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Thread: Got a Drill Press, Where to Get Clamps?

  1. #21
    Boolit Grand Master

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    This is why I suggested the bolt pipe and hand nut. It makes a stop that keeps the vise or part from spinning if it grabs. This wont prevent it jumping when the drill breaks thru. You need to be on your toes with machine tools they will injure you if given the chance. I believe the drill press is one of the most over looked as to safety, No gloves ( chips will grab them and suck you in), Wear a hat or keep hair tied back, ( the spinning spindle chuck will grab hair and scalp you), safety glasses, no loose clothing.

    I have seen shops that up graded fro belt drive drill presses to bigger gear drive machines and due to the heavier machines lack of slip injuries resulted. Sen one guy hand holding a vise drilling when the drill grabbed spinning the vise into the column with his fingers hand between column and vise . He had broken fingers and the vise was destroyed.

    Please be careful when using machines they will bite and arnt forgiving

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by country gent View Post
    This is why I suggested the bolt pipe and hand nut. It makes a stop that keeps the vise or part from spinning if it grabs. This wont prevent it jumping when the drill breaks thru. You need to be on your toes with machine tools they will injure you if given the chance. I believe the drill press is one of the most over looked as to safety, No gloves ( chips will grab them and suck you in), Wear a hat or keep hair tied back, ( the spinning spindle chuck will grab hair and scalp you), safety glasses, no loose clothing.

    I have seen shops that up graded fro belt drive drill presses to bigger gear drive machines and due to the heavier machines lack of slip injuries resulted. Sen one guy hand holding a vise drilling when the drill grabbed spinning the vise into the column with his fingers hand between column and vise . He had broken fingers and the vise was destroyed.

    Please be careful when using machines they will bite and arnt forgiving
    Wise words. I've heard enough horror stories in my day (and done enough stupid things which, by no virtue of mine other than luck, had no consequences) to take this stuff pretty seriously.
    I'm a big fan of data-driven decisions. You want to make me smile, show me a spreadsheet! Extra points for graphs and best-fit predictive equations.

  3. #23
    Boolit Buddy
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    I use one of these to immobilize my drill press vise. Even when I'm not using the drill press vise, and even when I don't actually clamp the workpiece down, I use the clamp as a "backstop," so to speak, positioning it such that the workpiece bears against it when torqued in a clockwise direction.



    A drill press will hurt you bad if a workpiece gets away from you, and it happens in the blink of an eye. You also need to lookout for a workpiece to lift up off the table -- particularly when drilling something like a piece of thin metal. When you release or retract the handle to lift the quill, the workpiece can try to go with the drill bit, and when it does, it gets cocked, gets grabbed by the flutes on the drill bit and then starts thrashing.

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daekar View Post
    Recently got this drill press for my birthday - yes, I feel spoiled.
    https://www.harborfreight.com/power-...ess-43389.html

    Also got this vise:
    https://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch...ise-30999.html

    So far I am pleased with it - everything seems to be square and sturdily assembled.

    My problem is, I know I need to buy some hardware to hold workpieces in place, and to hold the vise, but I don't really know what those devices are called. The table has some slots on it that are visible in the picture, and those slots look like they're designed for some kind of large-headed threaded fastener or something to fit into the slot with the head down and threaded rod up - the slots are not drilled through the table, though. Can you guys help me figure out what kind of tie-downs (or whatever they're called...) to get for this thing?
    https://www.harborfreight.com/9-inch...amp-36221.html get two or three of these, or real Visegrip versions if you can find/afford them. Some blocks of metal and wood of various sizes, carriage bolts, wing nuts, fender washers in assorted sizes, and some chunks of allthread likewise. There are a LOT of ways to do it.

    Start looking at homemadetools.net as well, for more ideas. And youtube.com.

    Also visit your local library. One of my favorite books with info on how best to use a drill press, and many other tools, is Shop Savvy, by Roy Moungovan.
    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=shop+savv...ref=nb_sb_noss paperback
    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=shop+savv...ref=nb_sb_noss hardback this is the one I have, which I bought after keeping my local library's copy checked most of a year!

