The Drill Press

[Elden]

Yes, this is the Tormek Forum and more particularly the Drill Bit Sharpening segment of it. I imagine that the majority of those reading this segment, however, own or have access to a drill press.

I have found the vintage booklet "The Drill Press - It Use and Application" produced by Walker Turner, to be excellent information. It does contain a nice section about drill bits.

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=2101

[Ken S]

Elden,

Thanks for posting this. I love these old instructional books and have inherited or acquired a number of them. Considering that my drill press is a 1930s vintage Sears, the books are not too old. The knowledge is solid.

Yes, like you, I believe that many of us either have or have access to a drill press.

I recently purchased a Kindle. I am still in the process of learning how to load many of my digitized technical books (including our handbook) on to my Kindle. I would like to be able to refer to them while posting on the forum.
Incidentally, even the $10 latest Kindle edition of Machinery's Handbook will fit on the larger (16 or better 32g) Kindles. That's a lot of reference firepower!

Ken

[tgbto]

Damn, I would not have thought of my drill press as a candidate replacement for my table router  Nor to spell "templet".

That is an interesting book, showing how creative skilled craftsmen were able to get maximal use from their tools.

[RickKrung]

Damn, I would not have thought of my drill press as a candidate replacement for my table router  Nor to spell "templet".

That is an interesting book, showing how creative skilled craftsmen were able to get maximal use from their tools.

I do not know what reference you are referring to with regard to using a drill press as a router table, so do not know if one caution was given.  Many drill press chucks are mounted by means of a Morse Taper arbor, which is primarily a longitudinal friction fit.  It works great when pressures are along the centerline, meaning pushing up against the drill chuck as it is pressed downward into the work being drilled.  It is NOT a good fit for lateral pressures, such as side pressure from a spinning bit cutting on the side.  That can dislodge the drill chuck from the arbor, which given the high rotational speeds needed for routing, could really send the chuck/but flying.  Some drill chucks (very few) have locking screws holding it tight against the arbor, so are more safe for this type of use.  Some chucks have threaded (screw on) arbors and are also safer for this type of use.  Often, the type of arbor mount method is stamped on the side of the chuck body. 

Another, less of a safety issue, is that the bearings in drill press spindles are also meant for longitudinal pressures, not so much lateral or radial.  For light radial pressure, they probably are okay, but heavy side thrusts will wear them out faster.  This is a wear issue rather than safety. 

A vertical mill of some sot, even the small, Chinese import table-top "mini-mills" would be a better choice for routing rather than a drill press. 

Light and infrequent routing on a drill press probably isn't a problem, but you you need to do a lot or heavy work, get the right tool for the job. 

Rick

[tgbto]

I do not know what reference you are referring to with regard to using a drill press as a router table

That is on page 37. The author mentions modifyiong the belt to get 5000 rpm and needing a special adapter to hold the cutter shank. I'm so cautious with a real router I wouldn't think of modifying it. Even the painter mixer seems far fetched But I guess security concerns were a bit different at the time...

[Elden]

Disclaimer: I am not advocating the safety, or lack thereof, of any of the material in the booklet.

As the warning stated in the Henry Ford Trade School book, shown by Tubalcain (aka Mr. Pete), techniques and things used in these older books were from a different time than ours. The practice of safety was not necessarily as prominent (hopefully, maybe?) as it is now. Some things practiced then could be hazardous.

That being said, I still contains "some" excellent information.

[RickKrung]

...snip...
The practice of safety was not necessarily as prominent (hopefully, maybe?) as it is now. Some things practiced then could be hazardous.
...snip...

Some practices, such as we've been discussing, were as hazardous then as they would be today.  I believe it is our perceptions and litigious proclivities that differ. I knew of the caution about using drill presses in such ways in the 1960s and didn't do it then, as now.