bench drill clamping

Is this type of set up feasible on a half decent bench pillar drill.

See 0.43 in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdgM3jsiKjQ

Would you have to make something like that table with the threaded holes in ? I like the way he is holding the brackets to drill etc? Can't tell if that is a mill or drill though.

No reason why not. I'm just a bit curious as to why he would drill a gash hole in his neatly drilled and tapped table though. If the bed is fixed (like a bench drill) a lot of the holes would be superfluous, whereas on a milling machine they could be useful.

Pete

Its certainly feasible but whether its really appropriate given the sizes of components normally held in a drill and the relatively high probability of inadvertently adding extra, un-tapped holes is a different matter. I used an aluminium optical breadboard from Thor Labs having 6 mm tapped holes on 25 mm centres as a work-table on my BCA jig borer. Quite satisfactory and a great improvement on trying to fix things to the built in rotary table. But this was primarily for milling relatively small components and very limited drilling for tapped holes and the like. My feeling is its not going to work that well as the normal table on a drill where the primary objective is to get the component with the hole centre under the drill chuck. When you don't have screw feeds wiggling around is usually easier with some sort of one hand operated clamping arm or device to lock the part down once its in the right place.

That said the smaller Thor Labs aluminium breadboards aren't stupidly expensive **LINK**. and one might well be worth the cost as another work mounting option if appropriate for what you do. The anodising is hard and durable. I'd probably not fix it to a machine, just fit when appropriate. Maybe clamp parts down on the bench then take the whole thing to the machine. Many smaller machines are a bit short on space when trying to set tricky parts up.

My pillar drill is an ex industrial Pollard 15 AY with square column and screw elevation so space and weight aren't great issue. My basic work-holder is a 6" cross vice with the horizontal and vertical Vee'd jaw set. For most jobs that won't go directly in the vice I use sacrificial tables made from ex-kitchen cabinet materials fitted with a wide tongue underneath for the vice to grab. Being sacrificial I'm unworried by extra holes, especially as there is a lifetime supply of material up in the shop attic.. A power screwdriver and wood screws rapidly takes care of tricky clamping things. If there is no other alternative I will reluctantly remove the cross vice but that takes a deal of persuasion as its 'kin heavy.

Clive.

Edited By Clive Foster on 12/01/2017 14:34:52

Candidate for Tip of the Week?

If you do happen to inadvertently drill a small hole in a machine table. Tap it 4 BA or something suitable, fit a grub screw and stamp OIL next to it.

regards Martin

Thanks for the replies.

Thanks Clive for that link.

This is just what I would like to make apart from the cut outs.

The plate I will source from here.

http://www.zappautomation.co.uk/metals-and-plastics/aluminium-cast-tooling-plate-aw5083-novacel-4504-70-micron-machined-top-and-bottom.html

Edited By Dave Cee on 29/01/2017 11:21:44

Edited By Dave Cee on 29/01/2017 11:22:24

It would be a great project for someone to scale down something like this

**LINK**

for use on smaller machines. I have a shop built copy of this vise on a full size drill press and love it.

John

Your shop built copy of the Wahlstrom Float Lock Drill Press Vice sounds like a good MEW project. I'm sure Neil would be more than happy to find space for it. Certainly something I'd consider building. My usual methods generally work fine but something like that would be nice for some of the edge situations. Design and build is too much effort for the few time it would be needed tho'. Simple build is much easier to justify.

For smaller machines I suspect a variation on the device discussed in an earlier thread "Prima Clamp on Bench Drill" might work out better. Of necessity the Wahlstrom device needs more table area to work with.

Each design has its advantages and disadvantages but I'd bet that most of the time either would do fine.

Clive.

Clive,

Mine is a full sized vise. The shaft is about 1" x 16" and the jaws are about 6" long and about 1 1/2" high. There is a 1/4" step in the top of the jaws to hold work off the table and avoid the "arc of shame". I imagine a 1/2 to 2/3 scale version would fit hobby machines. I may make a drawing of my vise and make it available in case anyone wants to scale it.

John