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Drill Press for modelers

Hi Paul Ron, Yes that is the same drill press except that it has a 3 jaw chuck. If you will mainly use HSS drill bits that would be the chuck to use, or the ER chuck. If you intend to use the carbide drill bits, (like me), I would not get the 3 jaw chuck. I have not measured the runout, but there is none detectable by feel.
 
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the machine looks very well made, almost a work of art.

i dont understand the problems with carbide bits. ive used them professionally for many years without any problems... and thats in my delta floor drill press. ive also used them in my upower hand dental drill.

perhaps your drill press is out of alignment n not square to the work! or using the smaller sizes with too much preasure? or speeds too fast? one trick i learned in my camera repair business is when using the smaller sizes, leave as little of the bit exposed as possible to do your hole. with the bit mostly in the chuck, there is less to twist run out on you... the working end of the bit will be much stiffer. also when drilling metal, use cutting oil. carbide bits arent for drilling wood. every tool is designed for its job.
 
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paul ron said:
i found this on amazon. is this the same drill press?

Mini Drill Press, Electric High Precision Benchtop Drill Press, Portable CNC Machined Drilling Machine for DIY Woodworking Metalwork PVC Resin Jewelry Crafts, Adjustable Speed, 0.3-4mm Chuck - Amazon.com

Mini Drill Press, Electric High Precision Benchtop Drill Press, Portable CNC Machined Drilling Machine for DIY Woodworking Metalwork PVC Resin Jewelry Crafts, Adjustable Speed, 0.3-4mm Chuck - Amazon.com
www.amazon.com

and this one

is it as solid as it looks? how about the runout?
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Not a bad price to UK , £65.
 
johnv said:
For such a physically small motor there is a surprising amount of torque using a finger-thumb squeeze test while it is running. The advertisement video shows it drilling clockmakers brass wheels for re-shafting quite easily. I doubt that it would be satisfactory in ferrous metals. I will try it on polycarbonate and report later.
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I’m
 
johnv said:
Yes that's the one. With a 3 jaw chuck. If you get it, maybe you could comment on the quality of the chuck?
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G'day, John, I won't be getting it as I'm quite happy with my Proxxons, both bench-top & swivel head drill stand. The 3-jaw chuck looks to be the one that's supplied with the micro 'bead lathes' etc, of which I do have a couple, one on the tail stock of my rope walk & another on a 'bead lathe', converted to disc sander, + a 3rd spare. Having said all that, I therefore reckon that chuck to be good.

Stuart
 
If you want a high quality micro drill press check out Cameron Precision Engineering based in Sonora, Calif. their Model 214- not cheap BUT very high quality
and made in the USA!! Make sure to check their parts and accessories. Lots of options.1755640453051.png
 
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$1,600 is an average new retail price for a sensitive drill press. They are very accurate tolerance machine tools. The previous small drill presses mentioned in this thread are simply Chinese CNC "bling" that is not particularly impressive. They're cute to look at by the unpracticed eye, but they are basically toys. The Cameron press illustrated appears to be an average quality, average priced, professional model.

Not to criticize dpedersen, and recognizing that not everybody has experience with academic and technical writing conventions, but in passing I'd like to remind everyone that when talking about something that has a relevant internet link, especially new products you want to share with the readers, it is a courtesy to the readers to provide that link in the post. This permits the readers who may be interested to know more to easily jump to the source of the information, rather than having to google around looking for it on their own. Use the format: "(See: https://cameronmicrodrillpress.com/sensitive-manual-micro-drill-presses/new-cameron-214-series/)" Everybody will appreciate you for the moment it takes to cut and paste the URL. :)


 
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Bob Cleek said:
$1,600 is an average new retail price for a sensitive drill press. They are very accurate tolerance machine tools. The previous small drill presses mentioned in this thread are simply Chinese CNC "bling" that is not particularly impressive. They're cute to look at by the unpracticed eye, but they are basically toys. The Cameron press illustrated appears to be an average quality, average priced, professional model.

Not to criticize dpedersen, and recognizing that not everybody has experience with academic and technical writing conventions, but in passing I'd like to remind everyone that when talking about something that has a relevant internet link, especially new products you want to share with the readers, it is a courtesy to the readers to provide that link in the post. This permits the readers who may be interested to know more to easily jump to the source of the information, rather than having to google around looking for it on their own. Use the format: "(See: https://cameronmicrodrillpress.com/sensitive-manual-micro-drill-presses/new-cameron-214-series/)" Everybody will appreciate you for the moment it takes to cut and paste the URL. :)
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After that response I doubt that I will bother posting again on this site. I did not realise that that this hobby site required academic and technical writing conventions. (despite writing numerous professional medical papers in my previous career.)
And anyone interested in the particular quiet, small, cheap drill press would have required about 3 milliseconds to find a vendor of the particular tool. (just in passing). And BTW, the little drill press is working very nicely.
 
Steef66 said:
A lot of modellers here on SOS make beautiful parts with these cheap Chinese toys. It is a hobby not a job.
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Without a doubt, and that accomplishment isn't limited to the modelers on this forum alone. It needs also be said that many modelers do mediocre work, and worse, in spite of their owning the finest of tools. Beyond that, what's the relevance of your comment?

An inferior tool may serve to excuse mediocre work, while a fine tool leaves no question as to the cause of shoddy workmanship. The inferior tool inevitably limits the user, while the fine one creates no impediment to the user's pursuit of excellence, which, after all, is the essence of the ship modeler's craft..

