I'm a newbie in this one. I want to be able to use an annular cutter. Can I use a drill press? If so what'd be a good inexpensive one?

Would this be a good one for occasional use ($499 less 20% coupon and it goes down to 150rpm)?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=39955

The only place I've seen annular cutters used is on Mag-Drills, portable drill presses. I think other than a milling machine (where there are many other tooling options) a drill press would be absolutely needed to keep from breaking an expensive cutter.

I don't know if H-F drill presses are rigid or true enough for annular cutter use though.

IMO NO.

A average drill press is not rigid enough and you would not be able to keep the work clamped down good enough.

Take the work to a small local machine shop.

You will have the job done right and you wont bust the tooling.

A average drill press is not rigid enough and you would not be able to keep the work clamped down good enough.

That's curious as I've watched many contractors I've hired use mag drills and annular cutters to bore holes in I-beams, piping assemblies, etc. AFIRover here on the board uses them daily in drill presses and mag drills.

What else would you use an annular cutter in, if not a drill press? If I had a milling machine, I don't think 'd be using an annular cutter.

I did probably ~100 1-1/8" holes on with an annular cutter on the exact HF drill press posted above. No problems. Keep the table as close to the chuck as possible to help reduce any deflection, but it worked fine.

You can get some cutters that use a pilot shaft....that my help some as well.

BG, where do you get your annular cutter set, reasonably priced I hope?

What other "must have" accessories do you recommend?

Thanks for the help,
Art

So is an annular cutter basically a carbide tipped hole saw that is thicker and stronger etc? Watching some vids on youtube etc about these things and I'm impressed. Might be a stupid Q but would these work on a tubing notcher etc and provide any benefit over a hole saw like longer life etc?

Lots of the smaller "Low-Profile" mag drills that will drill up to 1 3/8" width run at 450rpm.
The bigger 2 speed mag drills meant for normal, non carbide tipped annular cutters run at 250 rpm and 450 rpm and will drill up to 2 3/8" at 250 rpm.
You can get a MT to 3/4" Weldon shank adapter at any machine shop supply house, it may not be in stock but can easily be ordered. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=539438
I have done lots of holes with a $400 Taiwan tool store press and a MT->Weldon adapter.

Lots of the smaller "Low-Profile" mag drills that will drill up to 1 3/8" width run at 450rpm.
The bigger 2 speed mag drills meant for normal, non carbide tipped annular cutters run at 250 rpm and 450 rpm and will drill up to 2 3/8" at 250 rpm.
You can get a MT to 3/4" Weldon shank adapter at any machine shop supply house, it may not be in stock but can easily be ordered. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=539438
I have done lots of holes with a $400 Taiwan tool store press and a MT->Weldon adapter.


good link, ty
was searching for how to mount these in my mt3

So is an annular cutter basically a carbide tipped hole saw that is thicker and stronger etc? Watching some vids on youtube etc about these things and I'm impressed. Might be a stupid Q but would these work on a tubing notcher etc and provide any benefit over a hole saw like longer life etc?

Sort of. An annular cutter is fluted like a drill, not just set teeth like a holesaw, allowing you to make deeper holes.

I'm not sure how well they would work on round tube as the teeth aren't perpendicular to the shank, but set at a slight angle. I'm thinking you're going to need one hell of a rigid clamp setup to keep the tube steady while cutting.

I prefer using HSS to carbide cutters. I've cracked carbide cutters before, never cracked a HSS one. It's easy to tell when they get dull, just send them out for sharpening.

I've done thousands of holes (mainly 1/2" and 1") using annular cutters in a Northern 3/4" chuck drill press (similar to that HF). I just drill a pilot hole (or pierce a pilot hole on the plasma table) for the pilot pin.

When the cutter gets dull, I just touch it up with a Rolloc disk and keep going.

I usually get my cutters at McMaster Carr or eBay...