What horsepower of drill press that I need to purchase?

I am in the early stages of setting up a simple manufacturing business. Need
to be able to drill through 6061 T-6 Aluminum 2-inch square tubes possessing a
wall thickness of 3/16" using a ONE-INCH in diameter cobalt drill bit - 10,
50, maybe 100 times per day. Drilling a one inch bore through metal is going
to take some horsepower, this is not like drilling a 1/2-inch through wood.

I would love to buy a drill press that can bore holes in aluminum like butter,
but I do not have a huge budget, and am hoping that I can get into a good
drill press for around $1,000.00. Do I need 1-1/2 horsepower? 2 horsepower?
is 3/4 horsepower enough? Need to be able to get what I need that will do the
job, but not put me in the financial poorhouse. Starting a new business, I do
not know what my demand is going to be yet, but would rather start small for
now, and work my way up. But I need to have a robust machine that can do the
job and produce a quality product.

I am not in a position yet to buy a CNC or Clausing Machine, until I get
started and actually sell some product and determine if I even have a market.
I do not want to overbuy or underbuy equipment, but a drill press with be
central to producing the product that I am trying to bring to market.

--
for full context, visit https://www.polytechforum.com/metalw...po-650360-.htm

On Fri, 8 May 2020 17:18:01 +0000, Mark Gerardy
wrote:

What horsepower of drill press that I need to purchase?

I am in the early stages of setting up a simple manufacturing business. Need
to be able to drill through 6061 T-6 Aluminum 2-inch square tubes possessing a
wall thickness of 3/16" using a ONE-INCH in diameter cobalt drill bit - 10,
50, maybe 100 times per day. Drilling a one inch bore through metal is going
to take some horsepower, this is not like drilling a 1/2-inch through wood.

I would love to buy a drill press that can bore holes in aluminum like butter,
but I do not have a huge budget, and am hoping that I can get into a good
drill press for around $1,000.00. Do I need 1-1/2 horsepower? 2 horsepower?
is 3/4 horsepower enough? Need to be able to get what I need that will do the
job, but not put me in the financial poorhouse. Starting a new business, I do
not know what my demand is going to be yet, but would rather start small for
now, and work my way up. But I need to have a robust machine that can do the
job and produce a quality product.

I am not in a position yet to buy a CNC or Clausing Machine, until I get
started and actually sell some product and determine if I even have a market.
I do not want to overbuy or underbuy equipment, but a drill press with be
central to producing the product that I am trying to bring to market.
Greetings Mark,
Why are you using a twist drill for the holes? For your job you
should look into annular cutters. Rotabroach is one brand name for
these types of cutters. These cutters require less horsepower and will
leave much smaller burrs. And make better holes. And are faster. You
would need to buy a morse taper adapter that fits your drill press and
then the annular cutter fits into the adapter. They do require a rigid
setup though.
A 1" twist drill going through 3/16" aluminum will start to break
through before the full diameter is reached. This will cause the drill
to chatter, grab, and walk around in the hole. You will almost surely
end up with a crappy hole and a large burr.
In any case, depending on how fast you want to drill the holes with
a twist drill a 1 HP motor would be fine. If it was me I would get 1.5
HP.
Good Luck,
Eric

wrote:
On Fri, 8 May 2020 17:18:01 +0000, Mark Gerardy
wrote:

What horsepower of drill press that I need to purchase?

I am in the early stages of setting up a simple manufacturing business. Need
to be able to drill through 6061 T-6 Aluminum 2-inch square tubes possessing a
wall thickness of 3/16" using a ONE-INCH in diameter cobalt drill bit - 10,
50, maybe 100 times per day. Drilling a one inch bore through metal is going
to take some horsepower, this is not like drilling a 1/2-inch through wood.

I would love to buy a drill press that can bore holes in aluminum like butter,
but I do not have a huge budget, and am hoping that I can get into a good
drill press for around $1,000.00. Do I need 1-1/2 horsepower? 2 horsepower?
is 3/4 horsepower enough? Need to be able to get what I need that will do the
job, but not put me in the financial poorhouse. Starting a new business, I do
not know what my demand is going to be yet, but would rather start small for
now, and work my way up. But I need to have a robust machine that can do the
job and produce a quality product.

