Jerry Foster wrote:
"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
...
On 17 Dec 2005 09:19:32 -0800, wrote:
Since there are no places near me that sell used machines of the type I
need, it looks as though I'll have to gamble on ordering something new
over the internet.
At the most extreme, I'll need to be able to drill 1-1/2" holes through
1/4" thick stainless steel, space and weight are a big issue, to the
best of my abilities I've narrowed the choices down to a Grizzly G7943
drill press and a Mini Mill/Drill(if I can find a suitable one).
Since I'll need to make parts of various shapes and sizes I thought
that a mill/drill might be a plausible option. But I've discovered that
there may be books that show how to do milling on a drill press with
the proper jigs and attachments, so I may just stick with that idea.
Is there anyone here that has had a lot of experience with using a
drill press as a milling machine? If so, advice would be appreciated.
Thanks a lot.
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
Darren..to drill or saw a hole that big in Stainless, takes a solid
heavy machine. You need a lot of downward pressure to cut/drill
stainless, else it work hardens in a heartbeat. Im not sure there is
ANY mill/drill out there that is capable of doing this on any regular
basis.
Id even think hard about doing this on a Bridgeport, unless you use a
hole saw.
Gunner
"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.
Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner
I don't know that I'd totally agree. I lived with an HF mill-drill for
several years before I got my Bridgeport. While the BP is several boxcars
more accurate and more convenient to operate, there isn't a whole lot of
difference in the power of the two machines.
That being said, there are a couple other angles here. First, I cringe when
people simply say, "stainless." Stainless is a term that covers a number of
alloys, some of which machine nicely, and some of which machine about like a
concrete block. I once turned an 7 1/2" flywheel out of a piece of
stainless. I chucked a slice of 8" round in my lathe and shoved a HSS tool
into it... and watched the end get sliced off the tool. Carbide tools cut
it nicely, but, if I pushed it a little too hard and stalled the lathe, I'd
snap the edge off the tool. And this was an alloy (it's been a few years
and I forget which) that was supposed to machine easily.
And then, the OP put a limit of 200 lbs on the machine. I tend to doubt
that anything weighing close to that will have either the rigidity or the
power to drive a 1 1/2 inch drill through a piece of even the more easily
machined stainless alloys.
Bottom line: A 1 1/2 inch hole in a piece of stainless is not a trivial
machining task.
Ok. I'm starting to get that impression. Will it make a difference if I
get a drill with twice as much horse power as the drill I
mentioned?(ie: Grizzly G7948). Though that obviously means the drill
cannot be a bench top.
As for the stainless, I'm obviously going to have to be flexible at
this point, but it'll be between 303, 304, 316 & 316L.
Thanks.
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.