Matthew Hutchinson477
06-17-2018, 7:11 PM
I recently got ahold of an old Atlas drill press (see my other recent thread for a picture) that I am pretty excited about. In the spirit of excitement I was thinking last night about the different attachments I could get and all the things I could make this thing do besides drilling holes. In the old catalogs Atlas used to advertise mortising attachments, shaping/sanding drums, etc. But reading about the problems with a drill press lathe kit on forums last night brought me back to the reality that these additional add-on doohickey's are often pretty crappy.
Given my limited space, tight budget, and desire not to accumulate more clutter than I already have, I am always trying to figure out how to do more with less when it comes to power tools. In hindsight, almost none of these contraptions end up working as well as a tool or machine that is dedicated specifically to whatever I am trying to do. Sometimes they work well enough, though, for a guy who isn't gonna use the thing too often. Like my handheld beltsander clamped upside down to a workbench instead of a real stationary sanding machine.
I know I am not alone in this desire to minimize the number of machines I need and to make my tools do more so I thought this could be a helpful discussion topic. What do you guys do with your tools that is outside of that tools specifically intended function? What function-transforming attachments have you used that are actually effective? And just for fun, what ideas or attachments are completely stupid in your opinion?
387955
For me the bench grinder has been useful for wire-wheeling and buffing as much as for grinding, the drill press has been great for light sanding either using drums or chucking round parts in the press, and my 1/2" corded drill has been used for more things than I can think of. On the other hand, the planer really only planes to thickness (ya, I know, some people use them to joint by making sleds but I'll stick with my hand planes) and the circular saw only cuts big things down to rough size.
Given my limited space, tight budget, and desire not to accumulate more clutter than I already have, I am always trying to figure out how to do more with less when it comes to power tools. In hindsight, almost none of these contraptions end up working as well as a tool or machine that is dedicated specifically to whatever I am trying to do. Sometimes they work well enough, though, for a guy who isn't gonna use the thing too often. Like my handheld beltsander clamped upside down to a workbench instead of a real stationary sanding machine.
I know I am not alone in this desire to minimize the number of machines I need and to make my tools do more so I thought this could be a helpful discussion topic. What do you guys do with your tools that is outside of that tools specifically intended function? What function-transforming attachments have you used that are actually effective? And just for fun, what ideas or attachments are completely stupid in your opinion?
387955
For me the bench grinder has been useful for wire-wheeling and buffing as much as for grinding, the drill press has been great for light sanding either using drums or chucking round parts in the press, and my 1/2" corded drill has been used for more things than I can think of. On the other hand, the planer really only planes to thickness (ya, I know, some people use them to joint by making sleds but I'll stick with my hand planes) and the circular saw only cuts big things down to rough size.