Power feed drilling.

All discussion about lathes including but not limited to: South Bend, Hardinge, Logan, Monarch, Clausing and other HSM lathes, including imports

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BadDog
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Joined: Wed May 17, 2006 8:21 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Power feed drilling.

Post by BadDog »

42" tires on the N side under an overhang. Shaded completely for about 9 months of the year, and varies through the day for the other 3. Also covered best I can manage (wind). Best compromise I could work out. Too freaking big to store inside, and too heavy to move very often. Sold the semi hard-core buggy they were used on (for slick rock, like Moab, not AZ desert, those went with buggy), and haven't built another that can use them yet, so there they set. They are far from new with some sidewall rash, not worth selling, but still have a lot of life in them, so not the end of the world if they die there. Wheels are worth the most, and they will outlast me...
Russ
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SteveHGraham
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Location: Florida

Re: Power feed drilling.

Post by SteveHGraham »

You guys are bumming me out. I was really happy about the prospect of getting 1800 square feet. Now you make me wonder if I should go with the place that has about 3700.
Every hard-fried egg began life sunny-side up.
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BadDog
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Re: Power feed drilling.

Post by BadDog »

Like cubic inches in a hot rod, hard to go wrong with more cubic feed in a shop, unless you have to pay for AC...

I knew from past experience that I could fill a shop to overrun in a hurry, but I've been surprised how fast 1800 sqft starts to feel cramped. One other thing I forgot to mention that I want to find a new home for is wood machines. I have to move them outside when I use them anyway, but they still need storing inside. It's that "storing" that gets ya.
Russ
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SteveM
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Location: Wisconsin

Re: Power feed drilling.

Post by SteveM »

BadDog wrote:One other thing I forgot to mention that I want to find a new home for is wood machines. I have to move them outside when I use them anyway, but they still need storing inside.
Most people don't realize how much room a table saw needs.

Feeding an 8' sheet of plywood onto and off a table saw needs almost 20' of room.

Steve
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Power feed drilling.

Post by SteveHGraham »

A table saw without a wheeled base is incomplete.
Every hard-fried egg began life sunny-side up.
John Hasler
Posts: 1852
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 4:05 pm
Location: Elmwood, Wisconsin

Re: Power feed drilling.

Post by John Hasler »

Harold_V wrote:
John Hasler wrote:Not a radial, but capable of making serious holes at serious rates:
Indeed. Very nice!
I have a couple small drill presses, but almost never use either of them. I generally turn to my BP mill, but it has limitations. A press like the one you show would certainly be a step up!
Looks a bit different now that it's a mill.
Hmm. Want to help me out with that comment? What have you done so it can mill, aside from adding a table assembly? I'd be mostly concerned with the required quill support, and how you hold cutters.
That said, assuming you really do mill with the press, how does it perform?

H
aveymill.jpg
The motor is 3hp three-phase. I built a "static converter" for it. The six-speed (150 to 1800 rpm) transmission is belt driven.

The quill support casting is quite rigid. I shimmed the quill to compensate for wear and added a quill lock which locks it up quite solidly. That casting is mounted on ways but I leave it clamped. With 6" of quill travel and 18" on the knee I don't need it.

The spindle has an MT3 taper. Drilling the shaft to provide a Bridgeport-style drawbar was out for obvious reasons so I designed a chuck-like mechanism. A T-shaped part with 3/8-16 threads on the bottom and 12TPI Acme threads on the ends of the arms filts into the drift slot. A sleeve with matching internal threads filts over the spindle, engages those threads, and is held in place above by the bottom of the spindle and below by a split ring ( there are thrust bearings). Collets screw on to the 3/8-16 threads and are drawn up by turning the sleeve with a spanner.

That little Grizzly table looks pitiful there: someday I'll find a bigger one I can afford. I spent several days scraping it to get it into something vaguely resembling square and flat. It was so far off that I improved it considerably despite never having scraped anything before. It's trammed by shimming (but it stays trammed).

The gib for the vertical ways was broken and the ways beat up from workpieces being bashed into them and chips falling in. They need to be scraped but I just cleaned them up in place. I also redesigned the gib as it was intended just for locking, not adjusting.

The knee drive was a huge crank with a low turns ratio. I replaced it with a motor drive. It's a substantial improvement over that crank but not satisfactory because the motor I used turns out to lack low-speed torque. A new design is on the list as is a Z axis readout of some sort. Now I have to depend on the micrometer stop on the quill for depth control but I'd rather just lock up the quill and use the knee all the time.

The spindle has dual angular-contact bearings. Runout inside the taper seems to be a bit less than 5 tenths: I don't have a tenths indicator so I'm estimating. Spindle sideplay relative to the quill is perceptible but too small to quantify. Sideplay at full extension and locked relative to the table is .002" in the X direction when forced, zero in the Y.

I do use it for mlling. With the quill fully retracted and locked I take .050" cuts in mild steel. Seems to be limited by the rigidity of the table. I had trouble with cutters spinning in collets before I learned the importance of lubricating the *outside* of the collet.
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Harold_V
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Re: Power feed drilling.

Post by Harold_V »

Thanks for the detailed response. Amazing what a guy can do with a little effort.

I normally don't endorse the use of a drill press as a mill, but you've addressed some of the major issues and appear to have come up with solutions that make it work.

Needless to say, your creation will never equal a "purpose built" mill, but it's refreshing to see enough effort dedicated to making one as good as it can be. Enjoy your mill/drill!

H
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
16WhiteColly
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Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:59 pm

Re: Power feed drilling.

Post by 16WhiteColly »

In the case of a large drill when having to drill deep, instead of mounting the drill bit in the compound, we used to mount the bit in the tailstock and instead of all the cranking, we had made a bracket that attached the tailstock to the cross slide and we would leave the tailstock unlocked and we actually towed the tailstock (drill) with the cross slide using the carriage power feed. A little machine shop ingenuity that someone came up with, but worked very well.
40 year retired machinist.
TRX
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Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:30 pm
Location: Central Arkansas

Re: Power feed drilling.

Post by TRX »

> not bad for some Indian taper shank bits I've had for 20-30 years.

I ordered a 3MT drill from one of the "tool warehouse" places, some odd size like 47/64". It came in a brittle cardboard box with the drill wrapped in brown waxed paper. Made in Calcutta, with the old-style postcode, almost certainly from the days of the British Raj.

Worked fine; I re-wrapped it and put it back in its box instead of in the big drill index. I know it's just an old-stock tool, but I thought it was pretty cool.
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