OK, I finally have a nice big drill press from Grizzly, but now I need a good way to secure the things I'm drilling to the table. The Grizzly catalog features several clamps but I have no idea what would work best. Any suggestions?
Which drillpress did you buy? Here's an opportunity to gloat.
Looking in the Grizzly catalog and commenting...I have a vise similar to the ShopFox angle vise. Have had it for years, but never used the angle feature. I usually just tilt the table. I'd just buy the vise with the largest jaws/opening I can afford. Those cross-sliding vises look nice. Feeling generous?
Have fun ! Joe kb8qlr
Make a table for it w/ T-Tracks - then get the hold downs.
What works best depends on what you are drilling. I have a vice and used it once. Most things I put next to a fence or stop and just hold it in place.
A fence works well if you are drilling a series of holes in a long pieces. A fence and stop works well if you want a hold in a specific place in multiple pieces. If it is just one hold, 99% of the time you can just hold it while drilling. You can make or buy a nice setup from Rocker that is ideal for woodworking on a drill press. Ed
On 08 Jan 2004 15:37:15 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@aol.comAntiSpam (Ksu93dlv) scribbled:
I use this:
Luigi Replace "no" with "yk" for real email address
There are specialty clamps designed just for a drill press table. I have two, each a different size. They work like vise grips, and work well for some objects. Drill press tables have those slanted ribs underneath that make it difficult to use regular clamps. Harbor Frieght may have them, certainly Rockler.
Check out the "drill press vise" at MSC, pages 1510-1512,
Ksu93dlv wrote:
True, but bad newbie advice. :)
Rule #1: never ever hand hold anything while drilling. Always use a vise, clamp, fence, super glue, duct tape or a ball of rubber bands to secure all work to the table.
As an extreme example of what can happen when you disregard this rule, I was drilling a 1/2" diameter hole through the "thin" part of a 65-pound piece of railroad track (see trebuchet pictures on my web site). When the bit broke through the bottom, it grabbed, picked up the track, and WHAM! Realllly smoked the belts on that one. Glad my hand wasn't in the way.
Anyway, as far as my take on answering the OP's question... There are many ways to hold work, and it all depends on what you want to do. In addition to the options already mentioned, I'll point out my personal favorite.
My most frequently-used vise is my Grizzly X-Y cross-sliding model. That thing is really handy, since I can make minute adjustments to the position of the work relative to the bit without having to dick around with the bolts holding it to the table. This thing stays on my table most of the time, and I have a block of scrap I clamp into it as a sort of mini table for all the times I blatantly disregard Rule #1 and hand hold the work.
Depends on what and how you're drilling. For some stuff I use a regular drill press vise. For other jobs I use one of those vise grip type of clamps that bolts down to the table. I also make a lot of use of c-clamps and the occasional bar clamp. I've also used double-faced tape and just my fingers not to mention special clamping jigs.
I also just bought a set of t-bars and clamps from Rockler to add to a drill press table t>OK, I finally have a nice big drill press from Grizzly, but now I need a good
After I got my drill press, I started out just using F clamps to get warmed up. Then I bought a cheap vice that seems to be quite useful and a lot quicker than F clamps. It was cheap and handled many things and its heavy cast iron. I know I'll have a fancy drill press table someday but in the meantime $15 is not a bad way to help out. I bought one like this at Lowe's made by Columbian.
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