Ted Reischl
07-27-2018, 10:18 AM
Not really asking for advice on which one to buy. What I am looking for is comments from those who may have purchased a benchtop mill and use it as a drill press.
Here is the situation. I am a retired guy, been woodworking for over 35 years, have a small shop with a TS, RAS, drum sander, 48 X 36 X 12 CNC router, router table, lathe that can do both wood and metal, a radial drill press (nothing fancy, just an old Sears). I have a small Delta benchtop drill press, it works fine until it comes to larger holes in metal. Not so good.
My furniture making days are over and done with, I don't make things to sell and have no intention of doing so.
I am curious as to how one of the small bench type mills has worked out as a drill press. One advantage I see is the amount of Z travel on these machines. Seems that it would beat having to raise and lower the table ad nauseam. Going from a spotting drill to a 3/8 drill and then countersinking gets to be really tedious. Also, even though I can do pretty much anything on the CNC there are times when just clamping up a piece on a benchtop mill would be much faster. I am not one of those guys who thinks swiss army knives are the answer to everything.
As far as swing goes, there is not much difference if any.
Oh, btw, I spent a good part of my early career in machine shops, so I am very aware that these machines are not industrial strength by a long, long, shot.
At this point, I am looking at everything from HF to Precision Matthews VM25. One of the problems is that there is nowhere to actually go look at these machines. Definitely not anywhere near to where I live, or even withing a couple hundred miles. I am leaning towards belt driven machines rather than gear driven. Seems the plastic gears can be a real problem. If I go low end with something like a HF then I will purchase the belt drive retro fit kit to avoid the problem. But darn, a dc brushless motor would be nice!
Looking forward to hearing about folks experiences.
Here is the situation. I am a retired guy, been woodworking for over 35 years, have a small shop with a TS, RAS, drum sander, 48 X 36 X 12 CNC router, router table, lathe that can do both wood and metal, a radial drill press (nothing fancy, just an old Sears). I have a small Delta benchtop drill press, it works fine until it comes to larger holes in metal. Not so good.
My furniture making days are over and done with, I don't make things to sell and have no intention of doing so.
I am curious as to how one of the small bench type mills has worked out as a drill press. One advantage I see is the amount of Z travel on these machines. Seems that it would beat having to raise and lower the table ad nauseam. Going from a spotting drill to a 3/8 drill and then countersinking gets to be really tedious. Also, even though I can do pretty much anything on the CNC there are times when just clamping up a piece on a benchtop mill would be much faster. I am not one of those guys who thinks swiss army knives are the answer to everything.
As far as swing goes, there is not much difference if any.
Oh, btw, I spent a good part of my early career in machine shops, so I am very aware that these machines are not industrial strength by a long, long, shot.
At this point, I am looking at everything from HF to Precision Matthews VM25. One of the problems is that there is nowhere to actually go look at these machines. Definitely not anywhere near to where I live, or even withing a couple hundred miles. I am leaning towards belt driven machines rather than gear driven. Seems the plastic gears can be a real problem. If I go low end with something like a HF then I will purchase the belt drive retro fit kit to avoid the problem. But darn, a dc brushless motor would be nice!
Looking forward to hearing about folks experiences.