It is of no moment whether one pursues any endeavor for love or for money, as a hobby or a job. If it's worth doing, it is worth doing well. Anyone who seriously aspires to be a craftsperson, regardless of their current level of expertise, strives to do the common thing uncommonly well in a continual pursuit of their "personal best." Even the first efforts of the youngest apprentice are to be valued as benchmarks for measuring their future improvement. The true craftsman is the harshest critic of their own work. The modeler who seeks to lower expectations by calling their efforts "just a hobby, not a job" fools no one but themself. Indeed, the "hobbyist" has less excuse for substandard work because the hobbyist has all the time in the world to do it right.

Most all of us are constrained by the cost of tools we might buy. However, the most expensive tools are not those with the highest retail price, but rather the tools we have to buy twice, or worse, prove useless for their intended purposes. Any craftsperson worthy of the title has an extensive knowledge of the tools of their trade and aspires to acquire the finest tools they can afford.
 
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johnv said:
After that response I doubt that I will bother posting again on this site. I did not realise that that this hobby site required academic and technical writing conventions. (despite writing numerous professional medical papers in my previous career.)
And anyone interested in the particular quiet, small, cheap drill press would have required about 3 milliseconds to find a vendor of the particular tool. (just in passing). And BTW, the little drill press is working very nicely.
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I certainly didn't expect this "hobby site" to require academic and technical writing conventions. What I was trying to gracefully encourage was only a simple courtesy.
 
@Bob Cleek
Show us your faultless work? Your current modeling project or? Oh wait on Modelshipworld.com you don't have that and here too. Just a lot of worthless advice in big font that is of no use to anyone.
 
Bob Cleek said:
Without a doubt, and that accomplishment isn't limited to the modelers on this forum alone. It needs also be said that many modelers do mediocre work, and worse, in spite of their owning the finest of tools. Beyond that, what's the relevance of your comment?

An inferior tool may serve to excuse mediocre work, while a fine tool leaves no question as to the cause of shoddy workmanship. The inferior tool inevitably limits the user, while the fine one creates no impediment to the user's pursuit of excellence, which, after all, is the essence of the ship modeler's craft..

It is of no moment whether one pursues any endeavor for love or for money, as a hobby or a job. If it's worth doing, it is worth doing well. Anyone who seriously aspires to be a craftsperson, regardless of their current level of expertise, strives to do the common thing uncommonly well in a continual pursuit of their "personal best." Even the first efforts of the youngest apprentice are to be valued as benchmarks for measuring their future improvement. The true craftsman is the harshest critic of their own work. The modeler who seeks to lower expectations by calling their efforts "just a hobby, not a job" fools no one but themself. Indeed, the "hobbyist" has less excuse for substandard work because the hobbyist has all the time in the world to do it right.

Most all of us are constrained by the cost of tools we might buy. However, the most expensive tools are not those with the highest retail price, but rather the tools we have to buy twice, or worse, prove useless for their intended purposes. Any craftsperson worthy of the title has an extensive knowledge of the tools of their trade and aspires to acquire the finest tools they can afford.
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For that reason I think it’s very useful when someone, finding an affordable tool that seems to be of good quality and works well, shares that info with the rest of us, as the OP did.

It is unfortunate that there were some rather dismissive and, IMHO, impolite comments made denigrating his find based on no more information than it didn’t appear to be expensive enough to be worthwhile. Maybe that’s not how those comments were intended, but it is how they came across.
 
Bob Cleek said:
I certainly didn't expect this "hobby site" to require academic and technical writing conventions. What I was trying to gracefully encourage was only a simple courtesy.
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just chilax.

there is always something better, but that doesnt mean you need it for what you are doing.

there are some people that like "the best of the best" but that doesnt mean you need it for what you are doing.

most of us are bargain hunters looking for the best bang for our buck. that drill press for $70 looks like a great deal. those expensive drill presses look like great machines but at that price its overkill for what we do.

i watched a russian video of a guy carving the filagree in an 1/8" strip of wood using a simple pocket knife. perhaps a set of expensive micro chisels would have been better?... absolutely not! its not the tools, its the user's skills that makes do with what he has.

ok so coffee break is over, get back to work!
 
Interesting videos bcleek. What do you make with all of your high quality drill presses other than broken drill bits??
 
C’mone guys. What’s controversial about a drill press? On the one hand, like Bob Cleek, I like working with the most capable tools that I can afford and have the space for. I personally used one of the drill stand type drill presses many years ago and as soon as I could afford it I bought a full sized stand alone machine. Until we bought our first house it occupied the second bedroom of a two bedroom apartment. It has paid for itself many times over and it’s still running.

On the other hand I understand that many have space limitations, or that building things including ship models is not a central part of their life. If these small drill portable presses work, that can be a reasonable solution. Will they still be running over fifty years later like my chunk of machined cast iron? Maybe that’s unimportant.

Cost: My drill press cost $300 at a time when a new Ford Mustang cost about $2000. A new quality full sized drill press today made by one of the half dozen manufacturers sells for over $1000. For someone with the means who considers ship modeling to be more than just a hobby, maybe the $1600 Cameron machine is not over priced.

Ideally, each of us would buy the tools that allow us to achieve the results that we consider acceptable. Unless we sell models professionally we don’t have to satisfy anyone else.

To each, his own!

Roger
 
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