Posted: 2/6/2013 8:26:05 AM EDT
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I have a shop smith and I am exploring the idea of setting it up as a drill press and then using it with milling bits to have a mill on the cheap. If I do this, what speed should I have the machine set up when using end mill bits?
Also, does anyone make an axis adjustment vice piece that will fit on the flat surface of the Shop Smith? Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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You can't really mill using a drill chuck as a holder, the mill will eventually fall out. You'll need a collet holder or some other device designed to hold cutting tools.
Feeds and speeds will vary with material and tool size, as well as tool material; see Machinery's Handbook or the Internet. There are companies that make X-Y tables to clamp on a drill press to give you two dimensional motion. |
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Quoted:
I don't know much about Shopsmiths, but drill presses aren't really intended for the horizontal loads associated with milling. Or so I've been told by the machinists I've asked. They might just be Bridgeport snobs though. They're right. If the drill press starts with anything that looks like almost no runout, it won't stay that way long. But he should go ahead, Shopsmiths are all over and easy to find at a fraction of the cost new, so there is a good bank of spares. Estimate the rpm required: RPM = 4 X (Cutting Speed) / (Diameter of the Cutter) You'll have to look up the cutting speed from a table in a machinist's handbook or a textbook for students. |