Can I use a router bit in a Drill Press?

[Patrick McCarthy]

252483It evens sounds like a dumb question to me, but here goes-

My wife made a wall plaque which I have to hang in my shop. I bought a Whiteside "keyhole" bit that is used to cut a hole and recessed/hidden slot on the back of the plaque so it can he hung on a screw head, nail head, etc. Initially I planned to put it into my little Colt router, but then began to wonder if I would have more control on the DP. I realize the speed will be slower but it seems accuracy may be easier to acheive, and visibly I can see a lot more as I do it . . . . . . . Your thoughts ?????

[Chris Fournier]

It evens sounds like a dumb question to me, but here goes-

My wife made a wall plaque which I have to hang in my shop. I bought a Whiteside "keyhole" bit that is used to cut a hole and recessed/hidden slot on the back of the plaque so it can he hung on a screw head, nail head, etc. Initially I planned to put it into my little Colt router, but then began to wonder if I would have more control on the DP. I realize the speed will be slower but it seems accuracy may be easier to acheive, and visibly I can see a lot more as I do it . . . . . . . Your thoughts ?????

I asked myself the same question years ago and decided to give it a try. Fail. The DP is not a milling machine, well at least your average WWg DP is not a milling machine. The chatter/vibration/mayhem that ensued sent back into the arms of my router! Make up a jig for your colt and you'll be far better off. BTW I have a decent WWg DP.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Chris, thanks . . . guess my gut was telling me that too.

[Mark Largent]

I think we need to see a picture of the plaque that your wife made that you "have to hang" in your shop.

[Peter Quinn]

I'll go with yes, if you have some way to control the stock and the cuts are small and the lineal footage is limited. A basic drill press for wood working, even a decent one, is a pretty inexpensive tool in the grander scheme of things, and most are not made to take lateral load. Makes you wonder why they sell so many accessories like sanding drums and planer heads for them. I bought a small XY machinist style vice that mounts on my drill press table. I've clamped things into the vice which gives you good feed control and proceeded just like a milling machine with very good results in wood and aluminum. THE total travel is limited to something like 7", I've rarely done more than 2". I've used primarily two flute straight cutters and a solid carbide 1/8" upshear. I imagine a small keyhole would work fine too if you take out the slot first with a straight cutter. Hardest part is devising a way to clamp the work into the vice if the shape is odd. Yes, the speed is less than ideal, and yes its not good for the bearings, but it does work on a limited basis.

If you mean can you chuck up a router bit and then proceed freehand like an over arm pin router, using the quill like a plunge mechanism and running against a fence...well....I've tried that too, not so nice results IIR, made a strong enough negative impression that I never tried it twice.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Mark, i will take and try to post a picture tonight when i get home.

[Chris Fournier]

I'll go with yes, if you have some way to control the stock and the cuts are small and the lineal footage is limited. A basic drill press for wood working, even a decent one, is a pretty inexpensive tool in the grander scheme of things, and most are not made to take lateral load. Makes you wonder why they sell so many accessories like sanding drums and planer heads for them. I bought a small XY machinist style vice that mounts on my drill press table. I've clamped things into the vice which gives you good feed control and proceeded just like a milling machine with very good results in wood and aluminum. THE total travel is limited to something like 7", I've rarely done more than 2". I've used primarily two flute straight cutters and a solid carbide 1/8" upshear. I imagine a small keyhole would work fine too if you take out the slot first with a straight cutter. Hardest part is devising a way to clamp the work into the vice if the shape is odd. Yes, the speed is less than ideal, and yes its not good for the bearings, but it does work on a limited basis.

If you mean can you chuck up a router bit and then proceed freehand like an over arm pin router, using the quill like a plunge mechanism and running against a fence...well....I've tried that too, not so nice results IIR, made a strong enough negative impression that I never tried it twice.

Patrick wants to use a keyhole bit. It's all or nothing.

[Myk Rian]

It would help to route a 1/8" wide slot before using the keyhole bit.
It'll take a lot of pressure off the keyhole bit.

Clamp some guides to the table so it doesn't get away from you.

[Mark Largent]

Mark, i will take and try to post a picture tonight when i get home.

Excellent, thanks. You've provided just enough information that I'm led to believe it might be entertaining to see this plaque.

[Chris Fournier]

It would help to route a 1/8" wide slot before using the keyhole bit.
It'll take a lot of pressure off the keyhole bit.

Clamp some guides to the table so it doesn't get away from you.

I knew that someone was going to suggest this Myk! I've never found this technique to actually be of much advantage in wood. I do find it to be very helpful in metal though.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Oh Mark, you will be disappointed; sadly, nothing risque. It is a wooden substrate, tiled on the face and says "PapaBear's Woodshop".

I am motivated to hang it because of the conventional wisdom "Happy wife = happy life" . . . . and who couldn't use a bit more happiness . . . .

[Mark Largent]

Darn. I was hoping for a good laugh ... this sounds like she did something nice for you.

[Myk Rian]

I knew that someone was going to suggest this Myk! I've never found this technique to actually be of much advantage in wood. I do find it to be very helpful in metal though.
I've used it many times. It really helps when making a larger cut. Such as a shouldered miter slot in a fence.

