Angular Contact Bearings - Drill Press Milling Machine 

End mills only really cut in one direction, into the rotation of the cutting surface. Going with the rotation is referred to as a climbing cut and should be avoided if possible. I really want to build my own version of this project. So many of my questions were answered in these two videos.

I was a news photographer for 24 years and do TV and film production now. Manual focus is the way to go. Auto-focus (or Out-of-Focus as I call it) is easily fooled by bright objects or other features for whatever reason. Same goes for exposure. That said, what matters in what you're doing is what you're doing. Thanks for sharing!

I'd imagine the chatter on the Y axis is caused by a larger tolerance for the feed handle. Maybe by fixing the quill completely and using the table feed to raise and lower the job you'll create some more rigidity. You can replace bearings until the cows come home, but that's not where the movement is coming into it

Great explanations and transparency. I really appreciate the time you took to recap what you have learned.

Great stuff. I have a Walker Turner drill press just like this, a rarity in the UK, so its great to learn about its inner workings. I will keep it as a drill through.

I have a couple of OLD Craftsman drill presses that look identical. I have toyed with the idea of turning the benchtop into a mill. Thanks for the ideas.

Great video on this, thanks for providing the original bearing specs, I do have one, the bearings are a little noisy but drills holes good enough for now. The WT line of tools changed hands bought by Delta and phased out. The odd bearings are used in their other machines also. Thanks.

Get the 20 ton air over hydraulic bottle jack from HF and put it on that press. You’ll love it, I do.

I'm sure this has been said...The standard bearings are for axial loads (they carry the spindle) not compressional loads which you require..The standard ones will work, but with a very shortened life as they only hold the spindle in a central axis.The angular ones are designed for that kind of load. The chatter will be coming from the x ,y table the quill and the screw jack. Locking off unused axis on x, y table will reduce some chatter, putting the quill as far to the top stop and locking it off will reduce the chatter. I have a MK2 Beaver mill very similar to a Bridgeport and i get chatter if i dont lock off axis I'm not using on big parts, She is old and ways are worn... Great vids, very informative and answers some of my curiosities.. Sorry if i am just repeating everyone, but i am lazy and can't be bothered to read them all..Thanks

I think this guy tends to learn the hard way quite often... but very interesting to watch so thank you Robert Adair.

That spacer you found is the "secret sauce" in this project. It is absolutely required for a long life, chatter free spindle. Bearing type is not important.

I'm glad to see that it worked out in the end 👍

Love your videos and your by far one of the best at being informative so those of us who know less than we should can copy you and act like we know more than we do😂 just being honest. You've really helped me out a lot when I've lost my patience with the same projects

I had a Trunion I needed to open up to fit a barrel into and from decades past I had a brake wheel cylinder hone that was small enough to go in and slowly polish the interior large enough to fit!

Excellent video Robert.. keep awesome content coming.. watching from Maine

Love your showing trying to build a drill press

I like your vids. You showed how projects can be one challenge after another. I don't see that in other vids.

Just throwing this out there, had you considered bushings instead of bearings? Oilite bronze wouldn't work, but there are polymers that should, PEEK (polyetheretherketone) for instance. Since you have a lathe, it would have been fairly easy to machine them. I don't know about the finish in your drill press head, but if it were smooth enough, you might even be able to give the shaft a lot more support by machining the the bushing like a flange bushing. The flange portion would have the thickness of the old bearing and the rest could be as long as you wanted. Lots of area to take up compression loads and no pre-load problems at all.

Interesting, thanks! I'll have to check out the other DP-milling-machine videos it sounds like you've done...

Great project. Please continue.