    Do not buy it new, though a copy should be in every workshop. IMNSHO!

    Bill

  5. #25
    Boolit Master

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    When bolting anything to the slots in the machine table do not tighten the bolts too much ifthere is open space between the table and what you are clamping. I saw the results of over torqueing on a large grinder. The edges of the slots were broken when the t-bolt was pulled up too hard. It is not a problem with a flat bottomed vise or workpiece.
    Spell check doesn't work in Chrome, so if something is spelled wrong, it's just a typo that I missed.

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrounge View Post
    https://www.harborfreight.com/9-inch...amp-36221.html get two or three of these, or real Visegrip versions if you can find/afford them. Some blocks of metal and wood of various sizes, carriage bolts, wing nuts, fender washers in assorted sizes, and some chunks of allthread likewise. There are a LOT of ways to do it.

    Start looking at homemadetools.net as well, for more ideas. And youtube.com.

    Also visit your local library. One of my favorite books with info on how best to use a drill press, and many other tools, is Shop Savvy, by Roy Moungovan.
    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=shop+savv...ref=nb_sb_noss paperback
    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=shop+savv...ref=nb_sb_noss hardback this is the one I have, which I bought after keeping my local library's copy checked most of a year!

    Do not buy it new, though a copy should be in every workshop. IMNSHO!

    Bill
    I actually did buy three of those clamps, only to realize when the press was assembled that they won't work! The slots are not milled all the way through the plate, so there is no way to actually attach the clamps to anything. I think I can use them elsewhere, though.

    I might have to pick up that book, it looks useful!
    I'm a big fan of data-driven decisions. You want to make me smile, show me a spreadsheet! Extra points for graphs and best-fit predictive equations.

  7. #27
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    Of all the tools in my shop, bion my 14" Rockwell Delta drill press gets used almost on a daily basis -- both my oft-most tool -- as well as the one I got "hurt" from most often! This before -- GREAT decision on your behalf to get clamps -- I wised up to not trying to hold work pieces with my hands!
    Back at Harbor Freight they purvey what has become my 99% GREAT drill press vise, albeit they call it a welding clamp. I attached a photo, and its beauties as a drill press vise are many. To wit, it is long enough to secure pretty much anything you wish to bore; it is very quick acting -- just slide it up to work piece and tighten; and, most importantly: IT HOLDS!Click image for larger version. 

Name:	clamps.jpg 
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    Works super well for me.... I now have three of these.
    BEST -- and congrats re your new "Press-Drill" (as some local farmer friends of mine refer to this tool )
    geo

  8. #28
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Look at Tubalcain222s you tube on drill press vises. He shows very interesting one that looks like a pope clamp with a slide swivel that bolts down on a corner of the table, with the slide and swivel it holds work sliding to the punch mark on the table ( draw back here as thru holes will need a spacer under them or aligned over a slot) but its a very interesting design.

    A drill press is a very versatile tool. I have done drilling reaming boring on the heavier ones. You can locate very accurately using the same basics as the mill. an indicator in the spindle or wiggler and tap part around to location.

    Most drill presses are set up to run to fast for metal work. My next drill press will be a gear head forward and reverse ( allows power tapping and left hand tools) power feed and if Im lucky power up and down on the table. You would be surprised how much work gets done on a radial arm drill press in a shop

  9. #29
    Boolit Master bosterr's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buck Shot View Post
    I use one of these to immobilize my drill press vise. Even when I'm not using the drill press vise, and even when I don't actually clamp the workpiece down, I use the clamp as a "backstop," so to speak, positioning it such that the workpiece bears against it when torqued in a clockwise direction.



    A drill press will hurt you bad if a workpiece gets away from you, and it happens in the blink of an eye. You also need to lookout for a workpiece to lift up off the table -- particularly when drilling something like a piece of thin metal. When you release or retract the handle to lift the quill, the workpiece can try to go with the drill bit, and when it does, it gets cocked, gets grabbed by the flutes on the drill bit and then starts thrashing.
    Hey Buck Shot, I need to get a couple of these. What are they called specifically and where do you buy them? I couldn't make out a name in your pic.

