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Bench drill needed

tekkydave

By tekkydave
in DIY Astronomer

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JamesF

JamesF

Posted
Posted

That Axminster one looks like a bit of a beast :)  66kg!

We have a Sealey GDM120 that my father-in-law bought many years ago and has done sterling service though I'd hesitate to attempt the holes you're trying to drill.  I think they're great tools to have.  In the main I only use a hand drill now if the job can't be done with the pillar drill.  It's more accurate, easier and probably safer too.

James

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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The Chester one is £80 cheaper!  And it is Morse No2 (the taper that you put taper shank drills into).  The sizes of drills you are talking about will come with either straight shanks or No2 morse shanks.  The Axminster drill is No3 Morse and would need a 3-2 sleeve.  It is also only 550w whereas the Chester machine is 650w.  Keyless chucks can be a pain if they are not of the highest quality as they rely on your ability to hand tighten them rather than use a Key - for larger sized drills they will almost certainly slip.

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SnakeyJ

SnakeyJ

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Dave,

I drilled my pier base plate (10mm plate) mounting holes out to 16mm and the top plate to 12mm with an electric hand drill.   It drilled really nicely, with stepping up 2mm at a time.   The only issue I found was my new bits were biting a bit hard and jamming, so I took the edge back a little on the grinder to reduce the grab.   My chuck stopped at about 14mm, so the 16mm had a reduced shank.

Take your time and the hand drill will do it :)

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tekkydave

tekkydave

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Dave,

I drilled my pier base plate (10mm plate) mounting holes out to 16mm and the top plate to 12mm with an electric hand drill.   It drilled really nicely, with stepping up 2mm at a time.   The only issue I found was my new bits were biting a bit hard and jamming, so I took the edge back a little on the grinder to reduce the grab.   My chuck stopped at about 14mm, so the 16mm had a reduced shank.

Take your time and the hand drill will do it :)

If I'd had a few more drill sizes in-between 3,10 and 14mm that were sharp enough to cut the steel I might have succeeded :grin:

It would be nice to have a permanent bench drill. I've always wanted one and now have an excuse to buy one :evil:

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ChrisLX200

ChrisLX200

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If I'd had a few more drill sizes in-between 3,10 and 14mm that were sharp enough to cut the steel I might have succeeded :grin:

It would be nice to have a permanent bench drill. I've always wanted one and now have an excuse to buy one :evil:

If you have the room I would recommend getting a mill/drill - basically a co-ordinate drilling machine with the ability to do small milling operations. OK, I wouldn't recommend one for someone wanting a bona-fide milling machine but there are times when being able to plane off a lump of metal is very handy. The cost is not excessive (you were talking earlier about £400-ish and this would fall into that price bracket). My very first machine of this type was a Korean thing, donkey's years old now and not used for milling (I have a turret mill) but as a co-ordinate drill it is brilliant so I never parted with it. I've had various bench drills over the years which I eventually sold but I kept the mill/drill because it is so versatile.

This is the sort of thing:

P1020360_zps7cb83fc4.jpg

ChrisH

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tekkydave

tekkydave

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If you have the room I would recommend getting a mill/drill - basically a co-ordinate drilling machine with the ability to do small milling operations. OK, I wouldn't recommend one for someone wanting a bona-fide milling machine but there are times when being able to plane off a lump of metal is very handy. The cost is not excessive (you were talking earlier about £400-ish and this would fall into that price bracket). My very first machine of this type was a Korean thing, donkey's years old now and not used for milling (I have a turret mill) but as a co-ordinate drill it is brilliant so I never parted with it. I've had various bench drills over the years which I eventually sold but I kept the mill/drill because it is so versatile.

This is the sort of thing:

P1020360_zps7cb83fc4.jpg

ChrisH

Something wrong with your link, Chris. Good advice on the mill/drill though - I'll keep it in mind.

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ChrisLX200

ChrisLX200

Posted
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Jeez - It's Huuuuuge. I don't think I've got a room big enough :shocked:

It's not really, if you work out the footprint it's not much more than a decent bench drill. It IS a lot heavier though. This thing will cut 14mm holes in steel no problem, but mainly because there are a wide range of speeds available including the essential slow cutting speeds.

