Thread: carbatec heavy duty drill presses

Originally Posted by old_picker

pondering on upgrading my TT 1hp drill press
the problem with it is quill slop and the thing is just plain wobbly - its ok but not really anywhere near a precision tool

looking at the 2 carbatec HD presses DP-4132F [$899] and DP-4125F [$300 cheaper]
i am wondering if the heavier machine is overkill - in other words, apart from the bigger everything am i going to see a significant difference in accuracy between these 2 machines

I've had a similar unit to the 4125F, (but it has 16 speeds; 160-3000 rpm, MT3, 1HP motor etc) for two years. My quill is also now a bit sloppy and the thing is not as accurate as it was when I first got it. However I have treated it quite hard and placed a lot of side loads on it when using it as a metal mill. I doubt the 4132 will be any more accurate than the smaller DP, sometimes bigger machines are worse (luck of the draw with chinese machines) but if you can find a good one it does have an MT4 taper and having bigger bearings should take a bit a more punishment for longer before it goes sloppy. If you want long perm precision drilling the only way to ensure this is to get yourself a metal working mill

a mill is out of the question as one big enough to do what i need to do would cost thousands.

my press does take a fair bit of side load punishment being used with sanding drums to clean edges of guitars after machining -

i could use a spindle sander but with out fine grit sleeves it leaves a fair bit of hand sanding. with the drums i can replace the paper with any grit i choose

the idea of the extra heavy drill press then is probably a good one

btw what is the difference between MT3 and MT4 tapers??

Originally Posted by old_picker

my press does take a fair bit of side load punishment being used with sanding drums to clean edges of guitars after machining

That will do it! It will do the same to a to an MT4 eventually. I'm going to change the bearing on my DP and stopped doing this to my DP.

i could use a spindle sander but with out fine grit sleeves it leaves a fair bit of hand sanding. with the drums i can replace the paper with any grit i choose

It might be worth getting a custom made head that will take the papers you need.

btw what is the difference between MT3 and MT4 tapers??

There is no guarantee that any bigger bearings are used but they would be mad not to do that.

Originally Posted by BobL

It might be worth getting a custom made head that will take the papers you need.
.

how could that be done??

Originally Posted by old_picker

how could that be done??

I'd start with something simple like
What about contact gluing your paper over the top of old spindle sleeves, If you use a spiral path its less likely to peel off
or
Cut some pvc pipe that fits over the spindle and contact your paper over that. Use a spiral for that as well
or
Is there a way you can place the drum sander cylinder direct onto the spindle?

if you want, post a picture including a close up of how it grabs the paper and then one of the head of the spindle sander and let's take it from there.

i use the sleeveless sanding drums ex carbatec
they have slot from top to bottom - the paer is cut to length and one side goes into the slot - the paper is wrapped around and slid into the same slot [ about 1/2" of paper] behind the slot is a hole the deptth of the drum with a cam that is twisted to capture the paper - the ones in the box are what i use



a close up of the arrangement that holds the paper


the advantage is that fine grade papers 240 to 400 can be used for the intermediate finishing stage