Author Topic: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.  (Read 11430 times)

Offline NeoTech

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Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« on: January 27, 2013, 08:41:29 AM »
Well mostly of my doings in the workshop involves drilling stuff atm, cause im building machines and tooling to complete my workshop.
And a friend of mine, suggested i would make my own Drillpress.. Well, i have no idea how a drill press works. It would obviously use v-belts im guessing.

But then well most homemade drillpresses seems to be a holder for a handheld shopdrill or small jewelry drills.

Have anyone done such a project? I cant imagine it would be hard to make when you do have plans to follow.
For pillar i have some 2m steel pipe with about 25mm in the wall, and about 100mm in diameter, should be a good column to start from. (sorry bout the metric, but 1" wall and 4" OD - is prob. close).
Machinery: Optimum D320x920, Optimum BF20L, Aciera F3. -- I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. http://www.roughedge.se/blogg/

Offline Lew_Merrick_PE

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2013, 01:08:02 PM »
The basics of a drill press are fairly simple.  I have designed (and had built) a couple of dozen of special purpose presses over the years for various products & processes.  The major challenge for a traditional, long-throw drill press for the home shop is making the spline drive that allows the spindle to travel while transmitting torque.

There are several non-traditional ways to deal with that issue.  The question is: What do you want to do with this drill press?  What is the largest size bit you wish to use?  What is the smallest bit you wish to use?  What is the maximum RPM you would need?  What is the minimum RPM you would need?  How much stroke do you need?  How much torque (at what speed) do you need?  What is the clearance (swing) between the centerline of the spindle and the column you require?

These are the types of questions you need to answer.  I believe that Lindsay Press still sells the David Gingery series on building your own metalworking tools.  One of the volumes in that series deals with building a drill press.  ???

Offline PekkaNF

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2013, 01:31:05 PM »
 Ideas

1) Small: GHT Universal Pillar Tool
http://modelenginenews.org/meng/upt/index.html
et.al. there are few made out of simple drill press and some are build on this spirit and used only for threading

There is a book "Workshop Techniques" which is actually mostly about UPT and VDH, bit like the Robert M. Pirsig book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is not very much about the zen or motorcycle maintenance, but very good reading and some parts useful.

Kits:
http://www.hemingwaykits.com/acatalog/Universal_Pillar_Tool.html
Scroll down to sensitive drill....

2) IMHO no point of duplicating/imitating bog standard drill press (unless you chrome it) :clap: so go all the way:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/bca/index.html
See drive

or even this beauty:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/elliott%20mini%20jig/index.html

PekkaNF

Offline NeoTech

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2013, 04:09:05 PM »
hmm well.. I usually need to drill the small pilot holes before i bore something larger..
smallest, 2mm.. biggest, hmm about 25mm.. im thinking of doing a "swing" table on a sleeve and a rack and pinion to be able to rise and lower the table. Ive found this old 3kW electric motor, that is 3 phase lying around in the garage from some other project so im thinking belt drive and a three speed controller for the motor..

i have a hard time to wrap my head around that "spline drive" thingy. I cant really in my head see how it should be able to spin and move up and down at the same time..

Anyway, fixed head and moveable drill table i think its the best way to go about this. I need about 100mm of travel for the drill but the table need to be lowered for larger stuff.

Maybe to big of a project.. but i like bigger projects.
Machinery: Optimum D320x920, Optimum BF20L, Aciera F3. -- I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. http://www.roughedge.se/blogg/

Offline andyf

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2013, 05:05:23 PM »
Quote
i have a hard time to wrap my head around that "spline drive" thingy. I cant really in my head see how it should be able to spin and move up and down at the same time..

I think my mill has a similar arrangement. Look at the fifth colour photo here: http://www.lathes.co.uk/dore%20westbury/ .
Sticking up from the top of the spindle is the long thin tube you can see projecting above the pulleys (ignore the big ally canister - that's an epicyclic back gear).  You can also see one of two long keyways running down the tube. A bronze plate is  fixed to the top of the pulley with a hole for the tube to pass through, and two inward pointing lugs which engage with the keyways.  So, as the quill is moved up/down, taking the spindle with it, the tube slides up and down in the bronze plate, and the lugs transmit the drive from the pulleys to the tube and spindle.

