IF CARLSBERG MADE DAFT QUESTIONS.. I'd be the MD

[Noods]

It's ok I don't drink alcohol ..

Many will know I've a heavyweight pillar drill .. Sturdy and true..

The debate has been can I mill with it or not.. I've located a superb millers table and now a quality millers vice.. also got a lever type dial gauge on the way..

As I have little room in my workshop.. I can only have a mini milling machine or I've to try to use my pillar drill as a miller too..

Is there a milling chuck or arbor I can get and fit which would take the sideway load? I've just got a new keyless chuck from RGB tools which is great!

Am I barking ( mad.. Yes Prob ) up the wrong tree? Or can it be achieved.. I looked at a mini milling machine today and it seemed really flimsy..

Many thanks

NOODS

 

[Wallace]

Keeping the table from rotating round the column under load, the chuck in the taper and the spindle bearing loading will be your biggest problems. What sortr of components are you looking to mill?

 

[Maker]

Is there an alternative to a drawbar? Without this I think there would be a chance of the chuck/tool falling out.

Assuming your drill does not have a hole for a drawbar.

 

[Noods]

Keeping the table from rotating round the column under load, the chuck in the taper and the spindle bearing loading will be your biggest problems. What sortr of components are you looking to mill?

Fairly light stuff I guess... Mainly slots cut in 3mm steel and stainless.. Nothing really heavyweight .. I'd just like it to be accurate.. I've a great full set of milling bits..

 

[Noods]

Is there an alternative to a drawbar? Without this I think there would be a chance of the chuck/tool falling out.

Assuming your drill does not have a hole for a drawbar.

Sorry I'm learning fast but I'm relatively new to engineering / tool making.. What's a drawbar? A supporting device I'm guessing..

 

[Maker]

Sorry I'm learning fast but I'm relatively new to engineering / tool making.. What's a drawbar? A supporting device I'm guessing..

A big bolt that screws into the back of a milling chuck, where the tang is on a tapershank drill. It prevents the tool from coming loose in the taper and ensures it stays properly seated. Is there a hole through from the spindle taper to the top of the machine? If not then you'll probably need an alternative (I'm not sure if there is such a thing).

 

[Noods]

A big bolt that screws into the back of a milling chuck, where the tang is on a tapershank drill. It prevents the tool from coming loose in the taper and ensures it stays properly seated. Is there a hole through from the spindle taper to the top of the machine? If not then you'll probably need an alternative (I'm not sure if there is such a thing).

No... Just the slot at the top of the taper where you remove the chuck...
This guy made his on a lathe apparently..

 

[graffian]

Is a draw bar going to help, you will pop the JT taper. The cordeless drills seem to have
a screw thru the chuck into the taper, none of my jacobs chucks do.
I use a drill chuck with a 40 int taper in my mill, held in with a draw bar, and I do very
light milling with a cutter in the drill chuck, occasionally. it's very easy to pop the taper.

 

[Wallace]

Cordless drill chucks have the screw to stop the chuck unwinding in reverse. One of the problems I used to have with my Unimat was the cutter moving in the drill chuck, it would still move in the 3 jaw lathe chuck evn with light cuts!

 

[Bladevane]

End milling is probably less onerous than side milling when using a taper chuck without a drawbar. The loads on the cutter are not sideways.

 

[Wallace]

Fairly light stuff I guess... Mainly slots cut in 3mm steel and stainless.. Nothing really heavyweight .. I'd just like it to be accurate.. I've a great full set of milling bits..

Stainless will test the rigidity of your setup as it is generally speaking tougher to cut. There are different types of milling cutters, end mills can shatter if used for plunging into work unless they are ground for the job like a slot drill.

 

[lchris21]

Seriously, if you've got no room, and you want both why not sell your sturdy and true drill and buy a mill/drill???? You can pick up an old one (better) for +£150. Or see what pops on evilbay

Plenty kicking around:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALPINE-RDM-32M-MILLING-DRILLING-MACHINE-/141735667336?hash=item21001aa688

 

[Mr shiney]

Not a chance, I have tried it before finally giving into injury and buying a Dore Westbury mill. The chuck which I could never get off when I wanted vibrated lose on multiple occasions. The last one resulting in a cut on my leg and some pretty major bruising.

If a drill was built for milling then why do we have mills.......

 

[julianf]

Ive only skimmed the above, but -

I bought my pillar drill off a friend (whom i 100% trust, so it wasnt just a sales pitch)

He said that the bearings in drills differ. Most are for downward force, but, less commonly, you get a different 'type' / design of bearing that will take side force also.

So it depends on the physical design of the drill (but my knowledge is not great enough to tell you what to look for)

 

[Bladevane]

It may be the other way round. All drills will have radial ball bearings that offer support - you guessed it - radially , but they also have limited axial load bearing capabilities. Better drills incorporate a thrust bearing to take higher axial loads.

 

[roofman]

It's ok I don't drink alcohol ..

Many will know I've a heavyweight pillar drill .. Sturdy and true..

The debate has been can I mill with it or not.. I've located a superb millers table and now a quality millers vice.. also got a lever type dial gauge on the way..

