Which Drill press??? for Folders

Hankins

Hankins

Joined
Dec 7, 2008
Messages
2,936
Which Drill press??? for Folders
After a Reality Check of my equipment have decided to get a new Drill Press for making Folders.
All that is needed is a Straight (Using PG Steel of course) round hole with consistant results... how hard could it be :confused:
 
It isn't that hard. However you're not going to get a straight round hole with just a drill bit. You'll want to drill about .015" undersized and ream to size.

The best drill press is a milling machine if you can swing it.
 
I've been looking at the Grizzly G7943 12 Speed Heavy-Duty Bench-Top Drill Press. It has 3/4 HP motor and slows down to 140 RPM. It is also on sale to day. I've never used one of these but I keep seeing good reviews of other Grizzly machines.
Anybody have a Grizzly Drill Press? If I win that big Lottery tonight I'll get a CNC mill.
 
The real trick to using a drill press or mill is to check to see that the bit is square with the table, and if not adjust it. On a drill press you can usually adjust side to side but not front to back. I made a plate with 4 adjustment screws that I can get square with the bit, I use a dial indicator in the chuck to check and adjust.

If you have a drill press you may want to consider a small mill/drill, you can mill the recess in the liners (slipjoints) as well as other stuff.
 
watching this thread with interest.

Patrick: I know nothing about mills. What size of mill would I look for? I'd probably keep my eye on craigslist for something like this, and it wouldn't bother me to look for 1-2yrs. I'm still taking baby steps.

Thanks!
 
What about the "Skill" brand of drill press?
Fondling one at Lowes the other day and they actually are tight when fully extended down. Others even the big name have Slop or Runout out the Kazoo...
 
The drill press type is not as important as the squareness of the bit to table. You hole has to be exactly 90 degrees. I am fighting this now. I think I am going with an adjustable table.
 
After using a couple junk drill press (years ago), I bought a small 'Jet' bench top. It's better than the cheaper imports and has worked Very Well. I also drill under-size and ream for folders.
 
Cameron micro drill press
For drilling very accurate small holes
Google them

Sometimes on eBay

I have a delta variable drill press
And a couple of these camerons which I love
Don't forget the Albrecht chuck

Jan
 
One thing to take into consideration is how rigid the worktable is on the press. You can get an indicator and tram the table to the quill and get .0001 all day long in all directions, but if you have flex as soon as you put pressure on your piece with the drill bit well then you do not have a 90deg hole ( I have this problem right now). Obviously one solution is to get a mill or find some way to make your setup as rigid as possible after indicating your worktable. If you have issues with quill runout one way to lessen this is to use the shortest bits you can find (I use center drills for their rigidness then chase with a regular bit if I cant get all the way through) so you are not lowering the quill that far.

Oh and you definitely need to invest in some reamers. Drill .010 or .015 under and ream. Some folder makers go a step further and ream to still undersize then lap.


There are other variables that are out there but those are what come to mind right now.
 
Even most mini mills/drills are better than most drill presses. Not to say they don't come in handy, but I use my smithy 3 in 1 far more as a drill press than anything else, and it comes in handy when I need to mill something. That big hunk of cast iron dampens a lot of vibrations. Anouther thing to think about is not just the table beeing square to the bit, but side to side movement or "wobble" of the chuck.

Would love to have one of the Burgmaster drill presses, I probably spend more time changing bits than I do actualy using the drill.
 
Will52100 said:
Anouther thing to think about is not just the table beeing square to the bit, but side to side movement or "wobble" of the chuck.
Click to expand...

See I told ya I would miss something! Making sure the chuck is square on the taper (if it has a taper some are threaded).
 
Actualy just re-read your post and you mentioned "Quil runnout", not exactly what I was talking about, but close enough, the bit needs to stay pretty much in one spot horizontaly.

And second the use of reamers. I've OK luck when I was trying to figure out how to make folders from US bits, but the actions got a lot better and less sloppy after drilling undersize and reaming to size.
 
i dont even have a drill in my shop(tho it woudl be nice now and then )

i use a mini mill for everything

while i dont use reammers i do drill undersized and then post HT drill to size with a carbide ball endmill. that works great till you get into sme high alloy stuff
 
butcher_block said:
i dont even have a drill in my shop(tho it woudl be nice now and then )

i use a mini mill for everything

while i dont use reammers i do drill undersized and then post HT drill to size with a carbide ball endmill. that works great till you get into sme high alloy stuff
Click to expand...

That will even work with high hardness high alloy stuff. :thumbup: I'll use old carbide ball endmills to cut out busted drills and taps etc. What you're doing is much better than just drilling the hole. However, there are a couple disadvantages compared to using a reamer.

An end mill has relief ground behind the cutting edge, which is what allows it to be fed sideways though material without rubbing. That makes an endmill inherently more "grabby". If you use a four flute, this can lead to chatter. If you use a two flute, there is nothing to prevent "lobe walking" (I just made that term up, but it describes it exactly, motion kinda like a wankel engine) which is the tendency of a two cutting edge tool to cut slightly triangular shaped holes (like a drilled hole). That tendency is minimized with a short stiff carbide cutter, so I'm sure you get good results. But, for a similar cutter cost, you could use a multiflute reamer which will do the same job and is sized more accurately than an endmill. Let me reiterate, there is nothing wrong with your approach, but you might find using a reamer works just as well or better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top