Dremel drill press for gunsmithing?

[nannah]

Hi, i wonder if you think a Dremel drill press or a drill press stand can be used effectively for gunsmithing projects?

I am a student so my budget is very tight.

Thanks in advance. :)

[R3104D3R]

You'd be surprised what you can accomplish with just a steel file and a drill. Although if I told an anti that, they'd want tools banned.

You might want to take this question to a gunsmithing site. I can't imagine a dremel being too useful for casting boolits.

[Nueces]

Nannah has posted his question quite properly in our gunsmithing section. R3104D3R, you'd be surprised how much smithing and tool discussion occurs right here.

Nannah, I've been in your shoes. Were I there again, I believe I'd swallow hard and get a small Horror Fright drill press, then go through it and tune it up. It offers much more stiffness and steadiness than would any stand for use with a Dremel or hand drill. If that is beyond your means, look on Craig's List or ebay for a drill press stand and use it slowly and carefully with as good a power drill as you can acquire.

You can help out a flimsy setup by careful layout and deep punch marks. Good luck, it's a fun journey.

[waksupi]

I have built guns numbering in the hundreds. I see absolutely no use for such a machine. A regular drill press is a necessity for gunsmithing.

[lefty o]

bought one of those little dremel drill press stands many years ago, in a word- worthless. it may work for some craft type stuff, but not worth a dime for anything to do with a gun.

[bangerjim]

Dremel stuff is a weekend handyman's tool that tricks him into thinking it can really do stuff! Total waste of time. The only thing I use one for is sharpening my lawnmower blade ON the mower! Or maybe sloppy cutting off of a 1/8" soft steel bolt?

They are inaccurate, noisy, and unreliable for any kind of precision work. Save your money.......and buy a GOOD drill press with solid no-wobble quill, adjustable table, and 1/2" drill chuck. HF is your VERY LAST choice in that arena, unless you plan on spending lots of time and frustration "tweaking" it. It can be done, but you need BIGGER and BETTER tools to do it right !!!!!!! I did it for a friend and it was a PITA.

banger

[prsman23]

What would be a good recommendation for a decent press. Any of the craftsman stuff ok? 2-300 dollar range.

[paul h]

I've had a grizzly drill press for about a decade and it's been a great tool. All the lower priced stuff is going to be made in Asia. https://www.grizzly.com/products/G7943

It's just beyond the upper end of your range and you'll still need a good vice and I'd recommend replacing the chuck with a quality 1/2" keyless chuck.

I think when you get into smaller drill presses they seem to fall into the category of more toy than tool. You need a certain degree of rigidity in a machine tool to be of any use.

[bangerjim]

Today it is VERY hard to recommend a good inexpensive AND accurate press. Most, as said, are ChiCom made and are a pile of garbage. Older (not the word OLDER!) units from Griz, HF, Enco, even Sears were much higher quality. Today, it is a roll of the dice.

I personally would NOT buy something I could not touch & feel and check out action, quill wobble and slop, and overall mechanical solidity. Hope you live in an area that allows you to do that. For my son, we went thru 3 different floor model presses (at the local store) B4 I got one that was to my standards. Quill wobble is the biggest thing. That and overall quality mechanical movement and action. I paid $495.00 for that one for him for Christmas.

bangerjim

[skeet1]

I have a small Delta drill press the same size as the little Harbor freight drill press and I use it all the time. I think if I was short on funds I would buy the small Harbor Freight as Nueces suggests, I suspect it will be more useful than you might imagine.

Ken

[country gent]

Check in papers, local internet sites, and auction fliers listings. A used drill press in good shape can be a big savings. I have an old chigago industrial drill press inthe garage 5/8" chuck 14" square table on dovetail almost 8" of spindle travel with a 1 hp motor on it. I gave $100.00 for it when I bought it. Its a very solid powerful drill press and has years of life left in it. I also have a very old bench top on A stand that is 3 speeds and flat belt driven. 1/2" chuck with only a 6" round table. Solid machine but a pain to work with. I gave $10.00 for this one as they couldnt get a bid on it. I keep it because it "looks neat". Used equipment can be a big savings if you know what your looking for and what to look at. The other thing to keep in mind is that the actual machine is ussually the cheapest part, its all the tooling and set up equipment that costs the money. Having enough room is another issue.

