chuck come loose on the morse taper, but generally it just drops and stops. Slow speed. ...
A decent cross-slide vise will make the task easier to keep straight.
 
I should add, do this at your own risk. The standard disclaimer. I'd much rather use a bill. Tolerance is better, so better fit.
Sell that drill press!
 
Your average experienced woodworker would NOT mill a slot in wood on a drill press - for what that's worth.
Other better ways - from hand tools to routers with templates.

I qualify this with the words "average experienced woodworkers" because I'm sure, in some cases, this has been done but it would not be typical.

Ray
 
I used to mill my ferrules on my wa handles on my drill press with small end mills in a vise. That kind of small job went pretty well.

The accuracy on my milling machine is of course much better, but sometimes you have to get by with what you have at hand.
 
RayseM said:
Your average experienced woodworker would NOT mill a slot in wood on a drill press - for what that's worth.
Other better ways - from hand tools to routers with templates.

I qualify this with the words "average experienced woodworkers" because I'm sure, in some cases, this has been done but it would not be typical.

Ray
Click to expand...
I'm not sure how using a router would work well. I'm talking about a 3/4" x 1/8" slot in a 1.5" square piece of wood.
 
Ken H> said:
I'll watch this thread Kevin - I'm not sure what type of slots you're referring to. Do you mean a slot (like a biscuit in woodworking?) in the edge to match a slot in the scale to provide a bit of extra strength for the bolster/scale joint?
Click to expand...
Like this. I usually do a slotted dowel construction, so the depth would only be 1/4" or so.

IMG_20171220_142113792.jpg
 
You can do wood "milling" in moderate passes with a decent drill press, typically much less side thrust than steel, but router and wood bits like to turn fast.

Find it easier to make small router templates (I just glue scrap plywood together at my slot dimensions) and then adhere it with two sided tape or clamp based on size of work. The small trim routers are really nice these days compared to what the used to be. Makita even has a cordless one now. Always hated routers until I bought my first real one, porter cable, 30yr back
 
Kevin McGovern said:
I'm not sure how using a router would work well. I'm talking about a 3/4" x 1/8" slot in a 1.5" square piece of wood.
Click to expand...

Hi Kevin,

Yes I understood that. If your handle blanks can typically start out the same size you would need to make up a template and hold down system for use with a trim router. Easy enough to do even within those size constraints. May not be practical because every knife is so different.

My choice would be hand tools - a chisel or two and this tool (or the like) - a router plane.



This combination can be very efficient and safe (if you are comfortable using sharp tools :)). You would still need to create a system to hold your work - as you would using the drill press too - but without the element of risk associated with spinning cutters.

Ray
 
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I used to do that with micarta on my big press, using an xy table. It worked OK, never had the chuck fall out on me, although it's happened at other times... I'd say, remove most of the material with plunge cuts (more efficient anyway) then just mill the web out sideways and mill a trim cut to finish dimension around the inside. Heck, that's how I do it with steel guards, on my knee mill.
 
Salem Straub said:
I used to do that with micarta on my big press, using an xy table. It worked OK, never had the chuck fall out on me, although it's happened at other times... I'd say, remove most of the material with plunge cuts (more efficient anyway) then just mill the web out sideways and mill a trim cut to finish dimension around the inside. Heck, that's how I do it with steel guards, on my knee mill.
Click to expand...
Thanks Salem. That's pretty much what I had intended on doing.
 
Make sure you avoid climb milling, especially given the inherent lack of rigidity in your set up. Think of climb milling as feeding the work piece into the cutter such that the teeth are climbing up on top of the work piece. Make sure you do conventional milling- milling so the cutter is scooping up the material. I'm sure that explanation was confusing, not really sure how else to word it.
AvE on YouTube had a series if videos where
He converted a super cheap Home Depot drill press into a relatively effective mill with a decent XY table. If I can find the link, I'll post it here.

ETA: Here's the link to the video.
-Tanner
 
xXBackyardCrafterXx said:
Make sure you avoid climb milling, especially given the inherent lack of rigidity in your set up. Think of climb milling as feeding the work piece into the cutter such that the teeth are climbing up on top of the work piece. Make sure you do conventional milling- milling so the cutter is scooping up the material. I'm sure that explanation was confusing, not really sure how else to word it.
AvE on YouTube had a series if videos where
He converted a super cheap Home Depot drill press into a relatively effective mill with a decent XY table. If I can find the link, I'll post it here.

ETA: Here's the link to the video.
-Tanner
Click to expand...

That may be the funniest video I have ever watched.
 
Funny and very well done - compelling drama, lovely musical interludes, appropriate gratuitous sailor/machinist
talk and wish washy to solid results. "You've got to piss with the cock you have." :confused: I enjoyed the whole thing and learned something too. :)

Ray
 
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Yeah, his videos are really entertaining and informative. I thought he had a second video where he tried to improve upon the "mill", but I couldn't find it.
-Tanner
 
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