Andy

PS it's a tube, rather than a solid shaft, so you can get a drawbar down it.
Sale, Cheshire
I've cut the end off it twice, but it's still too short

Offline DavidA

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2013, 06:34:22 PM »
If you are making the drill press  from scratch it would be very usefull to design it in such a way that the head can be swung off to one side and returned to exactly the same position.   This will allow for changing drills and taps etc without having to use lots of quill extention.

Dave.

Offline Lew_Merrick_PE

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2013, 12:46:45 PM »
hmm well.. I usually need to drill the small pilot holes before i bore something larger..
smallest, 2mm.. biggest, hmm about 25mm.. im thinking of doing a "swing" table on a sleeve and a rack and pinion to be able to rise and lower the table. Ive found this old 3kW electric motor, that is 3 phase lying around in the garage from some other project so im thinking belt drive and a three speed controller for the motor..

3 kW is a lot of power for a drill press.  Most commercial units covering that range would have a motor between (about) .38 and .57 kW.  Too much power will make drilling with small (say < ø1 mm) bits more difficult (they break with too much torque).

The swing I was referring to is the distance between the centerline of the chuck and the edge of the column.  This measure is usually rated as the largest diameter of (round) part to which you can drill to its center.  Being able to reach 200 mm from the column to the center of what you are drilling is (generally) called a 400 mm swing.

I would actually recommend using a cable drive system with pulleys and a counterweight for raising and lowering the table.  (1) It is simpler to build and (2) it is (usually) easier to operate.

i have a hard time to wrap my head around that "spline drive" thingy. I cant really in my head see how it should be able to spin and move up and down at the same time..

In commercial practice, a spline-shaft is essentially a long spurgear.  The driving side is a spline-drive that is essentially a round OD part with a mating gear-shaped hole broached in it.  The drive-belt turns the spline-drive which, in turn, spins the spline-shaft -- which can move (axially) up & down with respect to the spline-drive.  Whatever the Norwegian equivalent of Machinery's Handbook will have information on these types of parts.

Now it is true that a spurgear type of interface is going to be the most efficient of this type of drive interface.  However, a reasonable equivalent can be made by using a square or a hex shape.  These are much easier for the home-shop type of equipment (and, usually, skills) to make.  The closer you come to a true circular interface, the less shaking will be induced by the eccentricity of mass.  A square shape interface will drive more power, but it will shake (induce more vibration) into the drive than a hex shape interface.  An octagon shape interface will drive less power than a hex shape interface, but it will vibrate less.  (Etc.)  Another alternative approach is to run long keyways on the shaft that can be driven by keyseat broached or cut (i.e. filed) into the drive hub.

I would (generally) recommend a hexagon drive interface.

Anyway, fixed head and moveable drill table i think its the best way to go about this. I need about 100mm of travel for the drill but the table need to be lowered for larger stuff.

If your I think about it and XXX throw is about right number is 100 mm, then I would design for 150 mm of throw as that should not add too much trouble or expense and will save your bacon when you discover you need that extra 10 mm!  More is almost always better in this regard!

Offline PekkaNF

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2013, 02:52:55 PM »
That big drilling range suggests two different size drill press. It's pretty easy going until 12 mm, then you really need heavier machine. Punching 12 mm drill into normal structural steel with tabe speeds and feeds needs about 200 kg equivalent force to push, if I remember right. Also speed/torque range is quite different.

How would agricultural cardan shaft spline work? Least here you can buy shaft/sleeve by meter.