[DougGuy]

I have a large 1970s or 1980s Taiwan Freddie drill press that was bought used in 1985, with a gifted 3/4" Jacobs chuck that has been great. It's Asian, but not Asian junk. I think I paid $150 for it. I have gotten hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of use out of it. If there is one tool that I own that violates the rule of "you get what you pay for" this drill press would be it.

[JSnover]

Contrary to popular belief, Asians can build precision tools. Even the stuff that literally comes from the same factory can be sorted into three categories: Junk you regret buying. Good enough for most purposes at a reasonable price. Surprisingly good (holds a tighter tolerance than most of us need and lasts several decades without major malfunctions).
That's why you can find virtually identical machines in the same catalogue at different prices; they know which ones are good and tight and they charge accordingly.

[dragon813gt]

The HF drill press is garbage. I took it back immediately. You have to be careful w/ all the low priced ones because they are the same HF drill press w/ a different paint job and maybe some different options. The Skill drill press is the same HF one. But it doesn't have as many speeds, doesn't have all the anti rusting agent all over it and is more finished. Even the packaging is exactly the same. But even that drill press is junk. If I didn't need one that day I wouldn't have bought it.

[bstone5]

I have used the Dremel drill press to drill very small holes. The speed with the dremel tool will be high enough for very small drills.
Some coolant and a little time is required to drill very small holes in steel or stainless steel without braking too many drill bits
The press is not very rugged and some care must be used but for very small hole drilling the machine works.
A regular drill press is used most of the time in most shops.

[bear67]

I follow tools on Craigslist several times a week. There are literally hundreds of drill presses available in the eastern half of Texas and Oklahoma. You can find some fairly good buys and check the runout on the spindles with an indicator.

I need to take pictures of the finished product, but I paid $10 for a Delta/Rockwell made in late 50s. He was asking $50, but this one was being stored in a chicken house--feathers, dirt, birds nests ect. . I cleaned it up, sandblasted, painted and rewired it. Original motor needed bearings, but I had a 1/2 HP #56 frame 1725 motor in my "spare parts repository" and put it on. It was not a full floor model, but has 48" shaft, so I built a metal stand with some storage below. Can rebuild the Delta motor when I need it for something else. Those motors are a "booger" to remove the offside bearing because they are build with a surrounding cage. With paint and new belt, I probably have $28 in this machine. I have drill presses in 4 shop locations and get by with an older Chinese press in the cabinet shop, but it runs dead on. I have a Walker Turner 16 speed press that I bought for $40 back in the sixties. Look around and have some patience. Good tools last a lifetime unless rode hard and put away wet in their lives.

Not knocking what you have and use, but Dremel tools look like tinkertoy tools to me. I use a good Foredom shaft and chuck when I need to get into small spaces and need flexibility. Quality tools last a lifetime and HF type stuff usually just wastes my money and gives me heartburn. My opinion and worth every penny you paid for it, but then I have lots of tools that are older than this old man and still great to work with.

[John Taylor]

Many years ago I had one that is close to this one http://www.grizzly.com/products/5-Speed-Bench-Top-Radial-Drill-Press/G7945 . I looked at the local Cregslist and saw a bench top drill press for $50 that had a vice with it. When I was young I bought a unimat lathe that had a 3" swing and 7" between centers. It was a complete waist of money because it could not do anything useful.

[Jeff Michel]

Check with local machinery dealers, I picked up a 15" Buffalo with an albrecht drill chuck for 100.00. Old, heavy and real accurate. If you go asian, try to find something from Taiwan, the Chi-com stuff is still pretty inconsistent from a quality standpoint. The dremel tool is handy for polishing cylinder flutes and not much else.

