The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum

Michael · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:00 am Post subject: Drill press recommendations

Hi Steamers,

Having read some other threads on turning valves and fittings, tooling and lathers I am sufficiently inspired to go out and invest in a small drill press to get me on my way to producing some of my own fittings and possible attempt a small engine.

The assumptions that I have made so far are to get a reasonable sturdy but sturdy drill press that has multi speed function and a base that can have various vices and chucks mounted to. Can anyone else point any other features that I should look for?

I will use this drill press for installing drain cocks and oil cups on to my Stuart S50 and 10V, turning small globe valves as purchased in a casting kit, tap and thread pipe and fittings and then if possible to turn small piston and sleeve assembles.

Not having any experience I would hope it possible to mount a chuck from a small lathe on the base to some small turning works., Is this practically possible or would I need a lath to do this?

Thanks for any tips

Mick

redryder · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:07 am Post subject:

Mick, I would recommend a small milling machine.
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Michael · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:26 am Post subject:

Silly question but is a milling machine a lathe or is there a difference?

johnreid · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:28 am Post subject:

Some Milling Machines convert to a lathe Google is your friend
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Mark-One · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:44 am Post subject:

Milling machines are more like a drill press than lathe.

Mills spin the tool, lathes spin the work

Some of those combo lathe/mills look neat, though I wonder if they are in the "neither fish nor fowl" category.
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redryder · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:51 am Post subject:

tmuir · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:58 am Post subject:

A good small mill will also cost you 2 or 3 times what a good drill press will cost so it depends on your budget.

What ever brand you buy get one with a cast iron table not one with a cheap cast aluminium table.
The reason being is it will be more ridged and less likely to flex under drilling operations.
All mills have cast iron bases but some cheap drill presses have cast ali ones.

Do you know how to resharpen drill bits so they don't grab in brass?
A standard drill bit out of the packet is sharpened for steel and will grab and not drill cleanly if not modified for brass.
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davidcurtis021 · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 8:19 am Post subject:

micheal dont know whether i should be throwing my twopennyworth in here, but as mentioned in another thread i am thinking about buying a lathe. after being tottaly confused by what was on offer i started by buying a dvd about using a lathe which demonstrated it use as a machine for turning, boring,reaming milling,threading, and drilling and at the end the guy demonstrated some scratch built engines he had made using it.
i think it was a 7*10 taig lathe.

BK · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 8:36 am Post subject:

Take notice of Gil, (redryder) you cannot use a drill press for machining, not for long anyway. no accuracy.
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nothing like letting off steam

Michael · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 8:39 am Post subject:

I have done a bit of research on the web and with this information here I have a much clearer idea of what I am looking at.

I didn’t know that you need to specially sharpen tools for brass and I will keep that in mind.

I have a couple of books on the way covering machining and model building and will wait for them to arrive and get better acquainted with this topic before purchasing anything but that DVD also sounds like a good idea.

I might get a small drill press first, I have seen a very cheap one about 18” high for around GBP35 that would I imaging allow me to put oil cups and drain cocks on my engine. I will think more on the mill before deciding what to go for.

Could a small standard drill press be used for thread cutting as I will be doing pipe work first and this will be something I will need?

Cheers Mick

Stilldrillin · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 8:51 am Post subject:

Mick,
Start with a not too cheap drill press, & learn to use that properly.

Learn to regrind drills on a 6" bench grinder. (Drills for brass need to be blunted, not sharpened).

When you have developed your skills, buy a 7x12 lathe, & proceed with that.

Then buy a small milling machine......

This process took me several years, even though I worked as a skilled machinist all my working life......
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David...... Widgets R us.

davidcurtis021 · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:28 am Post subject:

Roly Williams · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:45 am Post subject:

Stilldrillin · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:53 am Post subject:

Think outside the box, often.

It`s quite surprising what you can do, with what you`ve got, sometimes....

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David...... Widgets R us.

tmuir · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:59 am Post subject: