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

[BukitCase]

Thanks, it kind of evolved - I first got the mag drill because of making implements/addons to 2 tractors and the backhoe; large holes and hand drills are for MUCH younger people than me.

Then I wanted to be able to use it in more cases, so I built the gray-sided 10x12 "vise table" that's bolted in place of the fixed jaw on that darker blue vise - mag drills want pretty thick steel for best holding power, so that gray table started as a 12" piece of 10" channel, beefed up with 1/2" plate and flat bar across the end - the top surface is 1/2"x3" FB, welded up - welds ground then surfaced on the mill.

There's enough room on both sides of the vise to clamp small pieces of angle, etc, as stops for repeatable hole spacing. Instead of needing a flat area around the hole that's at least 3" x 6" for the magnets to grab, this setup can drill an inch and a half hole thru a piece of steel that's 2" square if I need to.

The xy table was next when I needed to make adjustable legs on a 24' square modular roof system for a 20' container so I could work on the tractors in winter - the adjusters in those pics (3 of them) each have 24 1/2" holes (12 per side, perfectly aligned side to side) plus another 11/16" hole for the welded nut, so 25 holes per leg - all three legs took just under one hour to drill ALL the holes, including setup time.

Here's a few more pics of those parts... Steve

 

[BukitCase]

Here's the modular roof I mentioned (those support posts will be vertical and lagged into the slab after I get it poured), and a couple shots of one of my back's favorite projects ...Steve

 

[npalen]

The markings on the hand wheel dial are likely showing thousandths of an inch of table travel. Going from zero to one hundred (thousandths) in one revolution would indicate a 10 pitch thread on the lead screw.
The "funny" markings next to the hand wheel dial are probably a vernier although it's different from verniers that I've used. It would normally be used to split a thousandth of an inch into tenths of a thousandth. (A human hair is typically about three thousandths of an inch in diameter depending on blonde or brunette )
I could be all wet as the leadscrew may be metric rather than SAE with the screw pitch being, say, 2.5mm (0.098" per revolution) which is somewhat close to a 10 pitch SAE. (0.100" per rev)

 

[Cord]

If you think the table is bad you should see the vice. My god. I remember when I was in high school shop. The teach pointed to marks on the table and that he could count the number of idiots who have been through his shop by counting the damage. I took the point to heart and don't make that mistake. It would seem that to just drill the table wouldn't be sufficient because the adjustability of a slot might be needed at some point. I'll take a look and see if the table was cast with the ribs for slots.

Like the subject line says, I've never learned machining; so what's the advantage of the annular cutters? Currently running standard drill bits up to 1.5" but they're getting dull.

I posted a couple more pics of the machine. These were taken when I bought the press. It had a bad contactor which I threw away and replaced with a VFD. It currently has a 3/4" chuck on it with a taper shank and a 1.5hp motor. This one has the lowest speeds I've ever seen for a belt drive machine. The only drill I've seen slower is a Wilton gear drive.

 

[npalen]

The annular cutters for holemaking require much less force to penetrate and don't produce the pile of shavings like a drillbit.

 

[BukitCase]

While it's true that annular cutters don't produce the same KIND of shavings twist drills do, they do produce sharp curls; check the pics I posted. They do require a LOT less effort, and since they don't cut anywhere but the outer perimeter of a hole they are MUCH faster as well -

Example - drill a 5/8" hole thru 1/4" steel.

Twist drill: Center punch location, chuck a pilot bit, drill hole, replace pilot bit with 5/8 bit, drill hole - total time, maybe 15 seconds to punch, 30 seconds to chuck pilot bit, 15 seconds to drill pilot (if bit is sharp), replace pilot bit with 5/8 bit maybe 45 seconds, drill hole, another 30 seconds - total, about 2 minutes, maybe more -

Annular - no center punch needed. Insert size cutter needed, about 15 seconds the FIRST hole; drill hole, 10-11 SECONDS, done (I've actually TIMED this) - as I mentioned earlier, all those holes in my adjustable legs (75 holes, 2 sizes) took less than an hour TOTAL, including setup(s) - that's less than one minute per hole.

Downside - even if you get an adapter for the DP (about $70) the cutters are NOT cheap - most of mine are 2" depth of cut and ran $30 to $50 EACH, couple larger ones were nearly TWICE that. These cutters do NOT want to be "babied", best life is achieved with lube and PUSHING. A couple of mine have seen probably 2-3 hundred holes and are still sharp.

They do NOT like side-loading (tend to break), which is why a SOLID DP is the LEAST tool recommended. Shallower ones from Hougen and others CAN be used in a hand drill, but are limited to 1/4" or 1/2" depth, here's a set I bought for smaller holes -

Blair 11 Rotobroach Cutter Kit Hole Saw Kit - Hole Saw Sets - Amazon.com

More info - http://www.hougen.com/downloads/Hougen_Mag_Drill_&_Annular_Cutter_Guide.pdf

These aren't for everyone, only YOU can decide if they're worth it to you - Personally, I'd do it again in a heartbeat... Steve

 

[Cord]

Any idea how to add the lubrication to the drill? From what I know about annular cutters, then need to be lubricated from the inside out, so squirting some oil on them isn't good enough.

 

[BukitCase]

Jancy Slugger IA2MT 2 Morse Taper Industrial Arbor With Coolant Inducer And 3/4" Annular Shank Bore: Drill Adapters: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

You'd need to measure your taper, I'm thinking it's BIGGER than a #2 morse - here's one with #3 morse

Jancy Slugger IA3MT 3 Morse Taper Industrial Arbor With Coolant Inducer And 3/4" Annular Shank Bore: Slotting Cutter Arbors: Amazon.com: Home Improvement

... Steve

 

[Cord]

Sweet! I was searching all over and not finding it. I see that one is for "Jancy" bits. Then I see some that are quick attach and others that use two set screws. Which one do I want?

 

[BukitCase]

No quick attach; the annular cutter "standard" is also called 3/4" 2 flats, "weldon 3/4", basically it seems like every manufacturer wants to "muddy the water" in THEIR favor. The two I linked are both for "normal" annular cutters, made by Hougen, Jancy, Milwaukee, Evolution, etc - only difference is the taper size on the OTHER end.
You'd need to use a drift to pop your chuck taper out of the quill, then use a taper chart

Dimensions of Standard Tapers - LittleMachineShop.com

Victor Machinery - Metalworking tools and supplies

To find out which you have... Steve