Shop Tip for tuesday

After many years in the machining business my take on drill presses is this. Buy a 150 dollar one from sears and fix it up..
When you get it indicate the table in so that everything is square when drilled.
The next tip I got from Tommy McNabb while teaching folder making last month at the NRA school. Buy a cheap indicator with a mag base.
Take the drill press stop off and attach a scrap of metal that sticks out from the bolt that use to work as the stop. Put your indicator on it metal and you have a instant dial depth gauge. What a big difference this will make while counter boring holes and drilling for ball detents ect.
I think a dial indicator and cheap mag base can be had for about 50 bucks. Youll save fifty bucks in scrap parts in a month:]

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Dr.Lathe

Dr.Lathe

Joined
Aug 4, 1999
Messages
2,596
This may sound dumb but......... While your on the drill press subject.....
If you are drilling several different size holes in say, folder frames, drill the smallest holes first and work your way up in size. That way, if you put a hole in the wrong spot, you can always drill it larger! Over the years, working as a machinist, I've seen lots of jobs scrapped that could have been avoided by this method.
Neil

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Roger that! Saves time and expensive bits, too. You make the job much easier for the larger bits if you've already drilled the hole in a slightly smaller size. Plus you can fudge the speeds a bit and leave your press a little fast with the larger bits if they're not cutting the entire hole, saving time. Also the smaller bits are easier to center (even with a well-punched mark, I've had drills decide they'd like to start somewhere else), then the larger ones go right where they're supposed to with no "walk." You may wear out a few more tiny bits, but they're cheap even in cobalt, much cheaper than large sizes.

-Drew
 
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