Got my new Drill Press

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Hey guys!!Well, a little while back, I mentioned that I wanted a new drill press. And the other night, thats what I went and got with the money that I got for my birthday, and so far, Im really happy with it.I looked at some at harbor freight (some were nice, but not for me), and the Black Bull model at TSC, plus this Porter Cable Unit. It really came down to the TSC press or this one, and there wasn't much comparison. Everything on the Porter Cable unit was beefier and heavier and clearly better made than the TSC one, so I went to lowes and bought it, brought it home, and had it running in a few minutes.And coming up from my 2/3 HP bench-top craftsman, its like Ive died and gone to heaven. The PC's slowest speed is 300 rpm compared to the craftsmans 640, so now I can really use hole saws and the like. This one is quiet and has a ton of torque, and its really hard to "stall" it out.Im thrilled with it. Now all I need is a good vise, and Ill be set. Anyone have any recommendations?Well, enjoy the video, and have a nice day...[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6GgKt2xZdI[/ame][Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009
Reply:That is a nice looking drill press. Congratulations!!!!
Reply:WIlton vise - watch craigslist, junk sales et.When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, "This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know," the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives.
Reply:I have a Craftsman drill press I picked up from a neighbor's garage sale that looks like it was made by the same people (same table, same belt arrangement and tensioner, same base, no laser; it's too old).Nice choice.  I love it because it's build solidly like a real industrial drill press, but still has a pretty small footprint.  Everything else in this size is just a benchtop drill press with a longer post.One question.  Are you left handed?Mine doesn't even have a hub for the handles on the left side.  I find it interesting that your machine is ambidextrous.
Reply:nice drillpress lanse, set the drillpress up before you start using it...    go get some anchors a masonry bit and get some steel plate and sheetmetal to make shims out of, level the machine and bolt it down to the floor so you dont flip it over on yourself or your mom..   good way to con your mom into doing your work for you by the way.  just kidding. leveling it and bolting it down will stabilize the machine and help it drill true holes as the machine wont try to walk around on you when you actually start introducing torque to it like when using a 2inch hole saw or a 21/32" drill or such... now you get to start learning how to sharpen drills, oh what fun..here is a nice little article on drill sharpening http://users.bart.nl/users/summer/16...Sharpening.htmtackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:I've never had to bolt down a drill press, and the cutting torque will not move the machine.  An unbalanced motor, or bad belt will, but that's another story.  Only the torque from the motor changing in speed will move the machine as a whole, and if it doesn't tip over when you start the motor, it's not going to get any worse than that.Think about it.  The torque from cutting is entirely contained within the system (there are equal and opposite forces at work).Now when I bolted my pneumatic paint shaker to the bottom of my drill press, it does want to walk, but a shoelace sized piece of cord and an eye in the wall put a stop to that.
Reply:Originally Posted by rlitmanI've never had to bolt down a drill press, and the cutting torque will not move the machine.  An unbalanced motor, or bad belt will, but that's another story.  Only the torque from the motor changing in speed will move the machine as a whole, and if it doesn't tip over when you start the motor, it's not going to get any worse than that.Think about it.  The torque from cutting is entirely contained within the system (there are equal and opposite forces at work).Now when I bolted my pneumatic paint shaker to the bottom of my drill press, it does want to walk, but a shoelace sized piece of cord and an eye in the wall put a stop to that.
Reply:The table is tied to the post.  The head is tied to the post.  There will never be any cutting torque between the post and the base.  Doesn't matter how long the piece of angle you're drilling is.  None of this has any bearing on whether or not your drill bit wants to walk or wander.  That's determined by the quality of the sharpening job.
