I am looking for a milling table with at roughly 8" x 12" xy travel to be used on the drill press for stock inletting and monor metal work. I would like the most precise unit I can afford (I see units on ebay in the $100 range that appear to be what I'm looking for) but I have no way to evaluate runout, or repeatability in the controls. Can someone give me some brand names and experiences with quality units?
Thanks.

snowcat...
unless this is for positioning while drilling, it's ALWAYS a bad idea to use a drill for a mill
two main reasons, not to mention accuracy.
1: drills arent built or bearinged for side thrust
2:tool holding... chucks are HORRIBLE are holding mills, and the micro-sidethrust movement will destroy the jaws.

occasionally you can find a micro milldrill (it's not really either) for 299 and homier shows frequently sell the rong fu 31 for 600.

not even light cuts on a drill...

jeffe

I have a friend, who is an accomplished stockmaker, who has been using a drill press and cross vice for years to rough inlet his stocks. Would wood shaping/mortising exert enough pressure on a 5/8 chucked drill to wear the bearings significantly? If the press is a bad idea, can you give me an idea of what I would be into to purchase a decent milling machine capable of handling most rifle metal and stock work.

I have also heard of a way to attach a mill holding fixture directly to the drill press spindle after removing the chuck which moves the side pressure much closer to the spindle bearings, Have you heard of sucha setup? I'm just think of shaping bottom metal, mag boxes, removing clip guides etc for metal work...

Thanks for your help.

snowcat

A cross vise or small milling table clamped to a large drill press is a reasonable way to locate holes. If you are drilling only, these can be usefull units. Like most machinery, get the heaviest you can afford

If you want to mill metal or even wood, don't even think about using a drill press. The self holding taper in the quill of a drill press is designed for axial, not radial loads. It will not hold with side pressure.

The inexpensive oriental table mill drill units are many times better, and if you have time and are careful, they can be made to do reasonable work. They should be viewed as "kits" and will require effort to reconstruct into precise units. They are sold by several importers.

Older small verticle mills or jig bore's are another step up in precision and usefullness. Some will be gems, some worn out. You might ask the guys at the chaski machinery board about your questions. http://www.chaski.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php

Roger

Check outGrizzly They have a couple of small shop mills that might work for you.

Can anyone give me some feedback on the Grizzly G0517? It's in my price range (not much) and looks like it should work. I;m just not sure if it is of decent quality. Thanks.

Might I also suggest getting ahold of an Enco catolog. Just about anything you could ever want in machine equipment from both the quality names and Enco's brand.

You might want to look at the G8689, and check out this website http:///www.mini-lathe.com for some info on the mini mills.

The lathe you show looks like an over priced drill press.

I've tried using a milling table on a drill press, I knew better, and managed to trash a 1/2" cobalt end mill, as well as the drill chuck. The weak link was the lack of rigidity between the drill press table and the drill press colum. Even trying to mill wood had poor results, the lack of rigidity can allow the cutter to easily wander 1/16" or more out of track.

I haven't seen one of the Grizly mini's in person but have used one of their larger verticle mills as wll as a lathe and buffer and they all seemed like pretty good stuff for the money. It would just about have to be better than using a drill press for a mill.

I've been thinking of doing the same thing but using a router head mounted in a rigid frame adj in position. I've been looking at the compound table that ENCO sells. It even goes on sale from time to time - but always when my gun fund is insufficient!
Jeff P

[QUOTE]Originally posted by b beyer:
Snow, I have a bridgeport M head that you can have if your willing to pay the shipping. I have never wired it up[it's not new] and I believe uses no. 2 morse taper collets. I would not be sure how to mount it, but I sent another one I had to a guy in Texas that set up a beautiful mill with it. He sent me some pictures of it. I am in Fla. for the winter and will be here until the end of April or so but if you are interested you can email me at
bobbeyer@hotmail.com. and I will get it to you as soon as I can. Jeff is correct when he says that milling in a chuck will tear it up. I have been lazy a few times and milled a piece in my Bridgeport with the mill in a chuck and believe me it goes do them some harm.