Making Buffalo Chips
January 13th, 2009Tool Quest Resembles Archaeology
I am fed up with the drill press scene. There are lots of bargains out there, but nothing quite fits the bill. I want a 6″ stroke, a low speed near 250 RPM, and a tough adjustable head casting that will last forever. Nothing out there fits the description.
Since I got wise to the VFD revolution, it has occurred to me that the best thing may be to MAKE a drill press. I could find myself some kind of old drill press that has a 6″ stroke and a split head, and I could put a new motor in it with a VFD. Problem solved, and it should be cheaper than buying a ready-to-use press that isn’t really right for me. But how do you get your hands on a US-made drill press that fits that description?
Some dude has a Powermatic 1200 head for sale on Ebay. Three hundred and something dollars. I wonder if it might be a good buy. Not sure how I’d compensate for the lack of a stand and table.
The Powermatic table is nothing to write home about; losing it is not a sacrifice. I’d want a woodworking table, which I would probably make for myself. I don’t know what people who have woodworking tables do, when they want to drill metal. I suppose sometimes they don’t have to change anything. Maybe woodworking drill press tables are supposed to attach to existing metalworking tables.
Another possibility: someone in Pasco County is selling a Buffalo #18 drill press. This is a cool piece of old iron with a 6″ stroke and four speeds. Might be the optimal candidate for a VFD.
Hmm…
January 13th, 2009 at 12:23 PM
I have a table, support arm, and rack from a Jet press that you can have, if you should want to try to adapt it. You will still be in need of a column and base. They are brand new. A friend bought a Jet press for his bowling pro shop and had no use for them, so I took them, hoping to adapt them to my Delta, but the column on the Delta is smaller than the one on the Jet, so I have no use for them.
January 13th, 2009 at 1:03 PM
The column and table yoke are harder than they look. You would then need a bigass lathe and a bunch of cutting and fixturing tools, so you could spend a couple hundred bucks on a chunk of thick-wall pipe and turn it down to the right size and surface. Having done that, you are then faced with making the yoke and stand.
An ancient machine with limited speeds is exactly the optimal candidate for a VFD. With a VFD, you really need exactly two mechanically-changeable speeds: 1:4 or 1:5 for really slow work, like using a fly cutter to make large disks, and 1:1 for everything else (based on an 1800 nominal RPM motor).
Woodworking tables are bigger than metalworking tables, and have surfaces less likely to damage the wood. They normally fit on top of a metalworking table, or bolt into the same yoke. If you want to work metal, you protect the woodworking table’s surface with a piece of something sacrificial — melamine sheet is great, masonite works — and carefully clean the chips off afterward.
Regards,
Ric
January 13th, 2009 at 1:06 PM
When I said I wanted to “make” a drill press, I didn’t mean I wanted to make the column and base from scratch. I’ll bet not even Og does that. I figured I’d buy them somewhere.
January 13th, 2009 at 1:33 PM
Don’t bet that Og hasn’t done something. He is probably in the shop fabricating one now just because you posted that…
January 13th, 2009 at 2:00 PM
I looked up the Buffalo #18, and I don’t think you’d like it — it only has a 9″ “throat” (distance from column to chuck). But you have the right idea. A WWII or Fifties-vintage chunk of iron with limited speeds, to which you would add a VFD for flexibility. Something like this, for instance.
Regards,
Ric
January 13th, 2009 at 2:19 PM
That is a very nice drill press, but I think 9″ will do, when the alternative is 1200 POUNDS. That thing needs a gun turret.
January 13th, 2009 at 4:24 PM
I’m unclear… why do you want/need a 6″ stroke?
January 13th, 2009 at 5:41 PM
That thing needs a gun turret.
::sneer::
This from the guy who bought a compressor suitable for a good-sized garage, or a small natural gas pipeline.
Besides, it doesn’t need a turret. It needs tracks.
Regards,
Ric
January 13th, 2009 at 5:44 PM
That compressor turned out to be merely adequate for sanding. So I thumb my nose at all who criticize the decision to buy it.
Russ: I keep finding people who are upset because their drill presses make them flip stock over all the time, and I don’t want the same headache.
January 13th, 2009 at 5:52 PM
Geez, Steve. Why can’t you be normal like the rest of us and underbuy the first time.
However, if you can’t complete the hole with the stroke you have, it’s not unheard of to complete the bore with a hand drill. The bit will follow the existing hole and not wobble out.
January 13th, 2009 at 5:56 PM
Ed, I have a wonderful 10″ compound miter saw I should never have bought, plus a 12″ sliding compound miter saw that replaced it. I have a really nice portable table saw, plus a Powermatic 66 that superseded it. I have a tiny portable compressor, plus a Curtis 5VT8 that will actually do what the little one is supposed to do.
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I think I’ve done a pretty fair job of underbuying!
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I also think putting a VFD on a beautiful old piece of cast iron would be a blast.
January 13th, 2009 at 6:06 PM
My bad.
But I looked for that Powermatic 1200 head on EBay to see what could be done for you and can’t find it.
I bought a small VFD like that for work once. Quite an education upon setup. Lot’s of parameters as someone else alluded to earlier.
You want a simple knob for speed and they give you a book.
January 13th, 2009 at 6:09 PM
I should have shut my hole while you were making me look smart.
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http://tinyurl.com/93pv5v
January 13th, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Not criticism, Steve. Envy.
I was merely pointing out that overbuying has served you well in the past (64″ saw rails?) so you should keep it in mind as a strategy.
A Fosdick may well be overdoing it, even for that, though. There are others, never fear.
Regards,
Ric
January 13th, 2009 at 6:54 PM
Well, you’ve got the woodworking tools to make a table for that beast. Or weld something. I’ll bet McKean’s also has a table for it somewhere. They have lots of stuff like that laying around. Have ’em throw something in. Like this 15 x 18″ cast surface plate for $45 to put on a wood cabinet you build. http://www.mckeanmachinery.com/inventory/detail.php?TheKey=MV1090
Bolt your drill to the plate.
Maybe.
January 13th, 2009 at 7:31 PM
Mostly I’m jealous because I own a condo.
I jumped into Home Ownership about 2 years ago. When anything with a garage cost more than 100k.
Irritatingly enough, now that houses are more affordable, I wouldn’t qualify for buying one.
It’s ok. My plan is to build my own house someday. With a yard. And a garage. And a helicopter pad.
January 13th, 2009 at 7:47 PM
Steve, I agree with you one hundred percent.
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Just so you know.
January 13th, 2009 at 8:16 PM
I have actually built a drill press, but not a post model, this one was a positioning drill used to drill rubber escape holes in tire molds (the teeny holes that make all the “hair” you see on a new tire). It worked really well, but cost about $190,000. Most of the tire molds in question were large earthmover tires.
January 13th, 2009 at 11:52 PM
I say mount whatever on a couple of workmates and be done with it…
January 14th, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Steve,
You need a helo pad.