  10. #30
    Boolit Master bosterr's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bosterr View Post
    Hey Buck Shot, I need to get a couple of these. What are they called specifically and where do you buy them? I couldn't make out a name in your pic.
    Never mind, I found it.

  11. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by country gent View Post
    Decide on a spot where the chuck key lives, if its not in your hand its at home Period. The chuck is not the place to keep it.
    I was just going over this thread again and noticed this sentence. This is a great nugget of wisdom, I had an old supervisor who had an operator fling a chuck key across the room when he started his machine. The thing embedded itself in the concrete and stuck there. He walked over to the circuit breaker, killed the power to the whole shop, and they had a safety meeting right that second.

    I am thinking I will 3D print something to hold the key, but maybe a simpler solution will suggest itself.
    I'm a big fan of data-driven decisions. You want to make me smile, show me a spreadsheet! Extra points for graphs and best-fit predictive equations.

  12. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daekar View Post
    I figure there is no point in going halfway on things, so I ordered this from Harbor Freight:
    https://www.harborfreight.com/58-pie...amps-5952.html

    Hopefully the included T-bolts or nuts will fit! Thank you guys, I will report back with success or failure.
    That is for a milling machine. I hope it fits your drill press table slots.

  13. #33
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    The most useful tool I ever made for my big drill press is a table with an adjustable fence. The table and fence have em embedded aluminum T-rails. You can use standard toilet bolts that have 1/4x20 threads.

    It allows you an unlimited clamping venue....everything you can imagine! All made out of either MDF or Baltic birch, the table and fence brings tons of usage to a standard drill press table. Just bolt it on. Mine never comes off!

    Also consider a sacrificial throat plate made of 1/4" Masonite so you can drill thru and have it replaceable once it gets too holey!

    Now get yourself a high-quality AMERICAN=MADE set of HSS twist drills (fractional/letter/number). Don't mess with HF drills.....they are not HSS and are total garbage.You will spend a few hundred dollars for a good drill set, but you will not be sorry!


    bangerjim - master craftsman

  14. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by country gent View Post
    Decide on a spot where the chuck key lives, if its not in your hand its at home Period. The chuck is not the place to keep it.
    The key on my Jet drill press has a spring-loaded plunger on it that pushes itself out of the hole in the chuck. The only way you can crank on the chuck is by pushing in against the spring-loaded plunger. If you forget, the spring will pop it out of the chuck as soon as you let go of it. I thought that was pretty clever.

    I crimped my chuck key onto a piece of SS braided wire, and attached it to the post of the drill press...this prevents it from "running away from home" like my hand drill chuck keys.
    Last edited by Buck Shot; 09-15-2021 at 12:32 PM.

  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by bangerjim View Post
    The most useful tool I ever made for my big drill press is a table with an adjustable fence. The table and fence have em embedded aluminum T-rails. You can use standard toilet bolts that have 1/4x20 threads.

    It allows you an unlimited clamping venue....everything you can imagine! All made out of either MDF or Baltic birch, the table and fence brings tons of usage to a standard drill press table. Just bolt it on. Mine never comes off!

    Also consider a sacrificial throat plate made of 1/4" Masonite so you can drill thru and have it replaceable once it gets too holey!

    Now get yourself a high-quality AMERICAN=MADE set of HSS twist drills (fractional/letter/number). Don't mess with HF drills.....they are not HSS and are total garbage.You will spend a few hundred dollars for a good drill set, but you will not be sorry!


    bangerjim - master craftsman
    BangerJim - like these?
    https://www.victornet.com/detail/DSUS-115.html

  16. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rfeustel View Post
    Yes those appear to be of the similar quality of the ones I have been using for over 20 years (no resharpening needed yet!). You can almost cut yourself on the ground flutes! Avoid the TiN plated ones (HF and others). That gold -colored plating is molecules thick and the 1st catch, scratch or resharpening, all the (so-called) protection is gone. Just an advertising gimmick.

