Don’t think I need the fancy epoxy granite mix for a drill press column, but a number of folks have reported that adding concrete to the column made their mill drills a lot stouter. I’m filling my mill with Epoxy Granite to increase rigidity. This table, BTW, is for tapping, hence no hole for drilling. I’m envisioning some way to quickly lock those hold-down clamps. The Cam Lock Clamp does it in one quick and easy motion.Īnother possibility is something like John Bolander’s setup: Most of the trouble in using a drill press is getting your workpiece properly clamped down. Hooks to the column, swings out of the way when not needed, and has a quick acting cam action. This does not look at all hard to make, but if you’d rather buy one, Travers Tool has the clamp, $77.32 each, part no. Phase II makes some decent ones as well, and Enco has them on sale from time to time. Nicest table I’ve seen yet that you could buy new. The consensus seems to be you can line up on a marked point much faster with an XY table, and you can certainly drill a line of holes more easily too.įrank Ford’s table is from Grizzly. Drill Press Milling Table (XY Table for Drill Press) They’re rumoured to be much smoother and more vibration-free than normal V-belts. While I’m at it, I would be sorely tempted to ditch the V-belt and have a look at some of these Fenner Link Belts: I figured it would be nice to have a spare, and that I might eventually get one on the drill press.

At the time, I bought 2 complete sets from eBay that are identical. The DC treadmill motor on my lathe has been a wonderful addition. The motor on my little Chinese drill press is pathetic, and the step pulley system is painful to deal with. Why not put a quill DRO on your drill press? When my mill is CNC’d, I’ll likely transfer the quill DRO over.ĭrill Press Motor: Variable Speed and Tachometer Grizzly offers a much cheaper version, but I like the look of this one much better. The bad news? They’re not cheap at $44, but they sure seem a wonderful luxury. You’ll be able to dial in a stop to 0.010″. Get one of these nifty Morton 1/2-20 Quick Adjusting Quill Nuts from Enco and you are off to the races: These ideas are in no particular order, although anything I actually implement will likely get moved to the top. When I wrote this, I hadn’t attempted any of it, but I hope to get to it over time. These are my notes and idea on various gizmos and ideas to soup up a drill press. That’s my little imported drill press on the right… I may hold out for one rather than tricking out my cheap drill press.

I do sometimes wish I had a nice Clausing or other better made drill press. In particular, once I’ve got my mill CNC’d, I suspect I’ll want an easy way to drill a hole without having to run the CNC. There are much nicer drill presses to be had, but meanwhile, it’s also not that hard to think about improving this one I’ve got. Mine is a cheezy little Chinese import that cost $60. While you can’t really mill very successfully with one (I’ve tried, LOL!), they’re still darned handy. The lowly drill press is often the first machine any shop obtains, followed closely by a horizontal bandsaw and a bench grinder. Drill Press Attachments and Drill Press Upgrades

Xy vise for drill press