# sensitive drill press



## chuck foster (Feb 24, 2008)

i was at the right place at the right time (that never happens to me) 
i was on a service call fixing a machine for a company in toronto, after fixing the machine i went to the foremans office to see him about some other stuff. on the floor in his office was this little sensitive drill press





i said to him that i could use a drill press like that for my model building, he looked at me and said "it's yours"
so it just goes to show that some times all you have to do is ask! ;D
when i got it home i drilled a #80 hole (.013") through a piece of 1/4" steel like it was butter.
i have tried to drill small holes like that with my unimat lathe/drill press and never had much luck.
but with this little drill press it is a breeze.

so next time you see something you would like just ask........you never know

chuck


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 24, 2008)

Chuck,
What feature(s) does this drill press have that makes it so good for drilling small holes? Does it have a high spindle speed?

Cheers,
Phil


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## BobWarfield (Feb 24, 2008)

Little presses like that are very cool. I would imagine one would be extremely handy for building small models.

Best,

BW


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## Mcgyver (Feb 24, 2008)

Chuck, that's a great find. 

Phil, in general a sensitive drill does have high spindle speeds because its used for smaller drills. However, while that's nice, is not what allows it to drill such small holes. its that it is so sensitive - you can easily feel when the drill makes contact and how its cutting so you don't over stress the tiny bit.

until you have Chuck's good fortune, you can drill small holes with one of these, a sensitive table - raises the work (I tape it to the table usually) into the bit. it won't be as quick, but it will let you have high sensitivity so you can make very small holes with a large DP
http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b.../?action=view&current=sensitivedrilltable.jpg
Plans appeared in one HSM Projects books, but its fairly self apparent.


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## greenie (Feb 25, 2008)

Any chance of a few more photos, like left side, right side, top and a full frontal with a ruler shown for a scale reference, ppppplease. 

Unless you want to do a couple of drawings, that would be even more helpfull?

regards greenie


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## Mcgyver (Feb 26, 2008)

greenie, camera is currently busted & in for repair  but i had these already

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b201/michael0100/drilling small hole/sensitivedrilltableii.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b201/michael0100/drilling small hole/pininvblock.jpg

base is 2x2, 4" tall over all. made from .625 AL. the pivot is a shoulder bolt. table column, roller, and pins are steel, everything else is AL. not much emphasis on aesthetics on this one, but it works well 

i check for you and plans are in the Projects 1 book - part of a 7 book series Village Press put that reprinted old HSM articles. these books are well worth having, but for this simple little one the above should set you up. afaik they are still available.


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## BobWarfield (Feb 26, 2008)

Seems like a suitable spindle and Mcgyver's nifty levitating table and you'd have a sensitive drill press. I wonder if the runout on some of the high speed spindles like Proxon would make it acceptible for this purpose?

Best,

BW


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## Bogstandard (Feb 26, 2008)

I have been reading this with gusto and you are looking at it as though it should be a large machine. Chuck was very lucky and managed to get an industrial machine. In the environments we work in, that sort of machine is nice to have, but can be made a lot more simply, just to do the odd job every now and then.

If you remember that these will most probably be used with drills of 1/16" or less.

When I worked in industry, the high speed spindle PCB board machines only had a spindle bearing block about 2" long, with a lift table very similar to Mcgyver's one. They looked very similar to a small scroll saw frame, just to be able to accept the capacity of board. Belt driven from a small DC variable speed motor, but all the girls just wacked it up to full and left them there. Most probably somewhere between 60 & 80K RPM. They were using tungsten drills about 0.5mm and punching them thru fibre glass boards as though they weren't there. Without the speed the drills would have just broken off, as it was, it was the speed that made them virtually indestructable, and were only changed when they got blunt.

If you obtained the smallest jacobs chuck, accurately screwcut a spindle to fit it (I did one for my tapping fixture and the runout is less than 0.0005") it is then an easy exercise to fabricate a preloaded bearing block to fit, then just make a frame to hold it and the motor. A battery charger as a power supply, and an old motor from a racing buggy, turn up a couple of pulleys to increase the speed and there you have it.

4 to 1 ratio should get you up around 60k RPM. Leave for a couple of minutes for the spindle to stabilise before use and away you go.

