Need suggestions for drill press vice

Mine in my wood shop is from Harbor Freight as well. It's OK for small work. I also use wooden 2 screw clamps for this.

In the metal and welding shop, which is now at my son's house across town, we have several larger drill press vises, including one that adjusts for angle drilling. They were picked up at a machine shop auction many years ago. I combined my metal working tools with his and all are now at his place. I just go there whenever I want to do any serious metal work now.

Charley

Any size suggestions? I see 3, 4,5, and 6-inch models. My table is 12". Are any quick attaching or are through-the-table bolts/ or clamps the best method?

Thanks.
Steve

A cross slide vise can be very handy. It allows for fine tuning where the bit will enter. Any that won't break the bank are Chinese and have a fair amount of play but some of that can be taken out by tightening the vise onto the dove tail slide more securely. There is a balance between eliminating backlash and how much effort it takes to move the jaws. They will have limited capacity. I had to attach mine to a board and then attach the board to the DP table. https://www.amazon.ca/WEN-414CV-Com...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B077QMBVTB

Another option is a cross slide table: https://www.amazon.ca/Milling-Porta...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07CZCT7TT It offers much more capacity and still offers fine tuning where the bit will touch down. The T slot table allows a lot of clamping options and you can buy hold down sets made for the table: https://www.amazon.com/HFS-Brand-CL...320780&sr=8-1&keywords=Milling+Machine+Clamps These are really made for metal but they will work for wood too.

Thanks for the info. I'm torn between going for a cheap one for the short term or splurging on an expensive one. Perhaps a old-style craftsman machinist will die close by the neighborhood and I can buy all his old "stuff' for a couple of hundred bucks as a favor to his widow.

Steve

I did cheap...
total waste of money...

I can loosen the bolts and slide front to back. I can then turn the table and center a blank or anything else under the bit or pen mill. Not a real problem. I rarely remove it as I turn a bunch of pens.

GO Harbor Freight !!

I have one of th 4 way Chuck showed on one DP, and a slide table like Chuck showed on a second one and a wood table and wooden fence on the woodworking DP.
I use them all a lot.

HErb

sgcz75b said:

Any size suggestions? I see 3, 4,5, and 6-inch models. My table is 12". Are any quick attaching or are through-the-table bolts/ or clamps the best method?

Thanks.
Steve

Click to expand...

Clamping it down so it won't move is only one issue. You have to be able to get the spot you want to drill in the right position. So if the table or vise don't have positioning built in then I would suggest that you mount it on a board so that you can move it to where you need it and then clamp to the DP table somehow.

I went with the 2 axis and never regretted it. Bolt it down and can make adjustments in either direction without having to fuss around. Mine is a bit larger and I don't remember where I bought it but it was around $120 back about 5-7 years ago. I'd rather have a milling machine but considering the cost difference....this works for my needs. For those rare time I need a milling machine a doctor friend of my and fellow amateur astronomer has one I can use 40 minutes away.

Now what really bothers me about my 1964 Clausing 1688 15" drill press is the lack of a geared crank for raising/lowering that beast. 20 years ago it wasn't a problem..........

Interesting it doesn't have the rack strip at the column and a pinion drive on the collar like most do Steve. You could build a plywood box (column) to put under it and sit an automotive scissor jack under it on the box.

Steve,

My son had a Craftsman with a table that was difficult to lift and lock in place because it had no geared crank. We put a pulley on the top of the column and a steel cable between the back end of the table, up over the pulley and down inside the column to a cylindrical piece of steel that fit inside the column. It took most of the table weight away, making the positioning and locking of the table much easier, but still no crank. Just a suggestion to consider.

Charley

Thanks for all the suggestions.

For now, I think I'll use an inexpensive vice mounted on 3/4 plywood, 2 Magswitches, and a couple of C-clamps for additional support when needed.

I use Magswitches for my drill press fence in 3/4 plywood and they are fantastic. Might as well get double use out of them.

Thanks again and I'm always open to other advice.
Steve