Replies

1. 
   nikkiwood | Aug 11, 2004 06:30pm | #1

   I hope Michael will tell us about the X-Y table he mentioned in the other thread.

   I think such a device would be useful, and the question is, can you buy it, or do you have to make it. And if the latter, how?

   Anybody else have an X-Y set up on their drill press?

1. 
   MichaelPB | Aug 11, 2004 08:21pm | #2

   The X-Y vise I use is a shopfox one, they are about $50.  There are cheaper import ones but they are close to useless.  It is important to adjust the gibs on the side of each of the dovetails to ensure that they slide smoothly but have no play.  I took them out and sanded them flat as well.  The other trick is to make sure that the graduated dials are snugged up against the vise as that reduces end play.

   I use center cutting milling cutters but any spiral bit will work, even router bits.  I usually plunge cut first to hog out material and only then do I use the tables travel to finish the slot.  There is a bit too much end play to cut 1/2 deep cuts and cut dadoes without hogging it out first.

   http://www.mgstocks.com/xyvise.jpg

   In the photo below you can see my verticle plate being used to drill a hole in an uzi stock.  The device in the quill is a wiggler, it is a machinist's tool to locate holes.  Its design automatically centers itself to the center of the quill, it is better than a sharply pointed locater.  They can be had for about $15 from any place that has import tools.

   http://www.mgstocks.com/wiggler.jpg

   Another cool trick and dirt cheap is to buy some of the 1/2 super magnets from Lee Valley and put one on the side of your drill press.  It will hold you chuck key perfectly.

1. 
   MichaelPB | Aug 11, 2004 08:26pm | #3

   Don't forget that the drill press causes more accidents than any other tool.  People get careless around them.  The most common one is drilling something long, sheetmetal is the worst and holding the other end in your hand.  The bit grabs, and suddenly that long piece comes whirling around.  Sheetmetal will slice right through bone and Voila, extra body parts...

   Now that I have the obligatory safety piece out of the way, another toy I use is a sanding mop.  It is a really worn 220 one and I use it to buff out wood.  It is almost as good as raising the grain, it gets in there and cleans out the pores.  It puts a sheen on wood and then I just put on a coat or two of oil and parts look fabulous.

1. 
   nikkiwood | Aug 11, 2004 08:51pm | #5

   RE: dangers of the drill press.

   I am glad you brought this up. As you say, metal is the worst, but drilling largish holes in smallish pieces is also fraught with all kinds of potential for serious hand injuries, unless you have the piece securely clamped down. All the more so, since you are often drilling a single hole, and don't want to take the time and effort to secure the piece (which often takes some ingenuity).

   Any ww machine can produce a serious injury, but I think maybe the most neglected culprits to watch out for are the drill press and the common utility knife.

   Edited 8/11/2004 1:53 pm ET by nikkiwood

2. 
   MatthewSchenker | Aug 11, 2004 09:59pm | #9

   Michael,

   Thanks for the note about drill press safety. I'm a freak about shop safety, so I appreciate your input. Especially since this is my first experience with a drill press.

   That scene you described about the sheet metal spinning out of control is enough to wake you up and think about what you're doing! But I don't plan to do any metalworking on my drill press.

   As far as injuries with wood, that's a good point about making sure to clamp down the piece EVERY TIME.

   So far, except for a couple of the problem parts which Grizzly is replacing for me, I like the 7943. I've just used it so far to drill out some plugs and I also made a tray to hold 1/2" router bits. These were just to get acquainted with the machine. I measured the runout with my dial caliper and found it to be < 0.004" which I believe is within normal woodworking tolerances.

   The machine seems very nicely built. I would say it is heavier than other benchtop drill presses I reviewed (it weighs about 150 lbs.). I also like that it has a light bulb built in.

   Edited 8/11/2004 3:00 pm ET by Matthew Schenker

2. 
   nikkiwood | Aug 11, 2004 08:40pm | #4

   Thanks for the info and pics.

   But .... shooooot ---- I was hoping for some sort of table set-up with an X-Y mechanism. The Shop Fox device you picture looks like the pretty standard fixture used by machinists. I understand that it probably works great for gunstocks, but the movement range is too limited for what I have in mind.

   A few years back, I got a Powermatic mortiser which came equipped with an X-Y table. The front to back movement is about 4-5", but depending how you position your piece, the side to side movement is like 15-20" (I have never measured it). I thought something down that line would be great for a drill press.

   RE: the wiggler. It was hard for me to see in the photo, but it looks pretty much like a straight rod, right? I am assuming you use it to position the piece when you have to locate a hole location with great precision, and then replace the wiggler with whatever you would use to drill the hole.

1. 
   MichaelPB | Aug 11, 2004 08:56pm | #6

   Nikki,

   They do make larger tables but you start to get expensive really fast.  They go for over $100 for an import and they don't have a vise mounted on them just T slots so figure another $50 for a good vise. 

   As for the wiggler, I couldn't figure out how to describe how it works but it just hit me.  The point isn't fixed, the shaft is about 2" long and the other end is a ball that is held in a socket. 

   The shaft rotates in a cone shape with the point of the cone being the tip of the shaft.  Each time you mount it in the quill, it is off center.  Using a piece of wood or as the old guys did it, your fingernail, you slowly push the tip towards center.  The tip rotates in a smaller and smaller circle until it is perfectly centered.

   A good machinist can drill a punch marked hole withing .003 of an inch using a wiggler.

1. 
   MichaelPB | Aug 11, 2004 08:59pm | #7

   One, no two bitches about modern drill presses.

   Old drill presses had 6" of quill travel, many modern ones have only 3 3/4" of travel severly limiting their usefullness!

   The other bitch is that modern drill presses are not constructed to take side loads like milling or shaping.  Get a copy of the old Delta book on drill presses and you will be amazed what they used to do with them!

   I think it is called "Getting the Most Out of Your Drill Press" you find them for about $20 on Ebay.  VERY interesting read...

2. 
   nikkiwood | Aug 11, 2004 09:15pm | #8

   Re: wiggler

   Can you come up with a link to somebody that sells these gismos?

3. 
   UncleDunc | Aug 12, 2004 02:23am | #10

   http://www.mscdirect.com

   Good vendor. Lame web site, IMO.

2. 
   art | Aug 12, 2004 02:43am | #11

   The Grizzly G0540 horizontal boring machine has a nice X Y Z table. I've ben using it with an end mill as a slot mortiser. Works great.  Art