ChrisH

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tekkydave

tekkydave

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Ok I'm more or less settling on the Chester D19 (for now). It has the specs I seem to need based on the great advice from you guys:

Throat 178mm

Drilling Capacity 20mm

Chuck Size 3-16mm

Spindle Travel 80mm

Spindle Distance to Base 600mm

Spindle Distance to Table 410mm

Table Size (mm) 290 x 290mm

Spindle Taper MT2

Column Diameter 80mm

Number of Spindle Speeds 12

Range of Spindle Speeds (rpm) 120-2580rpm

Overall Height 1000mm

Base Size (mm) 430 x 270mm

Motor 650w

Net Weight 86kgs

At £226 it is good value. I will allow another £100-ish for extras: Good set of drills, vice, grinder, disks etc,

I realise it's not a heavy duty drill but it has the slow RPM I will need for steel and I'm hoping 14mm holes will be possible with care and by increasing hole size by a mm or two at a time using the correct coolant.

It won't be used every day but probably several times each month it will make life easier and at that price why not. I want to save my poor 800W Bosch hammer drill for the jobs it does best - drilling great holes in masonry (goes in like hot knife through butter).

What do you think?

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tekkydave

tekkydave

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Ok I'm more or less settling on the Chester D19 (for now). It has the specs I seem to need based on the great advice from you guys:

Throat 178mm

Drilling Capacity 20mm

Chuck Size 3-16mm

Spindle Travel 80mm

Spindle Distance to Base 600mm

Spindle Distance to Table 410mm

Table Size (mm) 290 x 290mm

Spindle Taper MT2

Column Diameter 80mm

Number of Spindle Speeds 12

Range of Spindle Speeds (rpm) 120-2580rpm

Overall Height 1000mm

Base Size (mm) 430 x 270mm

Motor 650w

Net Weight 86kgs

At £226 it is good value. I will allow another £100-ish for extras: Good set of drills, vice, grinder, disks etc,

I realise it's not a heavy duty drill but it has the slow RPM I will need for steel and I'm hoping 14mm holes will be possible with care and by increasing hole size by a mm or two at a time using the correct coolant.

It won't be used every day but probably several times each month it will make life easier and at that

price why not. I want to save my poor 800W Bosch hammer drill for the jobs it does best - drilling great holes in masonry (goes in like hot knife through butter).

What do you think?

Well, no-one has thrown up their hands in (virtual) horror so I'm gonna press the button on this :grin:
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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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The chuck itself will have a Morse taper shank that fits into the quill of the drilling machine.  This chuck takes straight shank drills in the normal way.  However, when it comes to larger drills you have two problems to overcome - firstly rigidity, which is lessened by the chucks various components and the size of the shank itself. Secondly large drills are long!  This can lead to you having insufficient headroom under the tip of the drill to fit the part you want to drill the hole in!!  Therefore by removing the chuck and inserting the tapered shank of the drill directly into the machines quill you remove about 3"-4" of chuck - thus allowing you to get your component to fit.  For really large things you can turn the whole head of the drill through 180° and put the workpiece on the floor at the back of the drill (if you see what I mean) - very clumbersome but it can be done!

Morse (and other shallow tapers) will "lock" into their tapered sockets and will not turn or spin when under torsional load (as when drilling).  You can buy a tapered wedge (you should get one with the drilling machine) that you use to remove the taper when you need to change chucks or drills.  If you pull the quill down by the handle (as if drilling a hole) you will see a slot in the side of the quill.  Through the slot you can see the top of the chuck or drills tapered shank (the flat part on the end).  you put the wedge into the hole and push it till it "wedges" between the top of the tang and the top of the hole, then a gentle tap with a hammer and the chuck or drill will drop out!!  Remember to put a piece of wood under the chuck or drill before doing this or you will damage something as the heavy chuck drops onto the drilling table.

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Carbon

Carbon

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I've been using a cheap Chinese made drill press I bought about 10 years ago, paid about $75 for it.  It's perfect for light duty use, I've used it on dozens of wood and metal projects.  If it breaks one day I'll get another cheap one.....

Tools that I use frequently I'll pay for quality and durability.  A drill press, for me, was not one of them, but has served me quite well....:)

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