I just bought a 15" Ridgid drill press at home despot because when i
extended the ram and tried to rip it off the press :-) i got NO slop.
none. i have never seen spindle bearings so tight. except in my 8x14.
The spindle ends in a jt3 arbor. i tried to put my keyless mt3 chuck
on it but it wouldn't fit. i thought i was going nuts when i realized
it was a jt3 which i vaguely remembered hearing about.
its rated at 1/2 horse, but i really think its at leat 2 horse. it
really really draws a hell of a lot of power. either capacitor run or
start, i'm not sure.
it listed for 300, but was mispriced at 249.00.
i'm a happy camper.
total weight is 152 lbs fwiw.

also,fyi
there was a guy on tv who built a 6" tall bridgeport, fully
functional.
little dials, teeny hand wound motor. under a camera, in action, you
couldnt tell the difference.

Yes, you should be able to do that but:
You will of course need a compound slide table of some sort
The drill press doesn't have the precise vertical feed to allow you to mill
to a set depth easily.
The spindle bearings and supports are not really that strong in a sideways
direction so you will have to go slowly.
The min spindle speed may be too high for larger cutters.
Drill presses do not retain their chucks positively, i.e. they're not bolted
in. There is a possibility that the cutter could fall out of the taper.
So yes it should work, but not very well and with lots of restrictions in
use.

John

"Ben" wrote in message
om...
I just bought a 15" Ridgid drill press at home despot because when i
extended the ram and tried to rip it off the press :-) i got NO slop.
none. i have never seen spindle bearings so tight. except in my 8x14.
The spindle ends in a jt3 arbor. i tried to put my keyless mt3 chuck
on it but it wouldn't fit. i thought i was going nuts when i realized
it was a jt3 which i vaguely remembered hearing about.
its rated at 1/2 horse, but i really think its at leat 2 horse. it
really really draws a hell of a lot of power. either capacitor run or
start, i'm not sure.
it listed for 300, but was mispriced at 249.00.
i'm a happy camper.
total weight is 152 lbs fwiw.

also,fyi
there was a guy on tv who built a 6" tall bridgeport, fully
functional.
little dials, teeny hand wound motor. under a camera, in action, you
couldnt tell the difference.

Thanks for the info, I'll just save my pennies for a mill then. I
wonder if a rotary table for my 8x14 would do the trick?
John

"Ben" wrote in message
om...
I just bought a 15" Ridgid drill press at home despot because when i
extended the ram and tried to rip it off the press :-) i got NO slop.
none. i have never seen spindle bearings so tight. except in my 8x14.
The spindle ends in a jt3 arbor. i tried to put my keyless mt3 chuck
on it but it wouldn't fit. i thought i was going nuts when i realized
it was a jt3 which i vaguely remembered hearing about.
its rated at 1/2 horse, but i really think its at leat 2 horse. it
really really draws a hell of a lot of power. either capacitor run or
start, i'm not sure.
it listed for 300, but was mispriced at 249.00.
i'm a happy camper.
total weight is 152 lbs fwiw.

also,fyi
there was a guy on tv who built a 6" tall bridgeport, fully
functional.
little dials, teeny hand wound motor. under a camera, in action, you
couldnt tell the difference.

"Ben" wrote in message
m...
Thanks for the info, I'll just save my pennies for a mill then. I
wonder if a rotary table for my 8x14 would do the trick?

I'm assuming your "8x14" is a lathe. Many people mill on their lathes. You
need a vertical slide to attach to your cross slide/compound rest. You won't
get very much room, but it's useful for some things.

When people ask me at work if they can mill with a DP, I tell them that
mills are made for a reason. The thing that really gets me is the idea of a
cutter coming out of the machine while it's running.... I cut myself on
milling cutters enough when they're not moving (usually trying to remove
them from collets).

Regards,

Robin

Hey everybody, it's time for

Can I mill on my drill press? again!

The spindle bearings and supports are not really that strong in a sideways
direction so you will have to go slowly.

Actually the bearings are. It's the taper joint between spindle and chuck
that's weak, that is, it flys off. And the rigidity in almost any direction
other than vertical is appalling.

There is a possibility that the cutter could fall out of the taper.

I drilled my JT 33 for M6x1 and put a socket head cap screw inside the chuck.
It didn't fit. So I used a pan head cap screw. It holds on great.

I self-drilled it by holding the bit in a v groove in the cross vise, bolted
down to the table, and centering by eye with dye.

You can also (preferred) turn the whole thing sideways, set up blocking
precisely and take a lathe tool at center height to the face of the spindle,
carving the starting V hole by hand. I've done this on motor spindles and the
accessories run true.



To read about my senior project at ODU,
Go to Google Groups and enter
dgoncz
along with any or some of these words:
ultracapacitor electric bicycle motor generator fluorescent energy display

In article , Doug Goncz says...

The spindle bearings and supports are not really that strong in a sideways
direction so you will have to go slowly.

Actually the bearings are.

A matter of degree. Small drill presses typically
have half inch diameter spindles that run in two small
electric motor grade bearings, about 6 or 8 inches
apart on the quill. There is no real attempt at
preloading them in opposition.

Compare that with a bridgeport J head spindle,
which is about 1/5 inch diameter, and runs at
the bottom on two angular contact bearings that
are preloaded accurately. Then there's another
single bearing about four inches up inside the
quill.

One will probably never take the drill press
bearings or spindle to failure by using for milling.
But rigidity is another issue...

Jim

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You got what you paid for and it is not a milling machine. If you had
wanted a milling machine I could have sold you a little Index vertical
for about the same price but you would have had to crank the table up
for each hole you drilled if you wanted to use it as a drill press.
(I'm in SoCal) You can use a drill press for a lathe just about as
effectively as you can a mill. All you have to do is mount the lathe
tool on the table and the work in the drill chuck. You then push the
tool into the work as required or pull it away while raising or
lowering the quill. If you put a grind stone in the chuck it can be
used as a grinder, again not very effectively but it will work. Buy
the machine made for the application and you will be much happier.
Leigh@MarMachine