[Blanket]

Check the internet auction companies that do industrial plant auctions such as IRSauctions.com and buy a real drill press. I recently brought one back to a guy at our company that was in great shape, solid floor US made model with a Jacobs ball bearing chuck he bought for 75$ Make certain to read the fine print and contact the millwright to understand the shipping costs. By the way machine building was my career for 25 years and now I manage the sale of assets for a very large corp.

[Blue2]

I would suggest that any thing less than a small mill/drill is not worth buying for precision work. If you make a mistake drilling scope base holes and similar you are pooched. Remember you only get one chance to make a first impression. Also --Good tools make you look smart.
You can often fix a mistake but it is a lot better to get it right the first time.And consumes a lot less time in the end.

[KCSO]

I am going to disagree with Waksupi on tis one. First a little backround... I wanted to make muzzleloaders just like they did in the old days and I started in my grandfathers shop that was all hand tools some passed down for generations. I have built more than one gun from scratch using nothing for a starting point but a tree limb and a rifled barrel, using nothing but hand tools, a post drill and a forge... all while making my chisels and plane blades from old spring stock and drill bits. I seriously doubt that John Armstrong fails to qualify as a gunsmith because he didn't have acess to a bridgport mill.

The quality of the gun comes not from the tools used but from the skill and dedication of the builder. If all you have money or room for is a mini mill or a dremel drill press it's a starting point. Work carefully and do your best and make each one better than the last. I still use hand tools given me over the years and i know in a pinch if I have to I can do any job that needs doig with two hands and whatever tools I can find or make.

This Leman copy was made while i was moving the shop and all I had for power tools was a cheap harbor freight drill press. 'nuff said.

[bangerjim]

Poor quality tools still will be a problem if you are running 6 thou out of round, as with some HF presses! Craftsmanship is important, but good quality well-built precision tools make it a dream to build precision stuff.

You can have all the skill and dedication in the world and still make garbage things with garbage tools. Especially in metalworking. In over 48 years of practicing metal and woodworking, I still have not figured out how to slop glue in a poor fitting hole in metal and make it work!!!!!! HA.....ha!

banger

[Blanket]

You can build fire with 2 sticks but why would you want to?

[paul h]

Craftsmanship is a combination of the skill of the craftsman and the quality of the tools. Exceptional work can be done with quality hand tools, but the tools need to be made from decent materials, properly hardened and sharpened to do quality work. Same with machine tools. A wobbly flimsy out of round drill press simply can't do quality work.

[GT27]

There have been more weapons ruined than fixed,by Bubba's,and dremels !

[theperfessor]

A Dremel tool can come in handy for some things. i use one with a 12v DC to 120V AC convertor to cut the locks off of deadbeat renter's storage units to clear 'em out. I can pull up right next to a unit and roll down my window and cut off a lock without even getting out of my truck.

The problem is that a Dremel tool is a high speed low torque unit, and the stand lacks rigidity. About the only thing that I could think of that applies to gunsmithing is to use one with a small carbide or diamond burr to get out a broken tap or pin. I'd like to offer more support to the OP, I understand being a financially challenged student, but I think if I used one I'd do more harm than good and screw up a good gun somehow. But that's not intended to be a criticism of the OP, it's an admission of my own failings.

[bangerjim]

There have been more weapons ruined than fixed,by Bubba's,and dremels !

That is going on a wooden engraved plaque above my shop door! Along with one I have now: "I'm sticking to my guns, God, and Bible"

[troyboy]

No way. I have one and it just is not the proper tool for the task. You can find a nice benchtop used for 100$ or less used on craiglist. Be patient.

[KCSO]

You can build fire with 2 sticks but why would you want to?

So that when the time comes that you have to you can.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The Dremel can be very useful for grinding and polishing tasks. Yes, there are tools, such as a Foredom or light air grinder, which will do all the Dremel can do, and go on doing it many times as long. But the person who does a couple of gunsmithing jobs a year may be well served by the Dremel, and isn't likely to find the others economical. The Dremel drill press mount is splendid for polishing flat surfaces.

