Build a professional quality drill press! It’s a beauty! As author Dave Gingery describes it: “I can’t believe the capability of this machine. I put a 5/8” bit in the chuck, and it drilled through a 1/4” steel channel without a pilot holes. My wife said it looked like it was cutting cheese instead of steel. Note the double reduction that gives a low speed of 260 rpm. That’s why it can drill large holes in steel. I’m certain it can drill a 3/4” hole, and it may be capable of drilling up to an inch in steel. I don’t have a larger bit to test. All of the small drill presses that I’ve seen have a low speed of around 700 rpm. That means they only have a capacity of 3/8” in steel, even if they do have 1/2” chuck. The spindle is mounted in ball bearings, and so is the countershaft for the double reduction. The driven pulley is mounted on a hollow shaft, supported buy its own 1” ball bearings to run concentric with the spindle. No belt tension is transferred to the spindle. The quill feed is 2-1/2” and it can be made longer. The quill is advanced by a unique cable winch mechanism. This is only a 1/16” cable, though it had ample strength to feed the 5/8” bit to produce a closely curled chip. It has provisions to adjust tension and backlash, which is very important for sensitive drilling with small bits at high speed. The machine in the manual is a 12.” It can easily be scaled down about a third or smaller, and it can be scaled up to a hefty floor model with ease. None of the castings used the full one quart charcoal foundry capacity, and all of them were machined on the homemade lathe. Only the spline on the spindle was done on the miller. Sure, you can buy a drill press. But you’ll pay an arm and a leg for one that can match this performance, and this way you’ll have bragging rights on a terrific piece of equipment. Nothing matches the satisfaction of creating something like this on your own. Get your copy today and get started right away!

128 pages, 175 illustrations. Paperback