Reasonable to use a BEEFY drill press for small part wood milling?

[Tim Holt]

I've got an old (late 40's early 50's) Atlas benchtop drill press that's a really good solid workhorse.  It's solid, heavy, and runs very smoothly - not vibrating like the cheap stuff one buys nowdays.  I'd like to be able to mill smaller pieces of wood, and I'd like to toss out my thoughts here and see what the communal brain thinks.

 

As a preface, I've used a massive Bridgeport mill before and know how they work, etc. so understand the whole milling machine concept.  I would not mind buying a mini mill, but in the spirit of "not yet another tool", I'd like to think about using my drill press for the job.  

 

My "I haven't hit buy yet" plan is to get a small X/Y table that I can attach to the drill press table.  It has to be good, very smooth, easy to operate.  I don't want slop or play in the X/Y movement.    Then buy a nice small mill vice to attach to it, and possibly also a tilt/swivel base as well.

 

I know that drill presses aren't meant for that sideways pressure with bearing arrangements and all that.  And the chuck might not be as ideal as a regular collet setup.  But I'm talking about milling wood in small amounts, not metal.

 

Crazy idea?  Not? 

 

PS

It's dawned on me that if I do by an X/Y table, I can always buy a mini-mill later and use said table...

[Jaager]

From reading the tea leaves about all this:

I am betting that we will both be OK using a drill press for wood milling -if

the cutters are sharp and the bites are not aggressive.

I suspect that lateral resistance from wood is significantly lower than that of metal.

[mnl]

If it is a Morse taper spindle with a tang release don’t do it. The side pressure can cause the taper to release. If it has a drawbar, which is unlikely for a drill press, it is OK.

[Roger Pellett]

It depends on how your chuck is secured to the quill.

 

 If is is pressed onto a Morse Taper, repeated side loads can cause the chuck to come loose.  Don’t ask me why I know this!  If, however, your drill press quill is threaded above the Morse Taper, it is or at least was, possible to buy a collet chuck.  This has a threaded collar that screws onto the quill to lock it in place.  These are intended for use with router bits so would work for milling.

 

In the photo below, when the knurled piece above the chuck is removed, it exposes the threads that lock on the collet chuck.

 

Other drill presses such as those made by Delta had interchangeable quills that served this same purpose.

 

Roger

 

 

[Tim Holt]

OK thanks all for the advice.  It is a Morse Taper I believe.

I do actually have access to a mini-mill at work, but it puts a bit of a crimp in the spontaneity as it were. 

[mnl]

The Morse taper is not the problem. The potential problem is how it is retained in the socket. Since it is a drill press it is likely that it is just held by friction and there will be a slot in the quill with the end of the tang visible. You use a drift against that to knock the male taper loose from the socket. Morse tapers used in milling machines have a treaded hole in the end for a drawbar to pull them up tight. Those will not release under side load because of the pulling action of the drawbar.

[wefalck]

If the spindle has an outside thread, as some have, you can also try to find an ER collet chuck to screw on. Collets run much more concentric than jacobs-chucks.

 

Apart from the Morse-taper issue, another issue might be that the rpms are just not high enough for cleanly milling wood.

[reklein]

Good thread I always wondered why you cant mill with a drill press. Now I know. I've had enough working with a drill press to know what you guys are talking about. I also know you need some fast RPMs to mill wood cleanly. So anyway. Thanks for the info.

[Gaetan Bordeleau]

On 6/26/2021 at 3:07 PM, reklein said:

why you cant mill

The other reason why you cant mill steel with a drill press , in fact you can, but everything will be jumping on the table, because  lack of rigidity.

For small wood parts, there should be no problems to mill as long as you have the proper vise.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Gaetan Bordeleau

[Bill Hudson]

Unless you are wealthy enough to afford a mill and lathe you work with the tools you have at hand. When I first started building horse drawn vehicles I did not have a lathe to turn the wheel hubs.  My neighbor gave me his little Montgomery-Ward bench model drill press.  I used that to turn the hubs. I ran a long 3/8" bolt up through the plate and held it solid with a lock nut. I used that as a tool rest to turn the hubs. For milling cutters I used regular drill bits.  I ground the ends flat. 

[reklein]

Now that I think about it I saw a guy here who turned a big Grizzly brand drill press into a lathe by laying it on its side. He was turning real wooden wagon hubs. Theres more to this story but I'll leave it at that.