    I used to live in Farmington, MI and I think I have been to their place to buy tooling. Lots of tool mongers in and around Motown!

    Always make sure your chuck is tightened down TIGHT on the drill shank. I have never had a drill slip and create gouge marks and wipe out the ID info on the shank. Pretty much junk pile fodder after that..............to me. Hand power drills are notorious at that.

  17. #37
    Boolit Buddy

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    Quote Originally Posted by bangerjim View Post
    Yes those appear to be of the similar quality of the ones I have been using for over 20 years (no resharpening needed yet!). You can almost cut yourself on the ground flutes! Avoid the TiN plated ones (HF and others). That gold -colored plating is molecules thick and the 1st catch, scratch or resharpening, all the (so-called) protection is gone. Just an advertising gimmick.

    I used to live in Farmington, MI and I think I have been to their place to buy tooling. Lots of tool mongers in and around Motown!

    Always make sure your chuck is tightened down TIGHT on the drill shank. I have never had a drill slip and create gouge marks and wipe out the ID info on the shank. Pretty much junk pile fodder after that..............to me. Hand power drills are notorious at that.
    Thank you, Sir.

  18. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daekar View Post
    I actually did buy three of those clamps, only to realize when the press was assembled that they won't work! The slots are not milled all the way through the plate, so there is no way to actually attach the clamps to anything. I think I can use them elsewhere, though.

    I might have to pick up that book, it looks useful!
    That table has t-slots, and you can use T-nuts on the clamps. With a drill press, and a hacksaw and files, you can make your own T-nuts, too. Check the threads on the clamps, and see if they match the clampdown set you bought. If not, make a few T-nuts, or cut down a couple of connector nuts (those are the long ones) so they can fit in the T-slot. I've got 4 drill presses, now, if you count the 3-in-1 lathe/mill/drill. 8" Harbor Freight table top, 15" 1950's Craftsman that desperately needs some restoration, that lathe, and a 900# monster that was originally line-shaft driven. That one has a Morse taper 2 socket in the spindle, and could be used for light milling, too.

    For light work, you can use a drill press as a lathe, too.

    https://makezine.com/projects/drillpresslathe//

    https://www.instructables.com/Drill-...As-Wood-Lathe/

    It's not the optimum way to do things, but beats heck out of a spring-pole lathe. It's an easy way to make custom tool handles, if you need them, for instance.

    Your drill press almost certainly doesn't have bearings that will allow you do serious milling or lathing, but you can do both if you stick to light work.

    And Yes, that book has lot of great shop info and discussion in it. You could probably find a copy through inter-library loan, but you can buy a used copy for under $10 including shipping from Amazon. Saw one for $1.99+$3.99 shipping in the links. I think I paid $25 for my copy.

    Take care, be safe, and have a whole lot of fun!

    Bill

  19. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrounge View Post
    [url]
    Also visit your local library. One of my favorite books with info on how best to use a drill press, and many other tools, is Shop Savvy, by Roy Moungovan.
    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=shop+savv...ref=nb_sb_noss paperback
    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=shop+savv...ref=nb_sb_noss hardback this is the one I have, which I bought after keeping my local library's copy checked most of a year!

    Do not buy it new, though a copy should be in every workshop. IMNSHO!

    Bill
    Thanks! I got a VG $6 one on the way.
    Mal

    Mal Paso means Bad Pass, just so you know.

  20. #40
    Boolit Master

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    On my small drill press, the chuck key is attached to a spring return key holder. Got a package of 3 from Dollar Tree. They had belt clips on the back of the housing that slid onto the edge of the belt guard. The key hangs down next to the column, where it is easy to pullout and use and then goes back when you let go of it. My other two drill presses(actually one is my wife's) will get the other two key holders.
    Spell check doesn't work in Chrome, so if something is spelled wrong, it's just a typo that I missed.

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