Drill press or Drill / Mill machine?

[Bruce Bochicchio]

Has anyone had any experience, or knowledge about using a "Drill/Mill" for woodworking drilling, mortising and tenon cutting?

I'm looking to get into a nice drill press like the Powermatic var spd PM2800B or the New'ish Nova Voyager DVR. Both are variable speed, but seem to have mixed reviews.

For another $1,000, I could get a mid range mill/drill that is very solid and would have an x and y axis hand feed. That seems quite handy and accurate for mortising, tenoning and just basic drill countersink, or even drill and tap operations in both wood and metal.

Problem is, I really never did metal working and never used one of these tools...

Thanks in advance for you input.

P.S. Yes, I realize that this type of machine would have a limited workpiece height as compared to a floor standing drill press.

[Brian Backner]

Mill/drills have their place in woodworking. Being able to place a hole center to within 0.001" accuracy within an 8" x 24" (or thereabouts) x-y envelope can be very handy and time saving - for instance, you can quickly place/drill the holes for a cribbage board without the need for jigs or spacers - once you get the work piece "dialed in."

But they also have their problems - the limited height can be a drawback and they do not typically go to as high an rpm as a drill press meant for wood. The former can be over come by the use of column spacers, but that is not something you'd want to do on a routine basis. The latter can also be modified, but only through the use of additional pulleys or a motor swap.

I first used a full sized Bridgeport mill in a shop at college. I needed to cut some fairly long slots in 12/4 red oak and the shop supervisor suggested I use this, to me, monstrous mill instead of setting up a router jig. Clamped the oak in place on the table with a sacrificial piece of plywood under it to protect the mill's slotted table, got it lined up with the end mill, clamped it in place, plunge cut through the wood and engaged the table power feed until it hit the automatic limit stop. Done.

Who knows, if you get one, it may convince you to start a new hobby.

[Lisa Starr]

Working in a machine shop, I've been known to bring a piece of wood in to mill/drill something needed on my lunchbreak. Biggest problem is the lower max RPM, but you can't beat the accuracy with vise and DRO's on all 3 axises.

[Richard Coers]

I'd consider a mill drill as about the slowest way to make mortise and tenons. All the wheel spinning to make a 2" wide tenon would be maddening. Domino, JDS Multi-router, Hybrid Pantorouter, and Leigh FMT would all be in my choices before a mill drill.

[John K Jordan]

I use two drill presses, a small milling machine, and mill-drill. I'd hate to be without the drill presses for wood and metals. The drill presses are very quick to set up and most of the time I don't need extreme accuracy. The mill and mill-drill are excellent for precision holes and especially slots. I typically mill dense, hard exotics such as pau ferro and lignum vitae and usually small pieces. These mill cleanly with the slower speeds. I usually have a machinist's vise mounted and aligned to the mill axes and an R8 collet in the spindle so setting the mill up to hold the jacob's chuck to drill/machine anything other than small pieces of wood takes a while so I only do it when I want the precision. If using it only for wood that wouldn't be a problem.

If doing a lot of wood with the mill-drill, especially larger pieces, I'd want to come up with some way to mount a quick-action clamp or two. The drill presses are made for this but I'd have to ponder about how to put them on a milling table.

[Bill Dufour]

Grizzly makes a full size mill for wood. AFAIK it is a standard Bridgeport copy but with higher rpm and the largest standard table size.
Bill D.

[Ed Aumiller]

Have 2 drill presses and a Grizzly drill/mill.... on both drill presses have x-y vises mounted on them...rarely use the drill/mill on wood, but do once in a while...
If you only work with wood then recommend a good quality drill press and mount one of the x-y vises on it... gives great accuracy for wood working and you can actually do minor mill work on it (aluminum, plastic, etc)
You can get a usable x-y table for $50-150... and it is well worth it..

[Terry Hatfield]

I recently bought an Enco mill/drill as I'm getting a bit more into metalworking. I've used it for some wood projects and it worked well. I still use my drill press for every day drilling operations. You might think about perusing your local Craig's list for used mills. I got mine for $500 with a good bit of tooling and a vise. It was in overall good shape but the previous owner painted it blue with a brush. I did a cosmetic restoration and built a new stand. Very handy machine to have around.

[Van Huskey]

I wouldn't give up the stroke of a full sized DP for a mill/drill, though I wouldn't mind having both. I am curious what issues have you seen brought up about the Nova?

[Jim Becker]

Brian Holcolmb uses a Bridgeport mill for some woodworking tasks. But I'm with others around the idea that for general woodworking, a sturdy DP with the longest stroke possible is a good tool to have. The mill would be complimentary, but not replace the DP in my mind.

[Walter Plummer]

We used to have a Bridgeport we could use but it's gone now. You have to keep it really clean. The sawdust gets in everywhere and swells up and can eventually jam things up. We usually covered the exposed ways and kept vacuuming and blowing the dust off.

[Bill Dufour]

Be aware a mill/drill weight is not like a drillpress. I think mine is about 600 pounds. It requires a real bench to hold it steady. I made a bench to straddle a 40" harbor freight tool cabinet. The bench was some welded 2x4 C channel to form the front apron and two front to back joists? made to fit under the four foot holes on the mill/drill. T
he side and back are frame and panel but carefully spaced so the weight is all carried straight down to the floor.
You need about 20 " clearance above the mill/drill to remove the draw bar when needed. This can just be a small hole in the ceiling up into the attic.

Bill D.

[Bob Vaughan]

Really good points about dust gumming up the works and needed precautions to prevent that.

For furniture repair, a milling machine is second to none in speed accuracy and convenience. Its also handy for some precision detail joinery cuts.
Do some math and testing and small box joint work is easy and precise with a 3/16" blade. You can clamp up to six pieces at a time. Generally stock height can only be only 3-4" high.
One can make precise drilling jigs for short run work.

For general woodworking, as has been stated above, the drill press is best but the mill can expand your capabilities to some degree. The mill I have has a 10x54 table and weighs 3K lbs, so its a little more than a mill drill, but with digital readout, a mill drill could have done most of the woodwork I did on my standard size mill.

[Ole Anderson]

I have a mill/drill and even added a power table cross feed for some production work on aluminum I previously did in my basement. Seldom gets used for woodworking, ease of set up just isn't on a par with my DP with a movable fence. Speed change with the two belt system on the mill is way slower than my one belt DP. But frankly, after starting to watch metal working YouTube videos from Abom79 I might start playing with it again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngkndiAhKu4&t=0s

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Grizzly makes a full size mill for wood. AFAIK it is a standard Bridgeport copy but with higher rpm and the largest standard table size.
Bill D.

I got the last of the Wood Mills from Grizzly. I had to upgrade the pulley bearings, but I got it for a song.
Does stuff that can't be done any other way. Also an amazing Drill Press.