More Fun Things To With Your Drill Press

[AudiVWguy]

Hi,
My name is Jeff and I haven't worked on my diesel in 16 days. (sorry about the AA reference )
Overwhelmed by the desire to touch my volkswagen, I decided it was time to play with it's shifter bushings. Particularly the ones that are between the bottom part of the shift lever and the rod that runs underneath to connect with the linkage on the tranny. Removing the rubber boot cover underneath the car, I find the bushings, and they are indeed sloppy. I have this piece of delrin laying around, and thought, what the hell, I haven't seen the cute girl at the emergency room lately, let's see if I can make a couple of these.
Using a hole saw to get the rough size, then I found a drill bit that's a few thousands smaller than the bolt/shaft for a nice tight fit. Chucked it into the drill, then made a rest to hold the wood chisel steady, and I was ready to take off material. With a very sharp chisel this process works really well, great control can be had by mounting the rest as close to the spinning material as possible. Checking with a digital caliper at the final cutting gives you a perfect fit. Just sneak up on it till you get what you want. I left a larger shoulder on the ones I made so that there would be less flex. Lube and reassemble and your done. No emergency room this time--oh well.
Cheers,
--JB

[R.O.R-2.0]

jealous i didnt think of this!!

[theman53]

That is how I do things too. Sometimes when I don't have access to drill press I have done the same with a battery drill, some welding clamps, and 2x4.

[Toby]

Considering that you can get a darn fine drill press off of the CL for $100 or less, it surprises me that every car guy does not have one. I have bought several in the past few years and now have a Dayton 20" with a 1 hp motor and all the bells and whistles. I paid $150 for it and I have bought serviceable, but dirty, floor standing Delta and Craftsman 14 inchers for as little as $20.

[745 turbogreasel]

I bet my Craftsman would stop  before it got halfway through the Hole sawing

[Powjetta]

Good idea, and I have been wanting to buy a drill press.  I will check CL tomorrow.

[Toby]

Shun all imports, especially chinese crap. There are plenty of good used American made stuff out there to bother with Asian crap. Look for lots of cast iron and older Delta, Craftsman, Rockwell, Buffalo, and the like. Actually some older Taiwanese stuff can be OK, but do not confuse Taiwanes with chinese.

[745 turbogreasel]

On the highest torque setting, I can stop my Craftsman with one hand by grabbing the chuck.
At least I know it can't hurt me.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Shun all imports, especially chinese crap. There are plenty of good used American made stuff out there to bother with Asian crap. Look for lots of cast iron and older Delta, Craftsman, Rockwell, Buffalo, and the like. Actually some older Taiwanese stuff can be OK, but do not confuse Taiwanes with chinese.

lots of people use chinese junk without issue...

you are the only person on the board that has such negative things to say about things made overseas..

[libbydiesel]

Thanks for that.

[AudiVWguy]

Yeah, I guess I watched too many McGuyver episodes 

[Toby]

Shun all imports, especially chinese crap. There are plenty of good used American made stuff out there to bother with Asian crap. Look for lots of cast iron and older Delta, Craftsman, Rockwell, Buffalo, and the like. Actually some older Taiwanese stuff can be OK, but do not confuse Taiwanes with chinese.

lots of people use chinese junk without issue...

you are the only person on the board that has such negative things to say about things made overseas..

That because I have used it and know it to be junk. I own GOOD tools. Anyone who does can tell the difference between chinese crap and decent tools. I should have said "Shun all chinese tools". Most European stuff is good, a lot of it is world class. Taiwanese stuff is vastly better built these days that the *mod edit- Chinese* stuff. Older Taiwanese stuff can be as bad as the * mod edit Chinese stuff*, so if you do not know how to tell good from bad avoid it as well. There is so much good old American iron around that it should be your first choice, if possible.

I have purchased chinese stuff and probably will continue to in the future, but I always look on them not as a tool, but as a collection of parts to build a poor tool out of. Most of the stuff absolutely will not function as delivered. I bought a HF copy of a Baldor carbide grinder, mostly because I can't afford a Baldor, even a used one. I spent 8 hours just trying to get one side of it to function well enough to use. The tables are not square and can't be made so without a considerable amount of rework. The pivot on one side had a different centerline from one side to the other side of the table and the radius of the slot on the trunion did not match the radius that the table moved in. I have the time and expertise to try and salvage this stuff. The typical buyer would not and be stuck with a tool that will not work as required.

[trav1856]

sad thing is, I have a 7x10 metal lathe that I haven't learned how to use yet. I bought it 10 years ago for $200 with the intention of making paintball parts, and I just haven't really had time.