Like this (page 7 different types of splined shafts and tubes. They would transmit the power you need and they are pretty cheap.
http://www.vapormatic.com/_assets/documents/pto%20catalogue.pdf

Then again for a smaller drill, aforementioned hex extension bar, like this:
http://www.mad4tools.com/spectrum-hex-extension-bar-250mm--allen-key-jx25-for-dry-core-drilling-5183-p.asp
Would donote parts.

It all depends...I see pilar drills with MT3 weight only 200kg and wonder how do they fare.

Then there is this one. MT1 tapper and about 1000 kg and not too much cast iron. See Hauser 2A2:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/hauser/

What kind form factor and size of construction you have in your mind?


Pekka

Offline philf

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2013, 04:08:16 PM »
My drill is a massive Fobco Seven-Eight and it's theoretical capacity is 7/8" (which is the biggest drill normally supplied with a 2MT shank). It will drill 1" as I have tried it with a drill with a reduced taper but the torque requirement necessitates engagement of back gear. I don't know what you had in mind for speed changing but I don't think you'd get enough torque/speed reduction with e.g. a single v-belt. A wide, heavy duty POLY-V arrangement might work but a back gear would be better.

I'm only using a 3/4 HP motor but driven from an inverter which can't output 3/4 HP. I have never stalled it. 3KW (4 HP) is way too big.

I would endorse going for 150mm stroke rather than 100mm.

Splined shafts and bushes are available off the shelf but aren't cheap: http://www.ondrives.com/data/pdf/linear/linear.pdf (See pages 188 onwards.)

I don't like to be negative and I'd be interested in seeing what you manage to build but I can't help but think that you'd be better buying a second hand machine.

Good Luck.

Phil.

Phil Fern
Location: Marple, Cheshire

Offline Meldonmech

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2013, 08:24:44 AM »
I use  drills from 1/8 up to 5/8 inch in a bench drill, this has a no 2 morse taper quill, a 1/2 hp motor, and 12 speeds. Larger drills up to 1 1/2 inch I use in the 626 Mill, this has a no 3 MT and a 1 1/2 hp motor, lowest speed 120 rpm . Slow speeds are essential when drilling cast iron with big drills. There is also the mass of the machine to consider, larger drills generate high torques and vibrations, which require dampening and absorbing. A heavy preferably cast iron structure is required to satisfy these requirements.
                                Before you become too involved with the build take a visit to a machine tool supplier, ask questions about
machines they would recommend to satisfy your requirements, take brochures and specs. Carefully analyse the data, then you will be in a much better position to begin your design.
                                                                                                 Good Luck  David

                                                                                             

Offline NeoTech

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #10 on: January 29, 2013, 03:08:21 PM »
Hmm alot of good points to think about.

After i have been browsing through i do agree with that i need to do my homework.
Like that hexagon drive instead of the circular commercial version, even though i think i can cut either on my aciera mill. I do realize its easier to go with the hexagon model..

For size i think a floor model its the best way to go. Mostly i dont really have any benches in my workshop either so its more convenient to have it as floor pillar model.

And Phil, i agree buying a second hand is the easy solution.. But is it fun? And would i learn something from it? =)

Anyways, thank you all for your input i need to do alot of homework.. starting with the ginger books. ;D
Machinery: Optimum D320x920, Optimum BF20L, Aciera F3. -- I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. http://www.roughedge.se/blogg/

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2013, 11:12:47 PM »
I have David Gingery's Drill Press book and it is excellent. You will need to cast many of the parts of course, as in all of his machine tool books. I built his lathe about 10 years ago.
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Offline HappyBill

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #12 on: February 15, 2013, 11:51:41 PM »
Hello,

I can recommend 2 books that show lotsa ideas

1. 40 Power Tools You Can Make   - Abe Books - has ideas fro drill presses

2. Making and Modyfying Machinery  - Amazon - no drillpresses but still a very good book.

Bill

Offline russ57

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Re: Help needed; Finding plans / Ideas for a homemade drillpress.
« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2013, 06:14:16 AM »
I'd reckon that popular mechanics magazine,  see google books,  would be sure to have several plans for building a drill press.

-russ