As I have little room in my workshop.. I can only have a mini milling machine or I've to try to use my pillar drill as a miller too..

Is there a milling chuck or arbor I can get and fit which would take the sideway load? I've just got a new keyless chuck from RGB tools which is great!

Am I barking ( mad.. Yes Prob ) up the wrong tree? Or can it be achieved.. I looked at a mini milling machine today and it seemed really flimsy..

Many thanks

NOODS

very light milling with small end mills and ime sure you,ll be fine mate...just avoid the cutters rattling and make sure your internal and external morse tapers are fully clean,dry, and free from grease and they cling up there better. Fire me your address via PM and ile pop a few endmills in the post to you to try before you spend any more money on a 3 legged horse

 

[hotrodder]

Might not apply to small/DIY benchtop mill-drills but it's not only the type of bearings that differ, the quill on 'real' milling machines is usually massive compared to a drill. Even a large gear head drill with an MT4 or 5 taper

 

[Wedg1e]

OK... my Perrin jig borer is essentially a pillar drill on steroids. The quill spindle is in two halves locked together by a tongue/groove principle and a pair of locknuts, so you insert one of three 'lower spindles' up into the quill and lock it to the upper spindle. Each lower spindle has a different bottom end to it: one's a 1MT, one's a 2MT and the other is threaded with a register, like a lathe spindle nose (but not hollow). The two MT spindles obviously allow you to use Morse drill bits directly. The threaded spindle accepts different attachments: a Jacobs chuck, ER25 collet chuck, boring head, flycutter, centre point etc. The 'upper' spindle is keyed into the 5-step drive pulley and the quill carries multiple bearings to support the whole thing. There is obviously no drawbar.
The quill downfeed can be switched between the usual 3-leg handwheel or a micrometer feed.
The head can be wound up and down the column like a pedestal drill and clamped in the same fashion BUT it's not keyed to the column, so although you can mill with it, it will be deflected by heavy cuts or hard materials. Similarly, I have had occasions where cutters in the collet chuck have pulled themselves out of the collet and down into the workpiece but that's a common issue with ER-series; screwed-shanks are the only way to be sure it won't happen. Careful selection of ER collet and proper tightening of the chuck locking ring are essential.
So... it'd probably be feasible to modify a pedestal drill along similar lines (replacement spindle with suitable chuck screwed onto the bottom of it) but it'd probably a good plan to key the head to the column.

 

[Maker]

OK... my Perrin jig borer is essentially a pillar drill on steroids. The quill spindle is in two halves locked together by a tongue/groove principle and a pair of locknuts, so you insert one of three 'lower spindles' up into the quill and lock it to the upper spindle. Each lower spindle has a different bottom end to it: one's a 1MT, one's a 2MT and the other is threaded with a register, like a lathe spindle nose (but not hollow). The two MT spindles obviously allow you to use Morse drill bits directly. The threaded spindle accepts different attachments: a Jacobs chuck, ER25 collet chuck, boring head, flycutter, centre point etc. The 'upper' spindle is keyed into the 5-step drive pulley and the quill carries multiple bearings to support the whole thing. There is obviously no drawbar.
The quill downfeed can be switched between the usual 3-leg handwheel or a micrometer feed.
The head can be wound up and down the column like a pedestal drill and clamped in the same fashion BUT it's not keyed to the column, so although you can mill with it, it will be deflected by heavy cuts or hard materials. Similarly, I have had occasions where cutters in the collet chuck have pulled themselves out of the collet and down into the workpiece but that's a common issue with ER-series; screwed-shanks are the only way to be sure it won't happen. Careful selection of ER collet and proper tightening of the chuck locking ring are essential.
So... it'd probably be feasible to modify a pedestal drill along similar lines (replacement spindle with suitable chuck screwed onto the bottom of it) but it'd probably a good plan to key the head to the column.

Can we have a picture of this beast? It sounds awesome.

 

[Wedg1e]

Front view of the head showing the quill and the 'window' that lets you access the spindle coupling (you lower the quill to bring the coupling into the window):

...and then you use a couple of C-spanners to unlock the rings:

To let you slide the spindles out. Here's the 1MT and the 'universal' spindle with the coarse thread for the chucks etc.:

Close-up of the business ends:

...and the fine-threaded keyed ends that couples them to the upper spindle:

Here's the ER25 collet chuck and the boring head (you can see the Jacobs drill chuck in the first pic.):

Rack for raising and lowering the head (the clamp lever is on the other side of the head)... note that column is 90mm diameter.:

Hand and micrometer downfeed (to engage, the ring behind the scaled dial is rotated anticlockwise by that Allen screw you can see pointing downward, the original lever had gone AWOL before I got it)... usual design of depth stop uses the two knurled locking rings. Note the oiler on top of the gearbox. Head clamp lever visible to right, behind downfeed:

General view of the X-Y table showing micrometer dials, oilers, axis lock knobs and T-slots:

Drive belts and pulleys; the clamp lever unlocks the idler which slackens the belts so you can swap them around. The plywood and aluminium guard is not original; only the pulleys at right had a cast guard around them originally to keep the operator's hair out of the belts! The 'upper' spindle is the slotted rod protruding through the pulleys at right: