The humble drill press

[Dick]

The secret of DIY gunsmithing is getting the most out of simple tools. Most gunsmithing books tell us that a lathe is nice to have but not essential. That might be true in the US where parts are readily available, but gunsmithing in SA has a frontier character, in which a lathe is essential for professional work.

But much can be done without one. Working with metal requires holes to be drilled often. You can't drill holes in steel with a single speed or two speed hand held drill because speed is typically 200RPM. That's way too fast and will overheat the bit and blunt it quickly. You might get away with it with a variable speed drill but you will still have the problem of locating the hole accurately and drilling it square to the work.

In sharp contrast, the smallest drill press will make light work of holes up to 10mm and all depths within the length of the quill stroke. That's the small Taiwanese made presses that cost about R1000. I recently re-organised my small workshop. It required that a pair of trestles and three scaffold boards that I use as a temporary bench had to be held against the wall for tidy storage. That needed four small brackets made from 5 x 25 strip 100mm long. Each has two countersunk holes and one tapped hole. They were cut, cleaned up, the sawed ends filed smooth, drilled and tapped in one hour.

Why countersunk ? I used countersunk screws to fix them to the wall because I had them, and a countersunk hole is thus neater, but pan head screws would have been OK. I was able to countersunk them because I had the countersink tool I used for gunsmithing. It is useful not only for its intended purpose, but also cleans up the edges of drilled holes beautifully. I doubt that you could use one in a hand held drill.

Not everyone will want to make bullet mould sprew cutters, but I needed to make them for various reasons. If you drill a series of holes in a piece of steel you will struggle to get them in a straight line. That's because these cheap drill presses have some spindle run-out ie looseness. That is easily cured with a drill guide bushing. That's a little cylinder with a hole through it. They come in all diameters, and the hole exactly fits the equivalent drill bit and thus eliminates wobble. It is mounted on the drill table directly under the drill bit, which passes through it and is thus held steady. If another piece of flat strip is attached to the table, the whole assembly can be adjusted so that a set of holes can be drilled in a perfectly straight line, equally spaced, and an exact distance from the edge of the workpiece. That's how I make sprue cutters for Lee 6 cavity moulds, but it has unlimited other applications.

Those are examples of simple uses of the drill press, but much more precise work is possible. I once made a scope ring. Yes, just one, because I wanted to test a method of machining. The last part of the job is separating the two halves with a slitting saw, but before that, you have to drill and tap the holes that hold them together. That is done by holding the ring in a jig on the drill table and positioning it accurately with simple easily made gauges.

If only a few accurate holes are needed, a makeshift guide bushing can be made by drilling a hole of the desired diameter in a piece of flat stock. Too much use will wear it loose, but it will work for a few holes, and another can be made anytime.

The jig and guide bushing technique can be used to drill a set of holes in any desired position in a workpiece. In WW2 a Boeing employee devised a simple jig that was used on a drill press to drill sets of holes in very precise positions in components that were made in thousands. It could be adjusted for various items of work. It is doubtful that any of us would need such a device, but the principle is the same, a simple method of getting precise work from a cheap tool.

[Skaaphaas]

Thanks for posting. I have a project coming up that I can fully see the need for a drill press.

[KK20]

thank you for the post.
my drill press is just for my 12gge reloading for now..

[Dylanm]

I have used mine as a lathe before on many occasions. Know there are guys that successfully transform them into small cnc milling machines using stepper motors etc

[Dick]

I have used mine as a lathe before on many occasions. Know there are guys that successfully transform them into small cnc milling machines using stepper motors etc

Not without a two axis milling table, which would need a bigger and more robust machine than I'm referring to. Not impossible, I suppose, but not as simple as it might sound.

I made one typo that I can see - hand held drills run at 2000RPM not 200. Another "shortage" is that a piece of strip attached to the table is intended as a positioning fence - I didn't make that clear.

My OP was intended to show that a small drill press is a very useful tool, but I'm not sure I got that across adequately. It makes possible a whole lot of things not otherwise possible for the home gunsmith.

[Skaaphaas]

I'll need to drill a hole into the receiver of a firearm, and then tap it too. The hole is best drilled with a drill press. Then, tapping it exactly perpendicular to the hole is easy if you clamp the tap in the drill press' chuck and then turn it by hand.

[Dylanm]

I'll need to drill a hole into the receiver of a firearm, and then tap it too. The hole is best drilled with a drill press. Then, tapping it exactly perpendicular to the hole is easy if you clamp the tap in the drill press' chuck and then turn it by hand.

Just make sure you run a starter through before your final tap. Breaking a tap off flush with the work piece is not cool.
I agree that "the humble drill press" is a very versatile piece of kit to have in a smith shop/ DIY smith.

[Dick]

Just make sure you run a starter through before your final tap. Breaking a tap off flush with the work piece is not cool.
I agree that "the humble drill press" is a very versatile piece of kit to have in a smith shop/ DIY smith.

I wrote a lengthy piece about tapping today but lost it because of logging in issues. Not the first time that's happened. I might try again but it might be a while as the building industry starts tomorrow so I'm expecting a busy week. In another thread, wrm suggested that DIY gunsmithing is practical if info is available. I have my doubts that there is much interest - if there were, my books would sell better than they do - anyhow, my piece about drill presses was my first test of the water in a possible series that might help intending DIY smiths. How far I take it will depend how much interest there is.

[Sweet]

Any chance of a pic of a guide bushing for a drill, "in use"?

I am interested in learning more, Dick.

Please keep them coming!

[Dylanm]

Any chance of a pic of a guide bushing for a drill, "in use"?

I am interested in learning more, Dick.

Please keep them coming!

Yes, please keep posting these types of threads.