I have a piece of mild steel 2"x8" 5/8" thick I had to drill and tap 5-40 thread on one
end lengthwise. I clamped one end in my cheap drill press vise() so it stands vertically
and tried to center drill it. (I know it's bad to clamp long peace by one end) Vise
wasn't bolted to the table. It vibrated really bad but I managed to make a hole but
broke a tip of the center drill
Then I rotated my worktable vertically with bolted vise so my work piece is clamped
horizontally so it won't vibrate. I found that it's impossible to accurately adjust vise
position so drill bit gets into the same hole. I removed vise and after positioning my
workpiece manually clamped it with wise-grip clamp.

I hated the whole process it was a pain and holes where inaccurate. I am lucky I didn't
break the drill bit.

What is a "right" way to do this? I am planning to get a xy table but for now all I have
is a cheap drill press vise from HD.

Thanks,
Alex

An angle plate, with your bar clamped to it, and having the end rest against
the drill press table. Lacking an angle plate,
a piece of square tubing or something similar works well too.


"Alex" wrote in message
. ..
I have a piece of mild steel 2"x8" 5/8" thick I had to drill and tap 5-40
thread on one end lengthwise. I clamped one end in my cheap drill press
vise() so it stands vertically and tried to center drill it. (I know it's
bad to clamp long peace by one end) Vise wasn't bolted to the table. It
vibrated really bad but I managed to make a hole but broke a tip of the
center drill
Then I rotated my worktable vertically with bolted vise so my work piece
is clamped horizontally so it won't vibrate. I found that it's impossible
to accurately adjust vise position so drill bit gets into the same hole. I
removed vise and after positioning my workpiece manually clamped it with
wise-grip clamp.

I hated the whole process it was a pain and holes where inaccurate. I am
lucky I didn't break the drill bit.

What is a "right" way to do this? I am planning to get a xy table but for
now all I have is a cheap drill press vise from HD.

Thanks,
Alex

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:19:40 GMT, Alex wrote:

I have a piece of mild steel 2"x8" 5/8" thick I had to drill and tap 5-40 thread on one
end lengthwise. I clamped one end in my cheap drill press vise() so it stands vertically
and tried to center drill it. (I know it's bad to clamp long peace by one end) Vise
wasn't bolted to the table. It vibrated really bad but I managed to make a hole but
broke a tip of the center drill
Then I rotated my worktable vertically with bolted vise so my work piece is clamped
horizontally so it won't vibrate. I found that it's impossible to accurately adjust vise
position so drill bit gets into the same hole. I removed vise and after positioning my
workpiece manually clamped it with wise-grip clamp.

I hated the whole process it was a pain and holes where inaccurate. I am lucky I didn't
break the drill bit.

What is a "right" way to do this? I am planning to get a xy table but for now all I have
is a cheap drill press vise from HD.

Thanks,
Alex

I won't claim this to be the "right" way, but it works:

Make a drillguide -- just drill same-size hole thru another piece of
smaller material, perhaps angle.

Set up your workpiece so the drill lands where you want it to. Now
place the drillguide on the workpiece using the drillbit in the
drillpress to position it. Clamp the drillguide with visegrips or
whatever. Drill hole.

The drillpress keeps the drillbit vertical, the table provides
vertical counterforce against drill thrust, and the drillguide
maintains horizontal alignment of drill to workpiece.