Reply:I've actually been doing a lot of drill press stuff this year.  Couple of thoughts:--My drill press is on a HTC mobile base.  Although not as stable as bolting the drill press to the floor, I can move it around.  Handy for cleaning and drilling larger objects.  My shop isn't that large. My drill press normally sits in a tiny little space. If you wait for the sales, you can find the mobile bases pretty cheap at woodworker.com--Thru lots and lots of tungsten sharpening practice (don't ask), my drill bit sharpening skills have greatly improved.  I can now hand sharpen 1/8" drill bits to cut steel like butter.--I've been working hard at improving my drilling accuracy this year.  I recommend that you purchase a scribe, and small bottle of bluing dye.  Sharpening up a centerpunch at 90deg angle.  Purchase a couple of different sizes of carbide center drill bits.  These are invaluable for accurately locating and starting a hole.--I found that I could mark, center drill and small diameter lead drill my hole accurately.  I found that when I went to drill the final sized hole, I had difficulty keeping things all centered up.  You'd think it was right, but when you were done you realized you were 1/16" off location.  Aaargh. --I have a small palmgren drill press vise and its okay, but not great ($10 from garage sale).   I was never able to clamp down the palmgren to the table for every application.  I could generally provide a spin stop for that vise, but not a positive locator. The slot geometry is not always quite right.   I recently picked up an inexpensive machinists hold down set. Although its a little more time to set up, I now get MUCH better results. Now I locate with the center drill to center punch mark, firmly lock down the work piece, then drill all diameters in that hole at one time. (e.g. center drill, 3/16" pilot, 1/2" final, then countersink as required).   Its a pain changing drill speeds so many times, but what the heck.  I get VERY good results that way.  I got the set from Production Tool Supply in Warren MI.  (Link to Hold down sets here)  The price for their import set was much cheaper than even Harbor Freight.  Photos here show Palmgren vise (Pre hold down purchase...) and the machinist hold downs I'm talking about.--Remember that when you get chatter, that means you either need to decrease your drill speed or INCREASE the down force on the bit. When you are chattering, it sounds awful, and you get tiny little chips.--If you can, save your money, buy quality drill bits.  They last longer and don't cause frustration.Oh, and Lanse... I really love your enthusiasm... I really enjoyed the video of the road trip across the Ohio/ Indiania border shopping trip with scratch start TIG and the drill press video as well. Its nice to see your energy levels on this stuff.  You are helping us old guys feel younger again. thanks!Yeehaaaa... ! --zip Attached Images
Reply:lanse anchor the drillpress to the floor so your mom doesnt have to come drag it off of you one day.. i've been a machinist/toolmaker for 24yrs.. i know a little about drilling/tapping/milling a hole and i've set up many machines over the years... from lathes to drill presses to surface grinders...  sure you dont have to, but its jackleg if you dont.. it would compare to making a reese hitch out of 1 inch angle iron, sure it'll work, but for how long.. i can also tell you to clamp your work piece down rigid,or clamp your vise down rigid, dont let the workpiece or vise float around, even using a stop clamped to the table... i've seen people get smacked with pieces of steel, i've seen fingers smashed off, seen a guy get his arm broke..  to locate holes in the drill press use a spring loaded tap guide to line the hole up, clamp your workpiece or vise, then spot drill the hole then drill it..   to zipzit, your first pic is a normal setup and looks good, choice of tooling isnt great..... your 2nd pic is asking to have a vise and piece of steel in your lap.. dont care if your ghandi, its wrong..  one reason your holes are off is because you dont center punch if your center drilling the hole...  when you pilot drill and go back in with a larger drill the drill point is dragging you out of location, or the drill is pulling/walking there is no way to stop it from doing this, but if your machine was anchored it would drastically reduce it...   chatter can be caused by a number of things, one is not having the machine anchored, another is when drilling, its generally your drill is sharpened incorrectly,angles are off or drill is sharpened off center. the reason it goes away is your actually bending the drill causing it to deflect with the added pressure your putting on it and its evening the cutting edges by the force your applying to it, then the drill bending/pulling will make your hole drill out of location...  when you sharpen a drill correctly it will actually, pretty much drill the hole itself , while your applying minimal pressure with the down feed... the single hole counter sink your using in the first pic isnt ideal.. one because of the single cutting edge doesnt cut real well in a machine, 2nd it try's to drag your spindle bearing or table all over the place.. thats why you'll get chatter while using it, of course the more pressure you apply it will go away as your pulling the spindle or table when you apply greater pressure, as its always trying to pull your spindle around basically loading and unloading the spindle as it spins around the hole causing the chatter... get a counter sink with multiple cutting edges and it will self center alot better and reduce chatter...   