Machinist's vise

Chris Railey

Chris Railey

Well-Known Member
I drilled my last crooked line of holes for a guard last night. I have decided to add a machinist's vise to my drill press so I can maybe drill a straight line of holes. My question is this: I remember some on here talking about chucking an end mill in a drill press and using that with a machinist's vise to cut a slot in a guard. Is it worth it to invest in an end mill for that task? My drill press is a huge old school Craftsman floor press with a big motor. If I went slow and a little at a time would that work? Or should I stick to drilling a line of holes and connecting them with a file? Thanks.
P.S. A mill is on my buy list but it will be next year because the hydraulic forge press must come first.
 
I would stick with the holes and connecting them. The problem with using a drill press as a mill is the chuck has a Morse Taper on it and cant handle lateral loads the chuck will come off. Dont ask how I know!
 
Ditto^^^^.... Plus, if the chuck doesn't go flying, it will be a very short time before the quill is wrecked.
 
Something that can be handy with a drill press is a cross slide vise: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KXF6CZH/
Not to use as a milling accessory, but to move the piece of work in a straight line, and only a small amount each time. Use the drill bit to drill your holes with just touching each other, or a very small web between holes. Then chuck the endmill in drill press and again drilling downward, (NOT milling) the material can be removed in small amounts, and by the time you get to other end you've got almost a slot that looks like it's been milled. Once it's that clean, you can slowly slide the workpiece to actually mill the slot smooth and put very little sideways pressure on the quill.
 
KenH said:
Something that can be handy with a drill press is a cross slide vise: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KXF6CZH/
Not to use as a milling accessory, but to move the piece of work in a straight line, and only a small amount each time. Use the drill bit to drill your holes with just touching each other, or a very small web between holes. Then chuck the endmill in drill press and again drilling downward, (NOT milling) the material can be removed in small amounts, and by the time you get to other end you've got almost a slot that looks like it's been milled. Once it's that clean, you can slowly slide the workpiece to actually mill the slot smooth and put very little sideways pressure on the quill.
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Esentially that is what I am getting. A vise that will mount to my press and move on X and Y axis. That is also why I wanted it so I can move the piece more accurately.
 
I got a Smitty 3/1 mill last year for a fantastic price with lots of extras. I just need to move it to the shop and learn how to use it.
 
opaul said:
I got a Smitty 3/1 mill last year for a fantastic price with lots of extras. I just need to move it to the shop and learn how to use it.
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I came real close to buying one from a guy on Craigslist. We were just to far apart on price. I'd be curious how it works for ya. Read a lot of good and bad. I seriously think for what we do though it would work fine!!
 
It will be fine for what I need I’m sure. Plus at the price I paid just drill/milling slots will work for me.
 
This a case of the right tool for the right job. You need a mill to use a mill end. I tried a end mill in my drill press and my chuck went flying across the shop as soon as the end mill touched the work.

Doug
 
Doug Lester said:
This a case of the right tool for the right job. You need a mill to use a mill end. I tried a end mill in my drill press and my chuck went flying across the shop as soon as the end mill touched the work.

Doug
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Thanks Doug, I took Ed at his word that would happen and dismissed the idea but knowing you actually had this happen may help others not make the same mistake. I have a small-ish shop, space is at a premium so I will just wait until I can swing the mill and perhaps let the mill replace my drill press instead of the other way around.
 
I recently upgraded my HF and Delta drill presses to this:


I eliminated my mini mill and two drill presses in exchange for this machine. The quality and rigidity of this machine is amazing. This is nothing like the HF (or other) mini mills or the next level Grizzly mill/drills. Belt driven with a brushless motor and a knob to quickly adjust the speed with a digital RPM readout. There is a built in Z axis DOR which I use constantly for counterboring to depth. I can't recommend this machine enough for knife makers. The size is perfect for knife making. Hands down, one of the best bang for the buck machines I have ever purchased.
 
BossDog said:
I recently upgraded my HF and Delta drill presses to this:


I eliminated my mini mill and two drill presses in exchange for this machine. The quality and rigidity of this machine is amazing. This is nothing like the HF (or other) mini mills or the next level Grizzly mill/drills. Belt driven with a brushless motor and a knob to quickly adjust the speed with a digital RPM readout. There is a built in Z axis DOR which I use constantly for counterboring to depth. I can't recommend this machine enough for knife makers. The size is perfect for knife making. Hands down, one of the best bang for the buck machines I have ever purchased.
Click to expand...

Hey Boss, where would you put this machine versus the power / rigidity of a small knee mill? (I’m no machinist. I’ve been getting by with a Sieg X2D mini mill that nibbles more than it cuts). I don’t have the experience to look at specs and relate them to real life use.

I don’t do work big enough to justify the space of a Bridgeport, but I sure would like to be able to take more than a .005 depth of cut on steel. The flip side is for about $2k a decent old knee mill can be had.
 
BossDog said:
I recently upgraded my HF and Delta drill presses to this:


I eliminated my mini mill and two drill presses in exchange for this machine. The quality and rigidity of this machine is amazing. This is nothing like the HF (or other) mini mills or the next level Grizzly mill/drills. Belt driven with a brushless motor and a knob to quickly adjust the speed with a digital RPM readout. There is a built in Z axis DOR which I use constantly for counterboring to depth. I can't recommend this machine enough for knife makers. The size is perfect for knife making. Hands down, one of the best bang for the buck machines I have ever purchased.
Click to expand...
Thanks Boss. I had been looking at the Grizzly mills but I really like the addition of the Z axis on that machine. For the price difference it looks really good to me...but that one and one more would be two milling machines I have used.
 
No comparison at all other than they are both mini mills.
The Precision Matthews is a completely different level of quality.
If you put them side by side to compare, you would call the Sieg a toy compared to the PM.


John Wilson said:
Hey Boss, where would you put this machine versus the power / rigidity of a small knee mill? (I’m no machinist. I’ve been getting by with a Sieg X2D mini mill that nibbles more than it cuts). I don’t have the experience to look at specs and relate them to real life use.

I don’t do work big enough to justify the space of a Bridgeport, but I sure would like to be able to take more than a .005 depth of cut on steel. The flip side is for about $2k a decent old knee mill can be had.
Click to expand...
 
BossDog said:
No comparison at all other than they are both mini mills.
The Precision Matthews is a completely different level of quality.
If you put them side by side to compare, you would call the Sieg a toy compared to the PM.
Click to expand...

Maybe I was unclear. I’m asking how it compares to a smaller Bridgeport style knee mill.
 
That's a nice looking machine, I see they have one model with a tilting head.
the nice thing about having a mill is they can be used for all kinds of cutting and drilling, outside of knifemaking. it's just a nice machine to have in the shop.
 
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