Unless of course you want one to use all the time rather than about four times a year, as is about the frequency I would have to use one.

Less time to make the machine, more engines made.

Here is one I knocked up years ago to fit into my lathe toolpost, it is the opposite of what you are after, this one reduces the speed, but it shows all that is needed.






John


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## semovente (Feb 26, 2008)

I particularly like the table assembly which could, on its own be quite useful for sensitive drilling.

Here they are:

[ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=9mx78heOqr4&feature=related[/ame]
[ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=7tAGQtsun5o&feature=related[/ame]
[ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=zDKZ7ThaAFI&feature=related[/ame]

Enjoy!

.vp


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## zeusrekning (Feb 26, 2008)

Semovente!!
That is very very impressive. Welcome to the forum and thanks alot for the video.
Tim


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## chuck foster (Feb 26, 2008)

bog you are right the drill press i got is way over kill.............but the price was right ;D

the motor runs from 1,000 rpm to 10,000 rpm the drill chuck will hold from 0 to .188" diameter drill shanks.
i used a solid carbide drill bit to drill the #80 hole.

now looking at semovente's drill press all i can say is i'm glad i got the one i got (beat up a bit and alittle rusty) cause if i had his i don't know if i would use it or put it in a glass case and stare at it ...........very nice and versatile machine for sure.
just seeing the vid of the drill press you made and the obvious master workmanship can we see some of your other projects?

just lurking and liking what i see ;D

chuck


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## Bogstandard (Feb 26, 2008)

Chuck,

I have got to make a very high speed one, I need to drill some holes 0.004"(about twice the thickness of a human hair) for some gas jets, on the speed charts I have it recommends 92K RPM, but I think I should be able to get away with 50K if I take it steady. Or I just buy the jets, if I can find a supplier.

John


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## rake60 (Feb 26, 2008)

semovente, Great Videos!
Thanks for sharing them.

John,
.004 holes?
The smallest drill bit I ever saw was .005.
(Well they told me it was there and I just pretended I could see it. )

What I'd like to know is how do they MAKE drill bits that small?

*Congrats on the find Chuck!*

Rick


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## Bogstandard (Feb 26, 2008)

Rick,
In fact they are metric 0.01mm (a tad under 4 thou), I purchased a job lot of about 500 drills for a couple of pounds, the only prob was that they were all 0.5mm and below. The shank size is 1mm with the bit on the end about 3mm long (1/8").
When looked at under a scope they are perfectly formed with a very slow spiral on them. I think they must have originally come from a gas jet manufacturer.

John


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## zeusrekning (Feb 26, 2008)

Come on John,
500 .004" drills can't weigh a couple of pounds.


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## Mcgyver (Feb 26, 2008)

> What I'd like to know is how do they MAKE drill bits that small?



exactly. under the scope does it look like a regular drill, ground flutes and all? 

Rick i'm with you, if i have to make a .004 hole i think I'll just pretend its there. that or make an edm except then i'd have to find a wire even smaller lol. went out to the shop and measured, smallest i have is #85, .011. I don't know if i could see .004


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## semovente (Feb 26, 2008)

Folks::

The videos that I posted earlier today are -not- my work though I wish they were (sigh!). I found these on YouTube and are the work of someone who goes by gmark1953 and it is he who has the real talent. There are a number of videos that show some very interesting engine and clock projecs. He has a number that are specific to Sherline modifications which is how I became acquainted with his work. 

Also, semovente is simply a handle (it means self-propelled in Italian). 

Hope this clears up any confusion.

.vp (Vince)


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## Bogstandard (Feb 27, 2008)

Couldn't find my 0.1mm ones, I think they are with my micro burner project somewhere in the shop. But here is a pic showing what micro drills look like plus a couple of standards.
From left to right, 1mm, 0.5mm, 0.4mm standard, 0.25mm (0.010") and 0.15mm (0.006").
You can just see the flutes glinting on the small one.






The older you get the bigger the holes you have to drill to see them.

John


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## Paolo (Jul 1, 2009)

I'm thinking to buy a 5C collets series building my self the relative chuck modifying a little an old project from a site. Please give me your advice...Are they useful and practice? Please what are your likes&dislikes..Thanks in advance!!
Cheers Paolo


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