School me on Drill Presses and X-Y Tables

[kooters94yj]

I've been looking for a decent drill press for the garage. This will be mainly used for notching tube. A couple buddies and I are just getting into fabricating our own stuff. I understand how a X-Y table works. The drill press I'm thinking about is an older Rockwell. I know most of the time older is better especially when comparing them against the newer china made crap.

My questions are about the table. What kinds of things can this be used for? Would this be a worthwhile buy or should I just get a plain press?

[kooters94yj]

http://images.craigslist.org/3m63o63l3ZZZZZZZZZ91vc47137061fcf10ca.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/3n03k33o4ZZZZZZZZZ91v2f4289a205b1123d.jpg

[300sniper]

i can't tell from the pictures, but are you sure that isn't just an xy table bolted to a standard table?

what can they be used for? laying out precise holes.

[kooters94yj]

I believe your correct. It looks like a xy table bolted to a regular table.

[Ghetto Fab.]

Thats about all it'd be good for, laying out precise hole location, but that would all depend on how good the table is, how well you indicated the table in, and how well you located your part. I doubt most of the those x-y tables are that accurate.

If you want a drill press, get a drill press. If you want to notch tube like they do in milling machines, then get a milling machine. Unfortunatly, you really can't make a drill press into a milling machine. Hunt around, you just might find a good deal on a mill and theres a lot more you can do with a mill than a drill press.

Kevo

[urbanmuddboger]

holy shit i have the same drill press
is your for metal or wood(rockwell/delta made two)
the metal ones have a thrd pullly bolted to the side under the cover
i had to order the pully cause mine did not have it and wold spin way to fast

[Haggar]

Yep, useful for laying out holes. For example, I have a small one I use, say when I was making my 4 link brackets and wanted a series of adjustable holes. Lot easier than unclamping/clamping the work every hole.

Drill presses aren't mills, so don't try to use them for it. The spindles/bearings are designed for the sideload, generally.

[kooters94yj]

This is the kind of input I was looking for.

[tc1]

Really helpful for drilling holes accurately in straight lines, Not so much for milling. If you want to notch tube easily, get a Notch Master from jd2 or something like that. They use hole saws that are readily available just about anywhere and they work really well. A little drill press like that would be kinda scary notching tube I think. Later!

[MikeW]

Get a mill

[JeffHPK5]

I'm assuming you where going to use this piece of gear to power a JD2 type notcher , correct ? The little compound positioners are plenty close for brackets and shit like that but lack real accuracy.

The one major downfall of compound tables is they move the work up and away from where the machine was originally designed to operate.... the farther you get away from where the table attaches to the column the more "jiggly" your set-up becomes.

First thing you need to look at when considering a drill press for notching duty is it speed range , most of the smaller units spin way too fast.