I am not in a position yet to buy a CNC or Clausing Machine, until I get
started and actually sell some product and determine if I even have a market.
I do not want to overbuy or underbuy equipment, but a drill press with be
central to producing the product that I am trying to bring to market.
Greetings Mark,
Why are you using a twist drill for the holes? For your job you
should look into annular cutters. Rotabroach is one brand name for
these types of cutters. These cutters require less horsepower and will
leave much smaller burrs. And make better holes. And are faster. You
would need to buy a morse taper adapter that fits your drill press and
then the annular cutter fits into the adapter. They do require a rigid
setup though.
A 1" twist drill going through 3/16" aluminum will start to break
through before the full diameter is reached. This will cause the drill
to chatter, grab, and walk around in the hole. You will almost surely
end up with a crappy hole and a large burr.
In any case, depending on how fast you want to drill the holes with
a twist drill a 1 HP motor would be fine. If it was me I would get 1.5
HP.
Good Luck,
Eric

Very good advice. Annular cutters are so much nicer in that application.
Press wise, I'd opt for a mill myself simply for durability and
usefulness in a small shop. It would allow you to make tooling and jigs
to make the process faster.

If you wanted an even faster way you could make up a punch and die with
the die sliding inside the tube as a slip fit. Use 1/2 of a greenly
style punch for the moving punch and a chunk of tool steel with a
properly sized hole for the die. Heat treat it and it should last a long
time. Then a simple press to power it.


--
Steve W.

"Mark Gerardy" wrote in message
oupdirect.com...

What horsepower of drill press that I need to purchase?

I am in the early stages of setting up a simple manufacturing business. Need
to be able to drill through 6061 T-6 Aluminum 2-inch square tubes possessing
a
wall thickness of 3/16" using a ONE-INCH in diameter cobalt drill bit - 10,
50, maybe 100 times per day. Drilling a one inch bore through metal is going
to take some horsepower, this is not like drilling a 1/2-inch through wood.

I would love to buy a drill press that can bore holes in aluminum like
butter,
but I do not have a huge budget, and am hoping that I can get into a good
drill press for around $1,000.00. Do I need 1-1/2 horsepower? 2 horsepower?
is 3/4 horsepower enough? Need to be able to get what I need that will do
the
job, but not put me in the financial poorhouse. Starting a new business, I
do
not know what my demand is going to be yet, but would rather start small for
now, and work my way up. But I need to have a robust machine that can do the
job and produce a quality product.

I am not in a position yet to buy a CNC or Clausing Machine, until I get
started and actually sell some product and determine if I even have a
market.
I do not want to overbuy or underbuy equipment, but a drill press with be
central to producing the product that I am trying to bring to market.

===============================================
For reference, my 60+ year old Clausing 8525 mill has no trouble drilling 1"
holes in steel at 180 RPM with 3/4 HP. First I drill a pilot hole about the
size of the drill bit web, usually at the same speed.

You seem to be unfamiliar with metal. A drill bit won't make a smooth-walled
1.000" hole". The work needs to be securely clamped. Reduce the RPM if the
bit chatters.

On 5/8/2020 12:18 PM, Mark Gerardy wrote:
What horsepower of drill press that I need to purchase?
I am in the early stages of setting up a simple manufacturing business.
Need
to be able to drill through 6061 T-6 Aluminum 2-inch square tubes
possessing a
wall thickness of 3/16" using a ONE-INCH in diameter cobalt drill bitÂ* -
10,
50, maybe 100 times per day. Drilling a one inch bore through metal is
going
to take some horsepower, this is not like drilling a 1/2-inch through wood.
I would love to buy a drill press that can bore holes in aluminum like
butter,
but I do not have a huge budget, and am hoping that I can get into a good
drill press for around $1,000.00.Â* Do I need 1-1/2 horsepower? 2
horsepower? is 3/4 horsepower enough?Â* Need to be able to get what I
need that will do the
job, but not put me in the financial poorhouse. Starting a new business,
I do
not know what my demand is going to be yet, but would rather start small
for
now, and work my way up. But I need to have a robust machine that can do
the
job and produce a quality product.
I am not in a position yet to buy a CNC or Clausing Machine, until I get
started and actually sell some product and determine if I even have a
market.
I do not want to overbuy or underbuy equipment, but a drill press with be
central to producing the product that I am trying to bring to market.

