Milling on drill press

[atomant48]

Hi all. I have some 25mm diam 2mm wall thickness tubes I need to shorten by 2mm. I'm thinking of getting one of the basic milling cross slide vices and putting a mill cutter in the drill press. Will this work reasonably well? I have 8 tubes to do so not a big job, but I figure the vice might be handy to have in the future.

Anyone got any thoughts on the approach? I've never milled before. A linisher may be another approach but haven't got one of them either!

Ta

 

[MattH]

It's generally a bad idea for two reasons. firstly, the quill bearings are not rated for a side load so will wear / fail sooner than they otherwise would (probably not an issue for the amount of cuts you are talking about). Secondly, the 3 jaw chuck is not designed to take side loads and can easily let go of a milling cutter mid cut (very bad news).

I would use a disc sander or similar if in your position.

 

[brightspark]

chances are u will get a lot of chatter and the chuck could fall of the taper holding it in and end up somwhere where it will hurt and damage the machine

 

[ford34/2]

I have a 16 speed pillar drill with a bigger motor on it, the original motor decided to call it a day due to abuse.!!!! I have a 6" cross vice, I`ve tried doing what you want and for me it`s a definate NO. For me, it`s almost impossible to eliminate the slack everywhere, even tightening up gib strips and locking up the rise and fall in the quill. Everything is just not solid enough to carry out milling.You may well loose the chuck out of its taper seating when it all vibrates. For what milling I do I use the lathe and the vertical vice or similar clamping arrangements. The 6" cross vice is brilliant for drilling though, easy to set it to middle for diddle to drill spot on.
Stan
Not know anyone with a lathe to knock 2mm off.?????

 

[Pete.]

Hi all. I have some 25mm diam 2mm wall thickness tubes I need to shorten by 2mm. I'm thinking of getting one of the basic milling cross slide vices and putting a mill cutter in the drill press. Will this work reasonably well? I have 8 tubes to do so not a big job, but I figure the vice might be handy to have in the future.

Anyone got any thoughts on the approach? I've never milled before. A linisher may be another approach but haven't got one of them either!

Ta

Run a plumber's pipe cutter around them then use a grinder to cut them off then grind it back to the mark the cutter left.

 

[hareng]

Faced with same problem many decades ago I opted for 6" compound slide and beefy ****** drill DP16/12 big mistake. So saving £550 over an RF30 at the time I actually lost £235. Ended up giving the compound away several years ago unused for about 18 of them.
The chuck will constantly drop out sometimes very quick. This is due to the vibration, lateral forces and no draw bar. The compound not much better either, as Stan said ok for drilling - in a fashion there that bad.

Worst case tape the tubes together and file them down then debur.
Linishing generates heat the alum holds, pays to let a few cool while doing others.

 

[atomant48]

Thanks guys. Looks like you've saved me a chuck in the face.

The tubes are actually part of something else, and not suitable for a lathe etc. I did a set a while back with a grinder and achieved an ok finish, I was wanting something better this time.

Might try to hunt out someone local with a mill.

Cheers.

 

[brightspark]

Thanks guys. Looks like you've saved me a chuck in the face.

The tubes are actually part of something else, and not suitable for a lathe etc. I did a set a while back with a grinder and achieved an ok finish, I was wanting something better this time.

Might try to hunt out someone local with a mill.

Cheers.

use the pedestal drill with hole saws and a decent machine vice

 

[atomant48]

use the pedestal drill with hole saws and a decent machine vice

Sounds like an interesting idea. Here's a pic. It's the arms to the left of the pic I need to reduce the width of the bush housings on each end.

 

[ronan]

chances are u will get a lot of chatter and the chuck could fall of the taper holding it in and end up somwhere where it will hurt and damage the machine

This is how i have seen any attempt to mill on a drill press winding up. A taper alone won't hold a cutter under pressure.

 

[DanielW]

Hmmm! have you got a bench grinder? If I was stuck for getting em milled I would bolt my bench drill to a thick board and also my bench grinder in a way that I could clamp those arms in the bench vice on the drill table and offer them up to the side of the grinder wheel and made sure they're flat to the grinder wheel and then grind them down that way.

I'd like to offer a pic of what I'm getting at but its in me mind and I hate trying to draw pics on the computer paint program.

 

[graffian]

Spot face cutter in your drill?

Or magdrill cutter thing.

 

[Peloquin]

Would a large drill bit not do the job?

 

[MattF]

Not sure if it would work, but what about one of those backing pads for drills which you can stick a circular sanding disc on. Chuck that up and press it down onto the piece. I'm guessing a coarse grit disc would whittle those down smartish.

 

[atomant48]

Would a large drill bit not do the job?

I measured them again and they're 33mm or so. I'm not sure the shank of one that big would go in my chuck but I'll have a look. Good idea.

Not sure if it would work, but what about one of those backing pads for drills which you can stick a circular sanding disc on. Chuck that up and press it down onto the piece. I'm guessing a coarse grit disc would whittle those down smartish.

Yeah that seems like another good idea thanks. Think I've got a backing pad attachment with a threaded shaft on.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Mag drill cutter 33mm diameter (I know, it says 32mm!)
They have a shank of 19mm so would need a Weldon adaptor to hold in a 13 or 16mm chuck.

 

[clift_d]

The steel only looks a 2-3mm thick - to take 2mm off that I would tempted to just offer them up to a belt sander.

 

[outofthefire]

For 2mm get a 3" sanding pad mount it in your drill set your depth stop and just sand it off. Something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3M-Roloc-...502?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item43ab21179e

 

[clift_d]

For 2mm get a 3" sanding pad mount it in your drill set your depth stop and just sand it off.

We have a winner!

 

[PhillipM]

Angle grinder, flap disc, 10 minutes.