Excellent drill press modification idea

[ebinmaine 67,483]

Obviously not my own...

I like the idea though so I figured I'd share it here.  

 

 

 

 

 

[ri702bill 8,319]

Better than using a C-clamp, as the underside of some drill press tables, being cast iron, have a noticable draft angle and make clamping from below difficult. Notice how he bucks the piece of metal being drilled up against the stationary column in the direction of the drill rotation at the end of the video. I do something similar for milling or drilling parts that are too large to fit the milling machine vise - I fasten a stationary block to a rear T-slot on the table, up against the work and use the other 2 T-slots for work holding step clamps.

Bill

[Ed Kennell 38,170]

Could be a project for this rainy afternoon.

[squonk 41,103]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Obviously not my own...

I like the idea though so I figured I'd share it here.  

 

 

 

 

 

I look at that pic and all I can see is @Pullstart and his finger! 

[JoeM 7,874]

I like it and looked at these clamps at Summit

[Pullstart 62,851]

@ri702bill Maybe you know better… but when drilling cast in my tool and die days, we milled and drilled dry.  No cutting oil, coolant or such.  Compressed air on the mill bed, when available or even at the drill press.  Otherwise, I think the video is spot on!  Other than the black line of course 

[ri702bill 8,319]

@Pullstart - I usualy mill & drill cast iron dry - I have done grinding of cast iron to achieve a straight centerline of gundrill spindle housings, using an open grit wheel and a water based coolant fed onto the work to minimize expansion by heat and to flush the cast iron "mud" away from the wheel to prevent a catasrrophic buildup..

[formariz 11,987]

Ahhh. Another offshoot of the ancient holdfast. Clever adaptation.

[lynnmor 7,305]

1 hour ago, Pullstart said:

@ri702bill Maybe you know better… but when drilling cast in my tool and die days, we milled and drilled dry.  No cutting oil, coolant or such.  Compressed air on the mill bed, when available or even at the drill press.

 

Tap Magic is one of the few cutting fluids recommended for cast iron and I use it with great success.  When tapping cast iron, Tap Magic will give a shiny and smooth thread.  The new non-chlorinated version is still recommended for cast iron but I still have a lifetime supply of the good old stuff that makes ozone holes over California.

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

31 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

makes ozone holes over California.

That’s what I’m talking ‘bout…

[ri702bill 8,319]

Did anyone notice the brand name of the drill press?? I thought that "Binford" was a ficticous brand on an old Tim Allen sitcom.... ficticous, like Unicorns and Pixie Dust...and "One size fits All"  

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

Great idea and thanks for sharing but i'm a wee bit hesitant on drilling a hole in my drillpress table.

Might be able to bolt somekind of clamp-a-ma-thingy to it though.. better than using my hands 

[ebinmaine 67,483]

2 minutes ago, sjoemie himself said:

Great idea and thanks for sharing but i'm a wee bit hesitant on drilling a hole in my drillpress table.

Might be able to bolt somekind of clamp-a-ma-thingy to it though.. better than using my hands 

 

I can understand your concern about not wanting to modify the drill press table itself.

Given the fact that many of those have a large range of up and down movement perhaps one could make up a small table that's peppered with those tool grasping holes and clamp that table a half inch above the existing drill press setup.

 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

I like that idea. My table has slots for t-nuts so I might be able to (semi-permanently) attach a thick surface plate to the original table and drill holes for the clamps in that sacraficial plate.

[lynnmor 7,305]

3 hours ago, sjoemie himself said:

I like that idea. My table has slots for t-nuts so I might be able to (semi-permanently) attach a thick surface plate to the original table and drill holes for the clamps in that sacraficial plate.

That is what I did.  The video has holes drilled where the casting is rather thin so my thought is that the holes will get wallowed out if used often.

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

2 hours ago, lynnmor said:

rather thin

That's what I thought. Rather drill them in the part were the rib is.

 

Got some pictures of your setup?

[lynnmor 7,305]

14 hours ago, sjoemie himself said:

 

Got some pictures of your setup?

 

Here is a photo showing one clamp for an example, I use a 3/8" clamp set.  The screw holes contain set screws to keep debris out.