Laser guides for drill presses

[mywebaccts (at) PLUGcomcast.ne]

I noticed that some drill presses come equipped with laser guides. Is this something that you can buy as an attachment to most drill presses?

Jack

[Leon]

"mywebaccts (at) PLUGcomcast.net" wrote in message news:epudnZ2dnZ2 [e-mail]...

No. Seems to me the bit points right where it is going to hit.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

"mywebaccts (at) PLUGcomcast.net" wrote in message news:epudnZ2dnZ2 [e-mail]...

I don't know. My DP has a solid metal pointing device. It has proven to be very accurate and is dead nuts right every time. Another benefit is the auto compensation for the varying length of the bits.

[David]

don't waste your money. bring the bit down to the work and you'll know where it's gonna drill...

Dave

[Jay Pique]

Yes. Craftsman makes one. It's item number 24042 at Sears.com.

JP

************* Just the fax, ma'am.

[john]

Most of those are inherently a waste of money unless you ALWAYS use the exact same length of drill bit in all the bits you have/use. If the length differs, then you gotta re-adjust/re-calibrate the laser

There ARE laser alinement devices for around $60 that chuck into the drill press and give you fairly accurate indication of where on the workpiece the drill will go, but those need to be chucked up every time you want to drill a hole, and then once aligned you unchuck the laster and chuck up the drill bit. Not real convenient nor will it speed up your drilling, BUT it WILL increase the accuracy of the drilling

John

[Jay Pique]

I believe that a drill press laser guide could be quite cost effective in certain situations/applications. I've never used one, so I don't know how difficult it is to recalibrate. (Also, unless you bottom out your bits you might want to readjust the laser each time you put a bit in the chuck.

Wow. I can't imagine many situations where that would be of use in a woodworking shop. Perhaps for large forstner bits?

JP

[mac davis]

I've only seen one laser pointer on a DP, and it was kind of clever.... I expected a red dot where the hole would be drilled.. like "gee, I wonder where the bit will hit the wood"... What it actually did was throw out 2 lines at 90 degrees, like one of those laser picture hangers, so you could line up with other holes, I guess.. Since I own 2 modern tools, a pencil and straight edge, I haven't run out and bought a laser for the DP..

mac

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[mywebaccts (at) PLUGcomcast.ne]

Well, I know that it's a fairly redundant and unnecessary thing to have, but I figured that if I were doing a lot of drilling, it might make things just a 'bit' easier to not have to lower the drill down each time to line it up. Given the amused responses, it sounds like it's not worth the money. Of course, I can always retrofit a guide on later if I decide it would help.

Thanks!

David wrote:

[Daniel H]

Do these laser things project from one point or two?

If I were designing a laser marker I'd project two lines from two points behind the bit, one on each side, to intersect in a line - that would mark the correct spot regardless of table height or bit length.

[Daniel H]

oops: project two planes from two points behind the bit, to intersect in a line at the spindle axle

or draw two lines to intersect at an X on the workpiece

[G.E.R.R.Y.]

But that's how you find an OLD man in the dark, just feel around, it won't be hard.

Gerry

[John Martin]

With most drill presses I've seen, you not only lower the bit each time to line it up, but you then lower the bit further each time to drill the hole. Pretty hard to drill the hole without lowering the bit, unless maybe you're holding the wood in your hands and raising it up to the drill. But maybe I'm missing something.

John Martin

[Dan Major]

HA! Puny Wood dorkers! My LASER has a DRILL PRESS attached!! ZOW!

'Zippy the 'dorker'

[woodworker88]

It might be very useful if you do nearly all your drilling with bits that don't have a center spur to guide the location of the hole. I find that when I use a hole saw, it is very difficult to determine the exact location, even with a pilot bit, mainly b/c the bit is under the hole saw.

[Upscale]

When I'm drilling with a holesaw, I lower the bit until it barely indents the wood. Then I raise it up to see how it's lined up. Depending on that information you readjust or don't. I can't for the life of me see where the few seconds required to do this type of alignment justifies the frivolous cost of a laser pointer.

I guess if you've got the money, then hey, it's your money. But me, I'd just as soon invest it in something more important, like beer. :)

[Jerry S.]

My drill press table can move side to side -- it doesn't move on a geared track. The laser would be handy to line up the table when I'm moving it (unless I'm missing an easier way).

[mac davis]

sure... use a sharpie to mark an X or "bulls eye on the table and line up the bit to the mark..

My table (shopsmith) moves front-to-back and has an insert in the middle for drilling/routing.. pretty easy to line THAT up.. lol

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Good point, but will it still work with a large diameter hole saw mounted?

[Dave Mundt]

Seems like a cute gadget to me...but not all that useful unless one is doing production, and in THAT case, there should be jigs to do the work. Actually, I don't want one until I can line up the spot, then, punch a button and have a neat hole vaporized in the material. Regards Dave Mundt