350w Drill Press, any good?

Hoi!

I'm thinking of buying a 350 W drill press, 5 speeds:
http://www.k-rauta.ee/Pages/Product.aspx?c...onia%20Catalog)

(it's Estonian)

Say I wanted to drill a 8 mm (0.31 in) sheet steel with a 1 cm drill bit (0.39 in). Would this machine do it without trouble (no stall)? I have limited experience with presses other than those back in my high-school (years ago).

Thanks,
Hamlet

it depends on the type of steel , bit , feed rate , lube and whether or not you drill a pilot hole and "step up" in bit sizes .

is that actually a 5 x 5 pulley system ?
i would be concerned about slop on the business end of things and longevity .

Say cold rolled steel and machine oil and a HSS "regular" metal drill bit. And yep, pulley system. I don't mind the slop, its dirt cheap.

that will work ok .

you'll have better luck with a better grade of bit .
some machines had a compression spring that was somewhat adjustable ... this served to limit the downward feed pressure .
a slow gentle and steady downward pressure is the key .
if you are cutting even "curls" , the bit is sharp and even , the feed rate is about right .
when it stops cutting curls ... there is a problem .
sometimes the bit will start "chipping" , this can be due to a "hard spot" in the steel or a piece of *something* stuck on the bit face .
allowing the bit to "chatter" will cause short curls and fine shavings .
rotation speed is a large portion of good results ... a slow speed is better than a fast speed as a general rule .

running a bit when it is dull causes unwanted slop and aggravation .
the chances of it running hot are greater and thus ruining the temper/surface treatment .

Thank you!

Grease: biological sources are actually pretty good. I've heard guys swear by bacon grease (or other drippings) mixed 50/50 with a light petroleum, like kerosene, mineral spirits, even diesel in a pinch. I've used it myself, works nice. Fats that go rancid aren't so pleasant to use, and will eventually turn gummy (as the process of rancidity creates solid polymers, basically, varnish).

Do NOT use lubricants made for general lubrication, like motor oil or axle grease. Incidentally: WD40 is NOT a lubricant, despite popular opinion -- in fact, it works great for cutting aluminum.

Use as much cutting force as your setup can handle. You'll know based on vibration (if it starts shaking, vibrating, chugging or whining, slow down, or clamp it better -- sometimes, whining is inevitable though), and if the motor starts bearing down. Also, if you see smoke, slow down or let off, let it cool down. The tip of the drill bit might be only smoking hot, but the very edge of the cutting tip, buried in metal, is intensely heated by cutting.

Tim

Why?

I use junk motor oil often, (well as "often" as I drill steel, which is infrequently). Better than goin' in dry, but, not sure why it's bad in particular.

I'm not a rheologist (and no, I haven't read up on it either..), so I don't know why exactly. My experience is, it's 'too' slippery and doesn't cut so well. Proper cutting oils are sulfurized and chlorinated, and seem to let the cutting edge dig in, while allowing the faces to slide smoothly through the cut.

Sulfur, of course, is an addition which smells terrible, but which tends to "stick", chemically, to metal surfaces, ensuring a lubricating layer even under high pressures.

Tim

Sulphur is what makes gear oil smell like rancid ass, i think. Doesn't smell like SO2, though.

mmmmm ... i love the smell of hypoid gear lube in the morning !

a ready source of cutting oil is made by the same outfit that makes some good equipment : rigid .

Lately I've been using automatic transmission fluid for cutting/drilling...and lubricating PC fan's,and other various stuffs. Seems to work well enough.

shhhhh ... that stuff is supposed to be a secret !

I hear CWB's favorite brand Snake Oil is wonderful. . . . .

I've noticed we've got some thing called 'cimtap' in the garage... looks like some sort of emulsion. Guess I'll have to try it next time.