If this drill press is to be used for proof of concept (concept=making a
profit) then any 1/2 hp benchtop drill press that can fit the work piece
under the quill would be sufficient. If you require one that can drill
100 holes a day, a 1/2 horse will run all day; get one that is
comfortable to use, i.e., you're not stooped over it during use.
I've found Blair Holcutters to be supreme in the task of making fast
clean holes. The ones I have are advertised as "sheet metal holcutters"
but I've used them to fish mouth pipe ends using a Harbor Fright jig
with good success. They fit in a standard 3/8 or bigger chuck.
Usually you'll find smaller hp units to be unable to run slow with any
torque. These holcutters suggest about 2700 to 3000 rpm for drilling
aluminum so be sure it can run that speed and is robust enough to handle
the vibration.
When you become successful enough that Bezos is calling you for a loan
you can put the little drill press on a garage sale and move up to that
big MoFo for your new hobbies.

Blair Equipment Company
Flint, MI
810-635-7111
www.blairequipment.com

Good Luck
Steve

"shiggins" wrote in message
...

On 5/8/2020 12:18 PM, Mark Gerardy wrote:
......................
I've found Blair Holcutters to be supreme in the task of making fast
clean holes. The ones I have are advertised as "sheet metal holcutters"
but I've used them to fish mouth pipe ends using a Harbor Fright jig
with good success. They fit in a standard 3/8 or bigger chuck.
Usually you'll find smaller hp units to be unable to run slow with any
torque. These holcutters suggest about 2700 to 3000 rpm for drilling
aluminum so be sure it can run that speed and is robust enough to handle
the vibration.
Good Luck
Steve

========================================
Amazon "Health, Household & Baby Care"
https://www.amazon.com/Blair-Equipme.../dp/B012ODGOV4

"All cutters use a single arbor, with a patented Quad-Lead thread mounting
system (sold Separately)."

On 5/10/2020 12:52 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:


"shiggins"Â* wrote in message
...

On 5/8/2020 12:18 PM, Mark Gerardy wrote:
.....................
I've found Blair Holcutters to be supreme in the task of making fast
clean holes. The ones I have are advertised as "sheet metal holcutters"
but I've used them to fish mouth pipe ends using a Harbor Fright jig
with good success. They fit in a standard 3/8 or bigger chuck.
Usually you'll find smaller hp units to be unable to run slow with any
torque. These holcutters suggest about 2700 to 3000 rpm for drilling
aluminum so be sure it can run that speed and is robust enough to handle
the vibration.
Good Luck
Steve

========================================
Amazon "Health, Household & Baby Care"
https://www.amazon.com/Blair-Equipme.../dp/B012ODGOV4

"All cutters use a single arbor, with a patented Quad-Lead thread
mounting system (sold Separately)."


You're correct. I bought the kit of 5-6 holcutters. It came with the
arbor and 2 pilots.

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message ...



"shiggins" wrote in message
...

On 5/8/2020 12:18 PM, Mark Gerardy wrote:
.....................
I've found Blair Holcutters to be supreme in the task of making fast
clean holes. The ones I have are advertised as "sheet metal holcutters"
but I've used them to fish mouth pipe ends using a Harbor Fright jig
with good success. They fit in a standard 3/8 or bigger chuck.
Usually you'll find smaller hp units to be unable to run slow with any
torque. These holcutters suggest about 2700 to 3000 rpm for drilling
aluminum so be sure it can run that speed and is robust enough to handle
the vibration.
Good Luck
Steve

========================================
Amazon "Health, Household & Baby Care"
https://www.amazon.com/Blair-Equipme.../dp/B012ODGOV4

"All cutters use a single arbor, with a patented Quad-Lead thread mounting
system (sold Separately)."

The OP wasn't completely clear if he intended to drill through both sides of
the square tube in one pass, or if he only needed a hole on one side. He
said: "Need to be able to drill through 6061 T-6 Aluminum 2-inch square
tubes". From the picture on amazon the Blair Holcutter won't pass through
the drilled hole like a regular holesaw or drill bit will so if the OP needs
to go all the way through both sides this won't do it in one operation.
Even having to do a second op, flipping the part over to drill the opposite
side, it may still be the best method. Just something to be aware of before
buying :-).

--
Regards,
Carl Ijames