Thread: Milling Machine as a Drill Press?

Hi Luke,
As a kid at high school I used to look at the drill press in the room and thought "one day I am going to get one". Well I did in 1980. It has had pretty good work outs ever since. I bought a second one that is a radial floor model. Its a Chinese job and is a little "cheap" but for wood work it does a good job. With the benefit of variable throat depth it is a little more versitile. The original still does all my metal drilling jobs. They are both sporting 16mm keyed chucks

A milling machine would be quite a good drill press with the added benefit of using it as an over head router. The speeds would have to be significantly faster to cut timber as opposed to milling metal.

I think it would be a good deal. You may find that a milling machine will be dearer than a drill press though

I like this idea and think that there is merit in it. I will be watching this thread with interest.

In an ideal world its a great idea but I think finding one at the right price might be difficult. Don't know what it's like over east but I don't tend to see many mills going cheap in Perth, a lot of the ones I come across are in the 1-5k range.

Even though it is, let's just say that, for the purpose of this thread, money isn't an issue.

That said, let's still also limit the discussion to small scale milling machines that can be compared, in size, to a woodworking drill press.

Many thousands of milling machines get double duty as a drill press in shops all over the world

I am a graduate of an apprenticeship program we had here at work. We learned metal working, cnc programming and stuff like that. A small milling machine would be excellent for drill press. It would also aid in depth control for routing. I don't see how you could go wrong.

Just my opinion of course.

Luke it's obvious your been groomed by one Ian W
Quote
"Making my own inlaid brass tools"
I my self having been looking at a small mill for ages.
I think it's great idea and making tools is the best fun.
I have a large drill press stand but I can't ever remember drilling more than say 150 mm deep.
The mill with a good table will be so much easier to adjust accurately.
And comes with so many more bells and whistles than a drill press.

Originally Posted by Simplicity

I have a large drill press stand but I can't ever remember drilling more than say 150 mm deep.
The mill with a good table will be so much easier to adjust accurately.
And comes with so many more bells and whistles than a drill press.

Simplicity, Roybrew and China have all said it. I will add, A long time ago when I was an apprentice, in the training centre we had 2 "drill presses" to use. One of which was a mill with a table and quill, both of which could be adjusted minutely with hand wheels and one was an actual drill press with just a simple cast iron table. The mill was the first preference of everyone, no question.

Chambezio noted that mills are a tad slower, I had a quick look at some models of mills and they generally tended to go to the mid 2000s RPM while some of the better drill presses go to the low 3000s. In theory, this would mean that you might run into not enough cutting speed for drills of 5mm or so and smaller. In practice my home drill press only goes to 2500 and I haven't really had any problems for general wood and metal work.

Regards
SWK

Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

I absolutely have to be able to perform the operations of a drill press. That's not debatable. I've put it off far too long... But I've come to realize that I could probably get a second hand milling machine for the same price, maybe cheaper, than a drill press.

Some how I doubt it. The only cheap use milling machines I see turn out to be boat anchors.

Been there and done the research Luke, and it was a downer it seems to me, because of a lack of torque for things like Forstner bits. Throat depth is not all that flash either.

I ran this thread a while ago:
Anyone in Sydney (or near) with a Sieg SX2P mill?


However, have a look at this thread:
Revolutionary Teknatool Drill Press

They will be on sale in the States shortly, and look like the lizards gizzards.

It depends......you are going back to the US and there are reportedly heaps of used mills and the like for sale cheap if you have three phase or a VFD. An old Bridgeport or similar will give you the throat depth woodworking can require and I have seen dovetails and box joints done on a Bridgeport. Cutting joints on one with digital axis control would be a doddle, put a drill chuck in it and it is a superb drill press or use mortise taper drills for bigger stuff if needed.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

It depends......you are going back to the US and there are reportedly heaps of used mills and the like for sale cheap if you have three phase or a VFD. An old Bridgeport or similar will give you the throat depth woodworking can require and I have seen dovetails and box joints done on a Bridgeport. Cutting joints on one with digital axis control would be a doddle, put a drill chuck in it and it is a superb drill press or use mortise taper drills for bigger stuff if needed.

That's kind of the experience I was having looking at the second hand market. For a couple hundred more I could get a used mill instead of a new DP.

The throat depth is giving me cause for concern. You're right in that a large mill will have it, but a mill that size is usually a LARGE, industry-scale machine. I'm looking more in the benchtop realm. In that size, the throad depth of a lot of mills is limited compared to a DP.

Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

In that size, the throad depth of a lot of mills is limited compared to a DP.

Or less. The other concern is quill or head travel.

And, as I recall, top speed was often limited to low 2000s (if that on some), when you really need to be able to operate at 3000+ much of the time.

It's a great idea, and there are many positives to it - particularly a travelling table, but they can be added to a DP (I have an X-Y) and they are the best thing you can put on a DP imo.

This is what I liked about the Sieg SX2P mill for $1195 plus $95 delivery from Dandenong (VIC):

• 167mm throat (although I wouldn't mind a bit more)
• headstock can go through the full 260mm movement (I think, looking at the pic) rather than having a separate quill/spindle movement of only ~70mm. Currently I can move the head up to 500mm - don't need that much but definitely want more than 70-100mm.
• infinitely variable speed 0-2500 (much better than changing belts on a DP)
• travelling table (which would have to be added to any DP (have one now and love it)
• I would hope that the spindle runout would be minimal - after all, it is a mill

In that thread I was running on MWF Big Shed said that he used to have an X2 (previous model to the SX2P) and that torque would be limited.

It also has very low power at 500w.

If you have the space and want a machine with good throat depth then a large mill is the only option. Using s DP as a mill is used will shorten the life of the DP as they do not like lateral forces on the quill and are not built to take that sort of treatment though people do it of course. Best of luck with it but I don't think the machine you are seeking exists as FF found out.