For drilling, as people have said, it simply doesn't have the torque or low speeds for drilling things like scope base holes in hard steel. If you have nothing else, you might be able to do it with a series of pilot holes and carbide drills. The carbide printed circuit drills you can buy very cheaply in sets on eBay are really too thin in the central web for metal. You could end up with just as good a hole as the best equipped gunsmith could produce, but it is going to take time, drill breakages and exasperation. In some people's circumstances it might make sense.

A lot gets said about low priced drill presses of the far eastern kind, and while there is truth in that for the regular user, my reaction is usually that for the amateur, any drill press is better than an empty space with no drill press in it. Well, nearly... A runout of .006in is grossly excessive, and does anyone's faith in human weakness run to all of their stock being like that, or just an occasional Friday afternoon tool? You ought to turn up in person to buy one of those, because as long as you have a round, straight rod to try in the chuck, you can probably tell even without running it, whether it is that bad.

Sometimes you can get a good hole with a drill like that, if you rest the workpiece or vice on a piece of thin card to reduce friction, and allow it to move with the drill axis. But that would be dangerous with a large drill (large by the standard of those presses, even), and probably break a thin one.

As others have said, you can sometimes get real bargains in old but sound drill presses which are being sold by individuals or small companies. My Myford lathe had been owned by a musical instrument maker, and it had the 31in. length to accommodate bassoons. It is hard to overstress a lathe with a bassoon.

[lefty o]

blame the person, not the tool. a dremel can only do what it is directed to by a persons hands.

[Blanket]

You can build fire with 2 sticks but why would you want to?

So that when the time comes that you have to you can. Understand the learning how to do things but still why handicap yourself in any way. If a guy uses his nut and looks around he can buy a decent drill press instead of screwing around, kind of like buying a unimat lathe and expecting to do great things.

[contender1]

A little late to this thread, but I'll jump in.

To answer the OP, avoid the Dremel drill press idea.

Listen to the folks who have mentioned buying a quality machine used.

Auctions, yard sales, craigs list, are all good places to hunt one out. AND quite often, you will get a lot of extras (tools etc,) when you buy used like this. I have a lot of good tools like this and haven't spent ANYTHING near what they are worth. You just have to hunt a bit, and have the $$ to spend. You mentioned $200-$300 as a budget, and I know you can find a good one well under that that will do a lot more than the Dremel.

[John Taylor]

I have nothing against the Dremel, just don't think it is good enough for a drill press. I have been a gunsmith for more than a few years and use a dremel quite often. Works great for cutting hard pins, grinding small parts that are to hard for a file and polishing small parts.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Yes indeed, those little cutting discs can be a lifesaver sometimes. I have found that the little felt polishing discs and points don't work very well. I think that is for two reasons. Centrifugal force, throwing off the polishing compound, is greater, and although the speed of wheel against workplace is the same as it would be with a larger, slower wheel, the part in contact comes back into frictional contact more quickly, and it doesn't get the same chance to cool.

Where the Dremel and drill press come into their own is with a flat receiver or block. If you build a wall of modeling clay around it, to catch the spray, you can work in a shallow pool of fine emery powder in oil.

Contender1 is right. An eighty year old drill press or other machine is a mighty inconvenient thing to peddle at antique prices, and they often go very cheaply when someone wants the space and most potential buyers are studying shiny catalogues. Lathe accessories may be unavailable (though don't give up eBay followed searches with e-mail notifications), and you should watch out for things like Brown and Sharp or even more unusual tapers instead of Morse. But with a drill press, you only need one chuck.

Tools of that era may be less well equipped with exciting features which are intended to catch buyers rather than make holes. But they can be just as well made as any you can buy today. Why not, when the guns are?

[Vinne]

nannah, I use Dremel tools to clean out the crud from tight spots in and around my gun's action. The small brushes and sanders are great for getting into those tight places. The buffers and polishes do a good job on the outsides. Other than that, save up and go with the big boys...you can't go wrong with good long lasting tools for what you want to do.

[skeet1]

I guess I don't understand some of the posts . If a man can only afford a Harbor Freight drill press so what. A Harbor Freight drill press will make him able to do many things that he would not be able to do without it. It may not be as precise as some of the more expensive drill presses and may not be finished as well but it is still usable and will work until a better one can be afforded. KCSO (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?157-KCSO) showed that good work can be accomplished with the HF. One other nice thing about the HF is the size if a person is short on room this size comes in very handy. I think the same can be said about the Dremel drill press.