that countersink will work well in a hand drill.. a good thing to do for a drill press is to make a small 1/2" or 5/8" thick platen with 1/2-13 holes drilled every 2 or 3 inches apart and bolting that directly down to the drill press table.. makes the drill press alot more user friendly.. plus if you bolt it down to the floor you can add a couple inches either way to the table which comes in handy..tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:Nice drill press. That switch looks close to what I'd call a forehead switch = you just might need to smack it with your forehead one of these days to shut the machine off. Kinda keep that in mind. I know you're going to learn this yourself sometime soon but I'll try and save you a bit of pain and blood anyway. Clamp everything, no matter how big, small or how much of a PIA it may seem, clamp it. I've ripped the hide off the back of one hand, smashed the meat out the side of a thumb and had the palm of one hand ripped open by getting in a hurry and not clamping. When a bit snags a piece and it starts to lift or spin the natural reaction is to grab hold and hang on. I can tell ya right now that is a bad reaction. Natural and about impossible to over ride but bad big time. That's why clamping is so critical, takes that 'hang on' reaction out of the equation. No loose sleeves. I won't wear gloves myself while drillin or millin. Personal choice. You'll get some slivers and dirty as he11 but that part of the game. Have fun."The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Nuthin' like gettin' a new tool to put a smile on your face.  First and second...total ditto on the clamping. Every time I've gotten lazy (and that would be a pretty large number) and tried to get by just slapping something up against a fence or just setting a single clamp I've boogered up a body appendage or a piece of material. Bein' from the age of dinosaurs I have recently discovered that along with all of the other fun of aging, I can't see squat...and it makes me nuts. Even with my new fangled tri-focals just trying to work to a 32nd requires the light of four suns. I recently got a hold of a great little doo dad from Veritas called an optical center punch that's been added to my growing collection of magnifying lamps and cheaters.http://www.veritastools.com/products/Page.aspx?p=96 It ain't cheap for what it is, but it's so much nicer to be able to see that little pock mark, spot on each time. Makes it worth all of the trouble of trying to read those 128ths. There are some great adjustable LED tool lights available now days that also make life happier. The LED's are super bright, stay out of the way small, and are usually battery operated so you don't have to screw with routing another power cord.The bit pulling, bending and wander is for real. If you wanna really get the most precision out of your press try and spend a little time with a machinist. (the guys that speak in 1000ths instead of fractions)If you have to keep your press mobile adding weight to the base is a decent compromise to shimming and anchors. I would add that if you do have a good slab, and a permanent place to set it, using studs instead of bolting top down makes leveling much simpler.Just to add to Sandy, keep the safety glasses on and leave your jewelry on your dresser.You'd be surprised how well that stuff conducts juice and how hard it is to get off quick when it's caught in a spinning tool head. Lastly, if you wanna keep the rust off of your table and shaft, don't use WD-40 on it. WD is great for cleaning stuff but the water in it actually seems to make stuff rust faster. Get a spray can or pump bottle of Boeshield (developed by Boeing for aircraft work). It penetrates the micro-grain and keeps steel and aluminum from cruddin' up long time. I restore old iron shop tools whenever possible and after I finish I always give everything a quick wipe down with the stuff. Had a rust crusted 18" vertical bandsaw that I brought back to life and after 8-9 months still not a speck of rust anywhere on it. Good stuff and a little goes a long way.Enjoy the new toy.Where there’s sacrifice, there’s someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there’s service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master. - Ayn Rand
Reply:Originally Posted by LanseHey guys!!Well, a little while back, I mentioned that I wanted a new drill press. And the other night, thats what I went and got with the money that I got for my birthday, and so far, Im really happy with it.I looked at some at harbor freight (some were nice, but not for me), and the Black Bull model at TSC, plus this Porter Cable Unit. It really came down to the TSC press or this one, and there wasn't much comparison. Everything on the Porter Cable unit was beefier and heavier and clearly better made than the TSC one, so I went to lowes and bought it, brought it home, and had it running in a few minutes.