Just came across your channel. I subscribed. I think it looks like fun, keep the content comin and never mind the arm chair geniuses. Just have fun and we’ll all learn together. Thanks

There are so many possible areas that can induce chatter - without addressing ALL of them , fairly poor results is the norm ! Those X-Y tables tend to have a great deal of slop . . . I have the same one , & have spent nearly 30 hours on scraping & lapping it into a reasonably accurate piece . The lead screws are a poor fit at best - I'm replacing mine with 1/2 - 10 Acme screws, along with much better fitting 'homemade' nuts , that include delrin anti - backlash capability. With a bit of tinkering , my table will now travel 6" x 10" ! Drill press headstocks can be significantly improved by adding 'take up' screws that press onto the the quill from the outside of the housing , * one on the front , & one on the side , which excludes any quill movement . A quill LOCK is absolutely essential , to prevent any up & down motion ! Much like a bridgeport mill , a fine feed mechanism is very handy - *especially if it is made to preclude any SLOP ! When you consider the amount of backlash / freeplay of the average drill press' quill to downfeed gear , this becomes a necessary area to consider ! Good luck with your adventures ;)

Enjoying the vids, good stuff.

Great information to look for. Thank for the video.

Some of that chatter could be from the play in the quill gears because I know on my drill press there was a lot of play in the gears like back lash where you can grab the chuck and move it up and down and it's gear slop and on certain cuts with a end mill it'll leave chatter marks....and end mills only really cut in 1 direction with the work going into the direction of rotation....just like running a grinder or cutoff wheel

Whatsoever a man can conceive And believe, He can achieve.

I would have really enjoyed to see you take the spindle apart. But overall great video.

I thought that it turned out quite well especially considering his modest $$ investment. He proved it on steel and it would probably do a decent job on aluminum. We all throw our time at these projects and that time that we spend on a healthy project I consider to be an "education" whether it's a success or a fail. You used to be able to get an old Bridgeport for $1500-$2000. Them days are gone. Now $2000 is a steal and $3000 and up is the norm. A new "China" knee mill is $2500 plus tax and the wait is 5 to 17 weeks for delivery after payment. Happy home milling!

Great learning from your work. I have a drill press that looks like yours, and would like to make a mill out of it....Thanks

Thanks for the video, well done my friend.

Robert, did you check the run out on the shaft with an indicator? that would have given you some kind of indication wether the bearings were good or needed replacing and oerhaps saved some time and money?

My guess is that the cast iron bore and or the spindle shaft is oval which results in the chatter. Can put it on centers and measure the spindle. If the spindle is round then can blue the spindle and see what is rubbed off. Ways sometimes are fixed by filler plastic. Oil the spindle and apply the plastic to the bore and even put a little force to increase the gap. Slide in place and then tighten toet reduce the gap and push out excess plastic and also remove from slit in the bore. Angular contact bearing are designed to carry higher loads the roller bearing, however the drill press bearing is designed for high axial force. Stiffness should match the bearing of the casting and tube tube between the drill press and it's table. Not surprised you didn't get much of a gain.

Look on E-Bay for a book on your drill press. It will show all the parts. I just got an older Craftsman drill press and got the manual from E-Bay. It shows an exploded view of drill press. Just what you need.

I got really excited when I heard it’s a walker turner. I have an old walker turner drill press that Needs some TLC. My first “mill” was a DP220 that with an XY table. Videos look great too! Just wanted to mention that your video quality has gotten really good!

repurposed kitchen cabinets in the garage, it's a tradition....those are way better than mine from the '70s and warping overloaded

Interesting content RA...right up my alley...new sub!

But, of course, the bearing manufacturer and the grease additives you pack the bearings with are the most important thing, just like exotic capacitors are the most important thing in speakers, and vintage camera lens coatings are the most important thing in photography!

👍 surprised. I would have bet on the angular contact

Fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing your journey on this.

Very helpfull informations, Thank you GERRY G. from canada

you can still use the die method, just need an adjustable die, one with a slit in it, allows for a tighter or looser fit, also can adjust for a deeper cut.

I trust you have checked and eliminated any backlash in your cross feed table Perhaps fit a finger gauge on drill press pipe and let finger gauge just touch the vice x axis then mill and again on y axise to establish if you have backlash

* Another hot tip : use a 2 flute HSS endmill when cutting ALUMINUM - you'll likely get a better finish . . . ( a shot of WD-40 , or similar light oil / kerosene will also help ! ) Chattering is 100% due to lack of rigidity ! ! !

