I am looking at getting a small cross-feed table for my drill press. Something that has 8-10 inches of cross travel and 5 to 6 inches of in/out travel. I have a small project that requires some higher precision pieces than I can make by hand, mainly straightening out edges on some relatively small pieces of steel (1/8-inch thick x 6-inches long). The largest end mill that will be used is 1/4-inch diameter for this project. I understand the limitations of a drill press and I know it's not a mill etc. I'm not attempting to do high-precision work only straightening edges. I've looked online and what I am seeing are tables that are mostly made in China. The best I've seemed to have found is the Ellis and Palmgren products. Both are made in Taiwan as opposed to mainland China. If anyone has purchased or used a cross-feed table and has recommendations I would appreciate the information. The budget range is $800 or less if possible.
Drill Press Cross-Feed Table
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jthibodeau89
Gold Member
If only straightenijng edges, how about a small belt sander. For $800 I'll sell my HF lathe/mill combo.
LD1
Epic Contributor
How precise do they need to be? I'd be more inclined to use a 6" belt sander.
3Ts
Elite Member
If you're just after straight, you can also get pretty close with a vise and a file. If you're careful, you can also do parallel edges this way. How accurate do you need to be?
metalbender
Veteran Member
Find a local hobby machinist group. Guys are usually eager to help someone out. Pretty tough if you're far from a city though.
LouNY
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I didn't pay that much for my used milling machine.
BukitCase
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Good advice from several who do NOT recommend trying to use a drill press as (even a LIGHT DUTY) milling machine - BTDT, years ago.
Or, you can get some invaluable first-hand experience of exactly WHY there are exactly ZERO actual milling machines that use Morse taper to mount cutters, just by going ahead with the plan.
And yes, I AM speaking from experience; tried that ONCE, still have an ancient taiwanese XY vise on my equally ancient DP but I ONLY use the XY part to (semi) precision locate holes. Works well for that; I even discovered that my particular XY vise's X and Y lead screws are exactly 8 TPI, so each turn of the crank moves that axis by 1/8" - makes it easy to (for example) drill hole, crank 8 turns, drill hole so all holes are exactly 1" apart -
I finally gave up on finding a used Bridgeport mill that wasn't already scrap metal about 12 years ago and bought a new Grizzly mill (NOT a round column) - not cheap, but the right tool for ANYTHING requiring side loading.
I know you said you're aware, but so was I - once a Morse taper falls out of the quill, you will likely ALWAYS have trouble getting it to stay put without getting a new male and re-reaming the female (they make MT reamers in all sizes) - Best of luck... Steve
Or, you can get some invaluable first-hand experience of exactly WHY there are exactly ZERO actual milling machines that use Morse taper to mount cutters, just by going ahead with the plan.
And yes, I AM speaking from experience; tried that ONCE, still have an ancient taiwanese XY vise on my equally ancient DP but I ONLY use the XY part to (semi) precision locate holes. Works well for that; I even discovered that my particular XY vise's X and Y lead screws are exactly 8 TPI, so each turn of the crank moves that axis by 1/8" - makes it easy to (for example) drill hole, crank 8 turns, drill hole so all holes are exactly 1" apart -
I finally gave up on finding a used Bridgeport mill that wasn't already scrap metal about 12 years ago and bought a new Grizzly mill (NOT a round column) - not cheap, but the right tool for ANYTHING requiring side loading.
I know you said you're aware, but so was I - once a Morse taper falls out of the quill, you will likely ALWAYS have trouble getting it to stay put without getting a new male and re-reaming the female (they make MT reamers in all sizes) - Best of luck... Steve
dadohead
Silver Member
Really a bad idea. Drill presses are not designed for the large side loads at the chuck... as stated above you'll damage the taper or bend a spindle. I had an old Palmgren XY rotary table... good for precision drilling only. I have a mill so never used it.
Snag a disc sander/grinder. A 12" disc is big enough and is the right tool to straighten up the edge job you describe. Machinists, tool makers, pattern makers do it all the time.