Ken

[fragman]

Though a Dremel in the right hands may be useful, I have a feeling that over the years, Dremels have given gunsmiths a fair bit of work. It's the archer, not the arrow.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I guess I don't understand some of the posts . If a man can only afford a Harbor Freight drill press so what. A Harbor Freight drill press will make him able to do many things that he would not be able to do without it. It may not be as precise as some of the more expensive drill presses and may not be finished as well but it is still usable and will work until a better one can be afforded. KCSO (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?157-KCSO) showed that good work can be accomplished with the HF. One other nice thing about the HF is the size if a person is short on room this size comes in very handy. I think the same can be said about the Dremel drill press.

Ken

Maybe I am too much betwixt and between, but I sort of part-way agree with the above. I've never seen a Harbor Freight drill press myself, but I have probably examined a few from the same far eastern factories, and they are far better than the Dremel for any substantial drilling job. The bearings won't last nearly as long as a quality machine in a professional situation, but they may outlast many amateur gunsmithing jobs. That .006in. runout is a serious drawback, but I am guessing that if you go to a shop with several in stock, you will find one quite a bit better than that. Fit a straight steel rod in the chuck, and see if the gap fluctuates when you rotate it by hand against a steel block held on the table. Then try a different diameter steel rod, in case it is the chuck that is bad.

Here is an example of work for which the Dremel and carbide burrs has a very legitimate role, when I had to make a trigger guard and hammer from scretch for my Spirlet revolver. The drilling to cut out a rough outline was done with a large and medium-priced drill press, though.

I think I on my fourth Dremel, in a fairly long lifetime. They don't last forever, but I doubt if all four have cost me more than some of the more expensive alternatives. I have also had a very good 50,000 rpm Bosch 1/8on. die grinder die on me too, without apparent abuse.

[smokeywolf]

With some patience, you can probably score a decent used bench or floor model drill press (older Rockwell, Delta, Walker, Powermatic, Avey or the like) on one of the auction websites for under $200.00 and maybe closer to $100.00. It would have to be within driving distance of you of course.

smokeywolf

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have nothing against the Dremel, just don't think it is good enough for a drill press. Works great for cutting hard pins, grinding small parts that are to hard for a file and polishing small parts.

This Quote pretty much answers your question. The Dremel tool is a high Speed Grinder. I have had the same one for my entire Adult life and I got it when I was 16. (1966) It is used for grinding small parts and polishing things. and then it is put back into it's box and back in the cabinet.

If you are just starting out look for an old Cast Iron Craftsman Drill Press. They are very good, I have two. I paid $25 for my good one, and $15 for the other one. They are everywhere lurking in garages and any place where there is any semblance of a shop. I have used mine virtually every day since I became a machinist. It has paid for itself 100+ times over

There are other older name brand DP's out there but the main ideas are Old, Cast Iron, and made in USA before about 1970. All the parts are available online nowadays. Also there is a choice of Floor Model or Bench Mount. The Bench Mount takes up Bench Space the Floor Model takes up Floor Space. The only difference is the length of the column. So You decide which one works best for you.

You also need a decent vise. I'm big on Wiltons.

Randy

[bangerjim]

Big YES ona quality vice. NOT HORRIBLE FREiGHT!

If you can find a used one, look for a "vertilock" style vice. The jaws do not rise up as you tighten them and give you perfect straight holes. I have on on every mill and drill press we have. Do a search for milling vices and you will see what I am referring to and see why they are so accurate.

WARNING...........NOT cheap!

banger

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Slightly off-topic, but a very useful type of milling vice is the kind where both jaws move away from a common centre line as you open it, on a screw with left hand and right hand threads. You can drill two blocks of metal for locating rods, screw one to each jaw, and mill your own bullet moulds by closing it on a rotating home-made cutter. Or you can clamp the mould halves with a spacer, and advance each half in turn, by half the cutter diameter after it touches metal.