One issue you can't really get around is the length below the lower bearing. That's probably affecting your rigidity a great deal. There's no real way around it though. Some drill presses, such as many of the Chinese presses that size, use a Morse taper arbor. That would allow the use of a Morse taper to er32 adapter and keep your tool much closer too the lower bearing. One though is, perhaps you can find a spindle that takes a Morse taper arbor that can be adapted to work in your drill press.

Does the Quill lock? Is it a good fit in the drill head, if not, you could try electroplating it until it is a precice sliding push fit, lap it in even. Hope this is of help.

I would suggest using a High speed steel end mill, aluminum is soft and has a low melting point, Carbide does not work will on aluminum, also some cutting oil or a water base coolant, otherwise the aluminum will build up on the cutter, remember carbide is hard and does not like give, it will chip or break! Also "Leslie Gray" is right Climb milling is not recommended, one it can grab the part and pull it, and it cause chatter, also if you have any play in your ball screw or thrust bearings you will all ready know what I am talking about!

So, did you go back and cut that T-nut for the Atlas lathe? I'd like to see how it does on steel. And were the old bearings roller bearings, or ball bearings?

You are very right about each Machine being different even if they are the same exact model. The Chatter You are getting is because the Spindle Speed is to fast. For the rough cuts slow down the Spindle Speed and increase the feed rate and/or depth of cut. Use the faster Spindle Speed with a slower Feed Rate and very light Depth (.005 inches to .015 inches) when doing the finish pass.

I wonder if you could use a narrow needle pin roller bearings and increase the size of the spindle that would give you the possibility to use a drawbar with R8 collet’s

You do know, you can repack old bearing with a good hi-temp grease (Farmers Stores ie: Co-Op, TSC are the cheapest place to by grease) if there are dust caps, I use a carburetor pic to carefully pop the caps out, clean the bearing of any debre and repack install dust covers and presto you've lost your play in shafts, of course you are better to get new ones, but regular maintenance keeps e enough old bearings new again. Best of Luck, thanks for sharing I just subbed your videos interested to see new ones. Cheers from Barrie Ontario Canada L4M2Z8

Definitely need to find a setup to preload the bearings but in all honesty your probably maxed out on rigidity anyway

The fit of the quill in its housing is just as important; that the bearings didn't make a big difference suggests looking there for any rigidity gains.

Enjoyed your video. Like very much that the problems were explained. Your experience re-enforce 3 major things for this viewer: 1, spindle and quill heft of a drill press are no substitute for a mills; 2, frame column and head stock mass of a drill press are no match to a mill's; 3, and I can save a bunch of money by just buying a mill. Oh there is a 4th thing too. I would miss a lot of fun if I don't convert a drill into a light weight mill. Thanks for the entertainment.

Enjoyed your video and I subbed you.

I have the same drill press and your chatter is more likely due to the small diameter of the spindle and the amount of extension beyond the bearings. Cool idea though.

Check the difference between climb and conventional milling, the direction in which your tool path travels really really matters. you can't just zig zag and hope for the best

I think you’d be better off adding an exo skeleton style extra quill housing to add rigidity. It’s built to do vertical drilling so I think adding that extra meat would help a ton

By going through your X y table you may be able to improve rigidity quite a bit. Check out winkys workshop videos on that exact table.

Oke did you control also your crostable I think there is a big problem and for milling put the cuttinghead up and put the tablel to the endmill 👍👍

Column rigidity is what I'm thinking, but could be multiple issues compounded together.

TRY using a fly cutter with it. for larger surface area.

The angular contact bearings are directional and must be placed in the spindle correctly in order to work right under preload. I only mention this because you didn't in the vid. I have to applaud your effort here, but in the end I think you'd been better off saving and spending the money towards a larger machine. I was in the same position you're in, for years .. and I kept looking and was able to score a Lagun mill that already had nsk ballscrews for under 1000$ .More metal and bigger spindle sizes make a large difference. With the drill press you are limited by the small diameter of the spindle and the distance from your last bearing to the cutter which will cause lots of flex and chatter. If you can shorten that distance it will likely help. I would try to get more rpm out of it as well, which can help with finish. Carbide likes a certain speed and feed rate that is higher than hss cutters. Overall, nice job for working with what you got , been there before and sometimes its just plain frustrating.👍

I'm pretty sure that your camera is not making that noise. It is related to spinning so it for sure comes from your drill but if you cant hear it might be the compressor of the camera mic that pics the high noise when the sound pressure goes up.

