Cross vice for a drill press

[Chipper]

Need a vice for my press, and wondered about about a cross vice for having a bit of a play at light milling. But I haven't got the cash to splash on a posh one, so am I best not bothering? Kind of hopeful really, but wondered if anyone had bought a cheapish type and been pleased with it.
e.g. Chronos have these
but no photos. Might be soft-cheese Chinese made tat.

Any ideas appreciated...

 

[piman]

Hello Chipper,

I don't know about the vices but how well will a drill press take to side loads anyway?

Alec

 

[Chipper]

Hi Alec,

I'm thinking of v.light stuff, cosmetic things really. Might be too imprecise to look nice though.
It's a good point, though I try to be fairly sympathetic to me tools.

Might well be a bad idea, but seemed like maybe an opportunity to try something out,

cheers
Bill

 

[gavuk]

They bought this one at a place i worked ,can't say i would want to try it for milling though ,don't think its a cheap alternative honestly,,,soz ...Gav

 

[Paul.]

Save your money, I bought one for milling polyethylene, and thats about its limit, you need a very robust drilling machine, with quill bearings designed for side loadings, the cheap vices are poorly made with lots of play in the slides and poor grip in the jaws.

 

[Chipper]

Ta Gav. Thought it a bit of a long shot, but worth an ask.
cheers
Bill

 

[irondarren]

I have a nice 2 axis sliding bed, extracted from some old machinery, with a stand cheap and chearful 5inch drill vice bolted to it. As far as milling goes i never had an luck, always throws the chuck out of the morse taper.

 

[English Steve]

I have a cheap cross vice from MM. Bought it to make it easier to get the holes in the right place . There is a lot of backlash in the threads but once you get used to that it works out OK. Wouldn't want to try it for anything other than very light milling though, and then it wouldn't be very accurate.

 

[MrFluffy]

Thereupon lies the bulk of the problem, the jacobs taper on the drill press is not designed for side loads and the chuck will fall off..
If you had a SUBSTANTIAL drill that took maybe a 3 or larger mt shank taper, you could fit a collet chuck to it but you would still be abusing the quill bearings unless it was designed for the side loads.
You can bugger round with the vices themselves, but ex factory theyre not up to the load of milling useage anyway...

 

[Chipper]

Ta chaps. I'll forget that idea. Was thinking of e.g. grooves in small ally covers, to make 'em prettier. Nothing too major, but seems best forgot about.