Mag drill/drill press conversion

[Tmate]

Besides portability, magnetic drills have a number of good features. They make the use of annular cutters easy, with through-the spindle cutting fluid. Many models provide electronic variable speed in fwd. & rev. and/or power down feed.

One big drawback is their lack of room between the spindle and the base. I fixed that with some old drill press bases and columns purchased on eBay. Table height adjustments are made from old machine torch mounting hardware.

 

[tom2207]

Neat job.

 

[stuvy]

I just put mine on the bench on a tick piece of stock and drill under it

That’s a nice way to make it more usable

 

[roofman]

Great job Tmate I was doing something similar with mine until i stumbled on one of these for my mill/drill...big holes no problem anymore
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264301979520

 

[123hotchef]

Great job Tmate I was doing something similar with mine until i stumbled on one of these for my mill/drill...big holes no problem anymore
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264301979520

I have one of those on a MT2 for my pillar drill also

 

[James1979]

Where are you getting all these dead drill press bases?!

 

[Tmate]

Where are you getting all these dead drill press bases?!

I have gotten a half dozen drill press bases and tables off eBay. The columns can be steel tubing.

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

.

 

[Tmate]

Great job Tmate I was doing something similar with mine until i stumbled on one of these for my mill/drill...big holes no problem anymore
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264301979520

I have one of those as well. However, I'm reluctant to use annular cutters with the power down feed on the mill. It doesn't know how much pressure to apply or when to stop and back out. The mag drill does.

 

[Easywelder]

Nice job, have a dead bench drill to do the same with.

 

[ukracer]

Great job Tmate I was doing something similar with mine until i stumbled on one of these for my mill/drill...big holes no problem anymore
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264301979520

Is it bridgeport?

 

[Tmate]

Is it bridgeport?

Mine (the one pictured) is a Bridgeport. Not sure if you are asking me or roofman!

 

[Agroshield]

...I'm reluctant to use annular cutters with the power down feed on the mill...

I have always understood that the power feed on a Bridgeport should not be used for a drill over 3/8" dia. It might even say so in the manual somewhere. I guess you could work out an annular cutter equivalent diameter to a solid drill bit.

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

I have always understood that the power feed on a Bridgeport should not be used for a drill over 3/8" dia.

Why is that and what is the problem?

 

[Tmate]

A Bridgeport mill has a clutch to prevent overloading and breaking an internal gear. A large drill bit would probably disengage the clutch before causing damage, but why take the chance? You can use annular cutters in the Bridgeport, since they require much less torque than drill bits. Just use the manual lever rather than the power down feed.

One of my mag drills has an automatic down feed that senses when it has gotten through the material and automatically reverses the down feed to back out. The Bridgeport can't do that unless you reverse it yourself.