Lathe milling and drill press - superfluous with a mill?

[William A]

Good morning gents,

I have recently purchased a Centec 2B with a Mk. III quill head to complement my Myford ML7. While I am still building my first engine and it may be a little eager of me, the price was too good to turn down to 'future proof' myself. I realise now, that there may be some items in my workshop I'd used to mill and drill before which may now be superfluous, i.e. :-

• Fixed vertical slide
• Compound vertical slide
• 2" machine vice for the above
• MT2 Drill pad x2
• 3/8" 'Progress' Drill press

Before I move these on to a better home, could I please get a sanity check that these are essentially no longer required? I can't think of anything I'd use them for with a horizontal/vertical mill in my possession but I am just a rank amateur!

Thank you so much.

[John Baguley]

I can't remember the last time that I used the drill press so I find it a waste of space really. I do all my drilling on the mill. I've also got a small X1 mill that is used mainly as a sensitive drill and rarely as a mill. I presume that your new mill has a vertical quill?

I've also got a fixed and a swivelling vertical slide for the ML7 and haven't used those for years. They are just gathering dust. The Myford 2" vice is still used as it comes in handy sometimes when you need a small vice.

John

[uuu]

I had a Centec 2A. and there wasn't much room left once you had a chuck, drill bit, vice in the gap. Yours may be bigger, but you might like to check you can get everything you want to fit, before you get rid of the drill press.

Wilf

[cplmickey]

I haven't used my vertical slide since I bought a small milling machine and now that I have a large milling machine as well I don't use the pillar drill. The drill has already been sold and I really should clean up the vertical slide and move that on too. Ian

[coniston]

I guess it depends on whether you have the room to keep them? I use my pillar drill as often as I use my mill, it is just easier when drilling holes that don't need to be set out as accurately. I propose to use a vertical slide with a motorized milling spindle on the lathe for drilling axial holes off Centre or multiples on a PCD in a part still in the lathe chuck for further operations. Also useful if you need to mill a slot or flutes in a turned piece whilst not disturbing the set up in the lathe. Of course all this can be done by transferring work from one machine to another but only easy if held in a transferrable chuck which is not easy with my machines.

Like most things sold you only need them after they have gone.

That's my personal view anyway.

Chris

[dscott]

I have one of our 9 lathes set up for cutting slots with the vertical slide.
I couldn't resist a Progress for the bigger hole drilling when it came up for sale.
We have a medium speed far Eastern pillar drill and the Dore Westbury on permanent drilling over the past 3 years since the big WM18 mill arrived. The Dore was set up to drill and tap 7/16" X 26 TPI using a 10 mm drill in a bronze casting Thursday.
It normally sits drilling 1/16" holes all day.
It comes down to setting up machines, time for doing, and space for activities. I usually do pilot holes on one and go for the Dore on something bigger.

David and Lily.

[JonL]

My pillar drill is completely unused since getting my mill. I mainly just prefer how much more accurately I can align the work.

[timb]

I dont have a pillar drill, only a mill, and the nunber of times I wanted to drill a hole to assist with the current mill setup makes me think I need to get one!
I usually resort to a hand held battery drill which is shoddy workmanship at best on my part, but as far as I am concerned , if you have the space the more tools the merrier!

Tim

[samc88]

I only use my vertical slide as an angle plate these days really. The drill press only gets used when I want to drill something and don't have the height on my mini mill

[howard51]

I have a small Taiwanese drill press as well as a 1.5kw powered mill. The drill is ideal for spotting through, far more sensitive for positioning parts.

[SteveW]

William A,

If you do move your treasures on to another home I guarantee you'll need them in ten to 14 days. This has certainly been my experience.

[paulylad]

Jul 15, 2021 7:35:36 GMT William A said:

Good morning gents,

I have recently purchased a Centec 2B with a Mk. III quill head to complement my Myford ML7. While I am still building my first engine and it may be a little eager of me, the price was too good to turn down to 'future proof' myself. I realise now, that there may be some items in my workshop I'd used to mill and drill before which may now be superfluous, i.e. :-

• Fixed vertical slide
• Compound vertical slide
• 2" machine vice for the above
• MT2 Drill pad x2
• 3/8" 'Progress' Drill press

Before I move these on to a better home, could I please get a sanity check that these are essentially no longer required? I can't think of anything I'd use them for with a horizontal/vertical mill in my possession but I am just a rank amateur!

Thank you so much.

[paulylad]

Always place for a drill press. Not all work is precision model engineering. Centre punch and drill it quick on the drill press. Comes in handy for making clamps jigs and brackets. Can carry polishing mops. It becomes a second rate tool once you've got a Miller but I find it always has a place still.

[jem]

wait a year if you have room, then you will know what you should keep or not!!!

Jem

[Midland]

Hi
When contemplating a mill some ten years ago I was going to get rid of the fobco drill. Someone on the forum persuaded me to keep it as, "you will always want to drill a hole when the mill is set up for milling". So I kept it. Actually use it very little so not sure if that was a good decision so I suggest you follow Jem's advice above and see what happens!
Cheers David

[92220]

I hardly ever use my pedestal drill as most drilling is done on the mill, however, I wouldn't get rid of my drill because a job eventually comes up that can only be done on the drill, like drilling something that is too big for the mill. If you have room, and don't need the cash from selling it, keep your drilling machine.

Bob.

[ilvaporista]

It depends what you are doing but there will come a time when you have a job that won't quite fit on the mill and you wish you hadn't got rid of the drill.
For a good few years I had odd jobs where a floor mounted drill would have made things so much easier with the ability to drill holes in large fabrications stood vertically. I finally found a machine at a price I was willing to pay and installed it in the workshop. Since that day I have never had another job where the extra height has been needed. I guess that drill has been used only twice since installation, now after the move it is tucked away in the far corner buried under materials.

[jem]

I have two milling machines, but I use my drilling machine very often, I would not like to be without it.

Jem

[jem]

I have two milling machines, but I use my drilling machine very often, I would not like to be without it.

Jem