Can a Drill be a Mill?

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Some South Bend drilling machines were advertised as being suitable for light milling. Accessory spindles were available to hold milling cutters. The spindle could be changed by removing the name plate and slackening a screw. Dave

[Raymond AndersonParticipant @raymondanderson34407]

I'ts a sure way to ruin a drill press. Drill press spindles are not designed to cope with the large radial loads that milling generates, simple as that ! X Y tables when fitted to drill press tables are fine for coordinate drilling of holes. The spindle bearings wouldn't cope with anything but the lightest of milling. There is a big difference in the bearings of a milling machine and those in a drill press. At the end of the day it's your drill press.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

That's why I suggested an outrigger bearing assembly

Bob

[NJHParticipant @njh]

My take :- Pillar drills are good for drilling , Mill / Drills are good for milling AND drilling. I have both – that is mainly for the convenience of having the ability to drill a hole without disturbing a set-up on the mill. As has been previously posted it is dangerous to make intermittent milling cuts on a drill in case the taper on the chuck is released – you can imagine the likely consequences of that! The milling chuck, containing the cutter in a collet, is securely retained in the spindle by a drawbar. All this aside the Mill/drill is a much beefier machine than the usual drilling machine.

Norman

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