I have a fealibg that the drill press head is "chattering" as its mounted on a pipe instead of solid bar???

I think part of the problem is work holding/vise/cross slide rigidity. Followed by bearing pre load, mwee importante

Es bastante más complicado de lo que parece, al final, si echas números, casi la compras nueva y diseñada para tal función.

All the more expensive lathes use roller bearings,, timken bearings are angler are in my atlas lathes but my Logan has roller bearings and you can even see the difference in peaces you turn and will get less chattering

Hey Bob, how would you compare what you've made here to a budget bench top Chinese mini-mill?

I think the biggest contributor to the chatter you're getting is due to the amount of spindle sticking our below the bearing, if you could reduce the length somehow and get the tooling closer to the lower bearing you'd have a much more rigid machine.

I'm interested in switching to the linear bearings. You mentioned the DOM tubing was 16 mm ID. What was the starting OD?

Pack the diameter with a bed of Bronze apply with a TIG , and machine it , it is more efficient and easier. but I dough any of this was necessary, as a spacer or trust bearing could have been simpler to implement.

How is the quill bushed in the body of the drill press? Seems like theres a ton of Stick out with that set up? that Chinese X/Y table could be tuned up and tightened up (Scraped, hand or power) I'm 54 years old, I told myself my entire life the Same things you were saying, Bridgeports cost too much, Are too heavy to move, Where will I get 3 Phase? ETC - Bought My Bridgeport in 2018, just over 4 years ago, and while I got it rough and rusty and semi-worn, theres still a TON a life left in it, I paid $1k for it, moved it with a Buddy and a Bobcat with forks and a rented Home Depot trailer, once home with a Cheapo Harbor Freight folding engine hoist and also rolled it like the Egyptians on steel galvanized 1" water pipe, and Had it running perfectly on 20A of 220v Single phase with a $115 eBay Static Phase converter- Dont kid yourself, even a worn out tired 1967 Bridgeport J-Head is better than anything you can cobble together, and Parts for Bridgeports are DIRT CHEAP, You can rebuild the entire spindle with all bearings, seals, shims, sleeves, etc for like $350 - They made the EXACT same J-head from 1938 to 2012 with no changes, so parts avail is easy and plentiful - I shoulda bought one in my 20's back in the late 80's early 90's when they were newer and not so worn, I think now with so much industry going CNC and also overseas, old 1960's, 70's & 80's Bridgeports are getting cheaper and cheaper - I'm near the Tampa FL area FAR from the rust belt of the mid west where everything was manufactured, theres places in Illinois, Ohio, Kansas City, Etc with Real, USA Heavy machinery for PENNIES on the dollar compared to what I can find here -

Use a mist coolant. Or some oil to lubricante.

Won't the angular bearing last longer under milling use?

Are the bearings originally Imperial? M grade bearings are designed for electric motors and are tighter tolerance than standard bearings.

13:50 I think you're saying the mill "prefers" conventional milling to climb milling, which would make sense.

👍

Would it have been easier and stronger to turn a new 17 mm shaft?

Was hoping to see replica of the cut on that steel part that gave you so much trouble and moved you to install angular contact bearings. Cutting some soft aluminum isn't really pushing the mill like before. No surprise we didn't see a difference between bearings.

