My latest creative attempt at suicide...

Hey, guys, I remember seeing in a couple of places that you could chuck a router bit into a drill press and use it like an upside-down routing table. Now, my questions are:

1) Does this actually work at any point?
2) What speed should you be running the press at?
3) Will the average routing bit cut dymondwood? What about Micarta? Granite? Soggy Cheerios? Anything BUT skin?
4) Is there any prayer of coming out of this with a full set of fingers?

Just looking for more ways to expand on the ways I abuse my tools...thanks!


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Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy, and good with ketchup...
 
M

mikeS

Joined
Apr 7, 1999
Messages
1,015
I did it with a piece of walnut,I ran the bit full speed of my drill press.
I left plenty of room for my fingers (oversize the piece and then cut it down). wasn't a problem, the bit cuts better going one way than the other.

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Sola Fide
 
What I would do in this case though is cut some wood that would support the piece you are working with and use this support as a kind of push stick......there is a good reason why routers bits are all covered and out of the way you know.... you are correct in wondering if all fingers will survive. I think this support for your piece will keep you able to count to ten though
smile.gif


Michael
 
It should work. Although I wouldn't try and do any heavy routing in anything really tough that way though, it could cause play in the spindle on your drill press. (something mine already has plenty of, beleive me its a pain in the ass)
As for the bits. A normal HSS bit will cut dymondwood, and probably micarta.But it will get dull faster than a carbide bit and burn more. You'll probably want to run the drill press at full speed. Maybe slow it down for things like micarta to help with burning, I'm not sure. Another thing to watch for is the bit tearing out on you. The dymondwood I've been working with has kind of lost some of its grain structure. I'm guessing thats caused by the stabilizing. Anyway, its easy to get it to chipping on you. And I'm not sure how smooth the cut will be with all the different layers that the blocks are laminated out of. Good luck.

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It'll feel better when it stops hurting.
 
How about double side carpet tape the work piece to a piece of largew scrap??

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Sola Fide
 
Hmmm.

The reason I asked, as you may very well expect, is that I tried this...and it didn't work terribly well.

I put a carbon bit into my press (a big Grizzly 14"), and set the speed up as high as I could. I set the table up so that the bit was centered in the hole in the table, so no problem there...

Then I turned it on, let it get up to speed, and tried to go to work on a piece of 1/4" dymondwood. The bit just chattered a bit, so I tried slightly more pressure, at which point the bit suddenly tried to dig, and the piece almost got torn from my hands.

What the heck am I doing wrong, other than using the wrong tool for a job?

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Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy, and good with ketchup...
 
I don't have a lot of experience with routers, but it seems that they run much faster than the average drill press, and the bits seem designed around that speed. Running it slower may be introducing a nasty grab factor. I'd try it with a sliding vise.

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Oz

"I went to one of those so-called 'All you can eat' buffets last night, and I'm on to their little game.
They stop filling up the thousand island bucket after you empty it three or four times."
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
Ok theres a few things left to try. You need to eliminate the chatter so you can run the peice through slowly. Since your running the cutter at reduced speed- you have to slow down your feed rate also.
Get a peice of 1x4 and drill a hole in the edge thats just over the diameter of your router bit. Then cut the edges out square so you have a half circle kind of shape cut into the edge of the board. Now clamp that to the drill press table to use like a rip fence. You may need to make more than one pass and remove a small amount of material each time. So adjust it until the router bit sticks out of the hole however far it needs to, then adjust the height on the bit. Run a scrap peice through to check your set up on depth and the amount of material your removing. Then try it for real.
Hope it all works out for you, and keep track of all ten fingers! Or better yet, keep attached to all ten fingers
wink.gif


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It'll feel better when it stops hurting.
 
Been there done that bought a small end mill.
Actually it doesn't work to bad. Get a cross feed vise from Harbor Freigt or somewhere for about 50 bucks. Eliminate all the play and go to it.
A dremel router attachment works a lot better and is a lot cheaper.
Take Care
TJ
 
Been there done that bought a small end mill.
Actually it doesn't work to bad. Get a cross feed vise from Harbor Freigt or somewhere for about 50 bucks. Eliminate all the play and go to it.
A dremel router attachment works a lot better and is a lot cheaper.
Take Care
TJ
 
My routers run at or above 20,000 rpm.
I don't recall any drill presses that run that fast. I have done exactly what you are trying with little success and a lot of sweat. It works, but with little acuracy and more danger than it is worth for me.

Its also a real good way to mess up the arbor on your drill press. Regular drill presses aren't made for sideways pressure. It could grab one time and never drill another straight hole.

You can do it, but---be very carefull and go very slow.

John

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http://www.toptexknives.com/yeackley.htm My contribution to the world of knife fanatics.

"Evolution of a Maker"
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=216199&a=7714866

[This message has been edited by John Yeackley (edited 09-09-2000).]
 
Update time here, too...

It looks like it's just not going to happen on the dymondwood. I checked with some redwood that I had scraps of laying about the shop, and it worked just fine. That dymondwood, though...NOPE. Just too damned hard.

Oh, well...I guess I'll just have to go spend more money getting the right tools for the job!!! I can hear the wife's teeth grinding from here!

Thanks again for all of the help, folks. It never ceases to amaze me how eager folks are to pitch in and teach people like me, who know almost enough to be dangerous (I know--I AM dangerous...but most of that comes from inborn talent, and not knowledge).

Later!


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Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy, and good with ketchup...
 
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