I don't know how to machine... Is this too good to be true?

[Cord]

I have a very good 20" Rockwell drill press with a wet table but no cross vice or bolt slots. Drill came with a 8" vice that looks like a wood pecker had been working on it. Found this on CL and it's tempting me: Turn your drill press into a Mill x y slide table. - tools - by owner - sale However, the cross table looks to be brand new and for the price I wonder if it's not Chinese junk. The one wheel tag doesn't appear to be straight and they have strange markings that don't correspond to a unit of measure that I recognize. I had bought a new Chinese cross vice once before and never used it because it was so inaccurate. Anybody know more about these things that can help educate me? Is it OK to have the cross vice just float on the table or do I need to bolt it down somehow?

 

[davedj1]

I have a crappy drill press and I would buy that just for fun!
I think the unit of measure is degrees of a circle, 0-360?
Yes, you would want it bolted down to combat moving while milling.

 

[flyerdan]

You definitely need to have it bolted solid to the press table, and you won't be able to do any serious long work like head decking because it would chatter when it got off center. Drill press tables and columns are designed for straight down force applications. It would still be worth it for doing slots and precision layout if a Bridgeport is out of the question.

 

[BukitCase]

These should look familiar -

6" x 18-1/2" Compound Slide Table | Grizzly Industrial
Drill Press Vise - 4" | Grizzly Industrial

He's apparently charging for either the shipping or his mods, not much of a savings...

Even your Rockwell press wouldn't be too happy doing much MILLING, but an x-y table on a DP is 'WAY better than NONE

BTW, I have that EXACT XY table, the lead screws are 10 TPI which makes it pretty easy to do consistently spaced holes (drill press consistent, NOT milling machine consistent)

Here's how I use mine... Steve

 

[BukitCase]

Also - can you post a picture of your DP's table? Seems like there should be SOMETHING there to fasten to... Steve

 

[4570Man]

The taper chuck in a drill press isn't meant for milling, but it would work for a brief project. Milling work aside an X Y axis table is nice for hole alignment.

 

[Cord]

It's a perfectly smooth table. Maybe 2'x3' with a very deep oil groove around the perimeter. I don't intend to use the drill press as a mill, but it could be nice for rows of holes. Unless that table is junk.

 

[PILOON]

Since your press table has gutters along the edges it is intended to collect cooling or lubricating solution.

 

[BukitCase]

Any table like that is gonna have a certain amount of play, or it won't move - but this one's not bad, you just need to hold back tension on it as you crank the lead screws and it stays pretty uniform. Probably what the CL guy improved on with the brass gibs.

Personally I wouldn't hesitate to drill a few more holes in that DP table, somebody already STARTED a few - then I'd mount the xy table and 1 or 2 DP vises - the ones I used are just HF cheapies, but I clamped BOTH around a piece of 2-1/2" tubing and set them up as a PAIR, being careful to align things so you can run just ONE axis on the table and NOT have a shift in axis relative to a drill in the chuck - if you do that, then the following pics are what you can expect (other than mine were done with an $1800 mag drill and annular cutters) ...Steve

Oh, and if that DP is as solid as it looks, you should be able to get a taper adapter to 3/4" weldon shank, with or without coolant feedthru if you want the option to run annular cutters with it -

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Nice equipment.