Hello there.. This is what I like - home diy problem solving the best way you can. Of course many things might go wrong when adapting something meant for one thing to do another thing, but sometimes it's the only way to reach a solution. Here you have some basic problems: 1. the machine is not meant for side forces, therefore it has lower rigidity 2. bearings are just a part of the equation 3. the shaft is thin and subject to chatter 4. 'n most probably the most important is the length from the lower bearing to the tip of the cutter. If you want to make it more stable, shorten the collet system, which is the hardest because of repurposing. Also the direction of travel is better against the turning, as the machine is not rigid, traveling along it makes more chatter as it tries to pull also the table, which amplifies the oscillation. Don't worry, you did a nice job, it's just the nature of the thing.. I don't recommend you to use it for much steel milling or it will last very little. Aluminum, plastics and brass should be manageable for some smaller projects. Anyway, I hope to see more about it.. 😉

Yes I am interested in this research. I have long given it much consideration. So in return I'll tell you if you beef up the quill with a tight fitting spacer or machine a heavy one from scratch with the most rigid steel type you can use, the vibration will be reduced. Also a mill has very heavy columns and casings that restrict the flex between the work and the cutter. Your spindle is smaller than some drawbars. Your rack is about the size of some spindles on milling machines. The trade off can be improved by tighter gibs and better fit for traversing the workpiece. For what you're working with, your work is typical. Should you machine steel, the higher pressure required will make the job less effective or at the least introduce further vibration and flex.

I feel the length of that collet is too long thus making it weak it needs to be shorter for more rigidity. It like trying to mill with your spindle extedended downward vs lifting your work piece towards the spindle. Just something to maybe improve.

I did not like the sound of the cutter when milling, not sure if your feed rate is too fast ???

You should have chucked the sleeve in your oven for an hour on max and put the spindle in the freezer then pull them out and the would you just fallen together

I like it. But all ur money spent u could probably bought a new small mill or good used that u can cut any direction.

how about converting a drill press into a metal lathe?

The focus problem is that the camera is in auto-focus. If you can, put it in manual and set it before you start recording and the focus issues will disappear.

every milling maschine preferes to cut against the the rotation direction of the Bit... just go on circular motion when planing a surface and maybe take passes only milling in one direction and go back-move sideways and go again.

When you you say roller bearings, do you mean tapered roller bearings? Also you don't mention orientation of the angular contact bearing changes depending on preloading inner or outer race for the top bearing. Love your video, detest the insertion of any music.

a file can do wonders.

You keep saying roller bearings when you should be saying ball bearings for the OEM bearings or angular contact bearings for the ones you purchased when you are discussing those. Roller bearings can be cylindrical in shape or a tapered cylinder (cone), as in Timken Tapered Roller Bearings. Look up conventional milling vs climb milling as you were describing those operations around 13:45. The key for milling is machine rigidity. There is another YT video where he was able to tie the drill head to a fixed object and used concrete for the base. Also locking the head with the table supporting the X-Y vise or base with bars or reinforcements will help. As others have said in the comments, use high speed steel tooling for aluminum and keep the quill as far up inside the drill press head.

The drill press spindle and the entire structure is designed for axial loads and is not rigid enough to support radial loads of any consequence. Good try.

Buddy,it's called a drillpress for a reason

Your camera autofocussed onto the chips on the black background since it looks for high contrast edges to focus on. For a more professional look on RU-vid, forget autofocus and manually set a fixed focus for each shot. Just don't forget that step.

You have a lathe, why didn't you just cut the threads into it and make a nut with it? You didn't have to buy a tap and die. Also, there are a few videos here which show how to add a draw bar'ish adapter to a drill press head, to hold the chuck in place.

sometimes I wonder what your time is worth to build this...I would have just gone out and bought a mini mill for the amount of time and money you spent. Mini mills aren't expensive, run on plug power and take up less space than that Frankenstein death trap. I watch this and it's like using a socket wrench as a hammer. Yes it will work but at what cost and quality

WHY DONT YOU JUST USE SOME THIN BRASS SHIM STOCK, AND SOLDER IT ONTO THE SHAFT, (IF NECESSARY),... ...THEN DRIVE THE NEW BALL BEARINGS ONTO THOSE, AND YOU'D BE DONE.

it likes conventional milling. not uncommon with a very loose "milll". your pulling the backlash out when you climb mill and that will make an ugly finnish. if there is no visual difference than go with the bearings that are meant for radial loads.

Hi .. unfortunately your spindel doesn't support drawbar ! don't waste your time with it I had such experience with converting my drill press to mill and its not working at all Get proper machine if it's necessary Best regards

you ould have used heat and the press