[Richard Coers]

Not near enough rpm, too sloppy in the bearings, and not made for lateral load. All that, and I don't even know what kind of drill press you have. Router bits are meant to run at 18,000+ rpm. What's the drill press? 4,000? It won't clear out the chips at all.

[Ken Platt]

Before I got a freestanding mortiser, I used solid carbide router bits in the DP to make mortises. I'd put the DP on the highest speed, and first use the bit in a plunge fashion to drill out closely spaced holes, then slide the workpiece side to side to clear out the rest of the mortise. It worked fine. This operation seems a lot less demanding, I'd think for the tiny amount of material removal with a keyhole bit, it would work fine.

Ken

[Morey St. Denis]

Another important point to keep in mind whenever contemplating using the DP as a milling machine is that your drill chuck is attached to the quill by nothing more than the mild friction fit of a morse taper. It is intended mostly for longitudinal compression loads, not lateral or tension. Not so much a concern for the bearings, but your chuck and cutting tool can fall out spinning, without prior warning simply due to gravity, when lateral vibrations are present without enough axial compression. Best to ensure your drill chuck is as firmly seated in the morse taper as practical. Likely should retract the jaws fully into the chuck and use the press to apply solid axial pressure or give it a bump with a soft mallet to ensure tight seating of the drill chuck.

[Wade Lippman]

Do you have a router table? Piece of cake.

Years ago I bought a bit at a garage sale that was supposed to let you use your DP like a mill, but I never actually used it.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Yes, got a router table too. Not sure why i was thinking of doing it handheld (other than it is a 1/4 inch shank), but suppose the router table gives me the stability i need, and it already has the fence rather than having to make a jig . . . . just need to change the collett . . . .

Thank you to everyone for the input. It is very much appreciated. Patrick

[Mort Stevens]

Not near enough rpm,

My father has an old Delta/Rockwell variable speed unit that goes up to 10,000 (or maybe it's 12,000) rpm... I bet that would likely be fast enough for the occasional routing... especially for something like a keyhole slot that doesn't need to be perfect clean.

[Peter Quinn]

Patrick wants to use a keyhole bit. It's all or nothing.
It most certainly is not, in fact it is highly recommended with that type of bit to run the slot in first with a straight cutter, then go back and plunge/sweep the wider key slot second. Doing it in one shot can lead to bit breakage, that's a lot of head relative to the shank/ slot size. It takes careful allignment, the drill press or a milling machine would help with that.

[Peter Quinn]

For a stopped slot, such as to let the plaque hang from a screw, the router table can be a challenge. You have to plunge, advance, stop, and shut off the router or back out carefully, all with the bit under the work blind. I've used the key hole for through slots on a router table, makes a great way to attach fences to coping jigs for instance, for stopped slots I've relied on a plunge router and a quick fixture for better visibility and control.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I tried using a 1/4" straight router bit in my DP to route a short dado.
After an inch or two, the dado clogged with sawdust & the chuck started to wobble.
The wobble went out of control within fractions of a second and the chuck with the router bit still in it came off and took off across the DP table, then off it and onto the floor.

It was - - - exciting - - - and not in a good way.

Thankfully the only two things damaged were my pride and the bit.

[Chris Fournier]

It most certainly is not, in fact it is highly recommended with that type of bit to run the slot in first with a straight cutter, then go back and plunge/sweep the wider key slot second. Doing it in one shot can lead to bit breakage, that's a lot of head relative to the shank/ slot size. It takes careful allignment, the drill press or a milling machine would help with that.

Regarding this thread I will again say that the DP is not up to this operation. Previous posts in this thread regarding the nature of morse tapers should be heeded! A morse taper is used where there are axial forces that press the taper together, these forces do not exist in a significant way with milling operations. Radial forces abound when milling and like a million tiny hammers they will work a morse taper loose. If you haven't had a morse taper come loose when milling you have been lucky and if you continue to do so you will eventually have a taper separate.

Regarding the use of a t-slot cutter as required for this thread I have contacted the cutter manufacturer of the tooling that I use and they did not recommend the process you have prescribed. They stated that it was capable of cutting the t-slot in one pass and in my experience they are correct. It goes without saying that feed rate and good chip extraction are critical to a successful job. I have yet to do this operation in two steps in my shop and I have yet to break a cutter. If you want crisp, one pass is possible and the way to go. My opinion, my experience.

[Mark Largent]

252483I

Very nice!

[Alan Melbourne]

i have a small morticer that i use for drilling euro style hindges.
i use a carbide tipped router bit 35mm in the normal chuck.
it works great. not sure what rpm its doing but its a lot slower than my router

[Chris Fournier]

i have a small morticer that i use for drilling euro style hindges.
i use a carbide tipped router bit 35mm in the normal chuck.
it works great. not sure what rpm its doing but its a lot slower than my router\

What is a normal chuck Alan? Are you refering to a Jacobs chuck? You are also drilling, not milling so to speak.

If you do the math comparing a 0.375" diameter keyhole bit circumference speed to a 35 mm bit circumference speed for any given RPM you'll see that you're not comparing apples to apples.