automatic drill press

[Bert]

Hi from the new guy!

I've been lurking out here reading posts for awhile and managed to find answers to alot of my questions without posting.

This isnt really a dire need, just a wish I guess.

Does anyone know of cheap solution for an automatic drill press. I have an order for 18" hardwood 2x8's with a 1 3/4" hole right in the middle.

Drilling by hand wears out the arm after a couple hundred manual pulls through.

Ever heard of such a thing? for a working mans income I mean.

By the way, thanks for all the help in the past. (even though you might not know it!)

[Chuck White]

Welcome, Bert.

Where do you intend drilling the holes, through the 2", 8" or 18" part.

Probably a good drill press or even a lathe with a jig for alignment purposes would be the easiest solution.

[dovetails]

Does anyone know of cheap solution for an automatic drill press. I have an order for 18" hardwood 2x8's with a 1 3/4" hole right in the middle.

Drilling by hand wears out the arm after a couple hundred manual pulls through.

Ever heard of such a thing? for a working mans income I mean.

 Back years ago, my dad did machine work that took a lot of hole drilling in the pieces he was making. He set up a pulley system so he could raise and lower the drill press quill with his foot. Just sat on a stool,and pushed on the pedal.Turned out thousands of parts that way.He also had 3 presses set up side by side all tied together, so drilled 3 holes at a time.Made real good money on piece work!

[AndyC]

I think I know exactly what you're looking for - maybe.  I'll take a picture of one of two my Dad has that auto indexes the bit down depending on the speed of the spindle - it's all mechanism and no electronics.  Once it bores to the correct depth you move one little arm and it backs itself out.  It's as old school as it gets but works better than most modern presses.  Will send pics tonight. 

[Larry]

As an option some older Delta drill presses had a foot pedal for the feed.  Not for sure if it was Delta or aftermarket thing.  Several folks on the OWWM forum have them.  I sold one a while back for not much money.

Sitting in the corner of my shop is a press that slides on linear bearings and uses an air cylinder for feed.  It’s really fast.  It uses an Baldor 1 1/2 hp motor with a chuck on the arbor shaft.  All shop constructed but I suppose a fellow could duplicate it fairly easy.

[AndyC]

This is really old like I said but would work to eliminate physical pulls on the press.  Would need a new motor to drive a 1.75" cutter but is a cool old press.  Basically once it gets to the depth you need - pull the small bird beak lever up and spin it back up - takes literally 5 seconds to reverse it.  It's mounted on a 5 ft. tall I-Beam stand-alone and REALLY heavy - probably 300 lbs.  The big thing is what type of bit and thickness you're boring cause most will get aweful hot using if used for long periods.  I used it to test tonight and it's pretty fun to use - automation the old way.  Anyway - off topic for a sawmill forum but hope people appreciate old woodworking equipment. 
 
 



 

[weisyboy]

we had to make excavator pontoons.  used to put on soft swamp to allow excavators to dig drainage.

tehy were 4 - 8 x 3s bolted together every 2' with 1 1/2" booker rod.

all the holes in the beams had to match exactly or the bolts would line up.

we set up a set of rollers, with a rolling trolley in the center, a chainsaw with an atom borer was mounted on the table, the beams were slid along the rollers, a pin put in the last hole borred and the drill/chainsaw saw slid accross threw the beams.

the pntoons were 6m long and we had to make 20 of them.

[bandmiller2]

Bert,is this job a one shot deal or continueing and how many do you need to drill??It may not be worth a fancy setup.Run off smaller batches so you don't get tired.If you don't already put some stops on the table to locate the hole.With an automatic borer you will need an automatic clamp and feed job may not warrent it. Frank C.

[Bert]

Thanks for the replies. I need to drill through the 2" way. Andy- I appreciate the photos. I get the idea of how that works. Would be something to see in action. What i had in mind was chuck being camshaft operated and would cycle the bit in and out say every 10 seconds. clamping the pieces isnt really an issue. have had no problems. The is is steady order so a permanent solution is in order. I sawed over 1000 pcs yesterday and now need to drill... again.

[Hilltop366]

Perhaps you could set up your drill press feed with two pulleys or a (friction drive) and a tensioner and a gear reduction motor, if the motor was variable speed it would help to get the proper feed speed and when you release the tensioner leaver the return spring on the drill press would retract the bit.

With a bit of tweaking with leaver length and pivot point it should be possible to get it so just the weight of your arm would be enough to make it run. 

[paul case]

i think i see the problem is your arm is wearing out from operating the circular handle or wheel on the drill that makes it go down.
if that is the case you can fix a foot pedal to operate it real easy and cheap. to do this the up return on the head needs to work on its own. maybe a pulley /rope and weight would fix that if it dont return real quick. for the pedal system take a rope and tie the end around the lever handle on the drill press and then wrap it around the shaft at least 2 rounds and let the end go to the floor and attach it to a short board for a pedal. you may have to run it to a pulley to miss your table set up. just a cheap redneck fix, but a pedal might make your constant arm wear out problem go away.  pc

[captain_crunch]

Be careful around that Military Drill Press they have no mercy Drill bit hangs up and all them gears act as a flywheel and lots of torque We had one here on farm and Dad said to stay away from it. But that was kinda like waveing red flag at fighting bull so you know how come I about em

[red oaks lumber]

find an old metal lathe, you can use the ways as your referance point and clamping to ,using the tail stock with your drill bit  instead of the turn handle put a large nut that you can hook a drill to for power going in and out.

[Larry]

A pneumatic press.  This one was used to bore inch and 1 1/4" holes by the thousands.  Foot pedal operates the feed and the hand lever to the right operates the clamp on the left.  I’ve seen one that had a third control for automatic part feed.  I think it might be the ultimate in speed and ease.

Amish use hydraulic cylinders just because it is already at there machines.

For a cheap fix use a reversible gear motor and a drum switch.  Link it direct or chain/sprokets to the press hand wheel feed shaft.  Buy the HF 12V $50 winch and you could even go wireless with the control.  You could whip up something like that in an afternoon.

[Bert]

Larry, that is exactly what i was looking for. My setup is similar only horizontal instead of vertical. Only thing is it has a handle to bull the board into drill, instead of the drill moving into the wood. A  pneumatic cylinder is a great idea. I gave thought to hydraulic, but too many add ons. Pneumatics would eliminate and additional motor, pump assembly.