I have been wondering if there are end mills made to fit a regular drill press and where they may be found.

Thanks,
Mike K

Mike -most of the end mills used in knifemaking operations have 3/8" straight shanks, and will fit in the chuck of a standard drill press.

HOWEVER- drill presses have bearings designed to absorb thrust loads (a straight downward push) rather than the radial (sidways) loads that a milling machine will see. So... even if you have an X-Y axis milling vise for your drill press, there will be some serious limitations to what you can do, both in terms of holding tolerances, and wear on the machine.

Exactly right Don,They will cause serious wear on a drill press and I wouldn't recommend someone to do so.But I have two drill presses and I was going to dedicate one for such tasks.

At the present time I use a tiny drill bit and a jewlery's saw to remove the bulk of material(brass only) and micro files to open to the size needed.Drilling the area out with a regular bit seems to be pretty rough on the drill press as is(the bits catch on the material left and try to jump around and break), so I was hoping the end mills may be be better for the job.

Mike K

Enco has end mills that will fit a drill press. However I have tried to use them in a drill press and they will not work. End mills jump worse than drill bits.

Mike, having said what I did about the suitability of the drill press for milling, I will add that I used mine with an end mill years ago to mill out a recess in the pommel of a stick tang knife for the nut that threads to the tang.

Functionally, it worked, but it looked pretty rough. I put the piece of brass to be milled in a drill press vise, and slid it around on the table under the end mill, which I kept lowering in small increments, locking the quill in place with each drop in height. I can't recommend it from the standpoint of winding up with any sort of "quality" work.

Thanks you for the input and suggestions.Looks like I will stick with what I have for now.

Mike K

This may sound dry but if you have a lathe you can mill till your hearts content.
if not the trick is to hold the work solid.

Alan.

I have to say somthing ,part of what is said is wright,you to have to watch side flex in a drill but there is a way to mill with a drill
with some mods on it,I have one and I can cut with a 4 flute 3/8 with no tool flex.
I have a bench top model,I made a dail for moveing the
quill up and done to stop were you want and it is brock down to thousands,that sets on top of the pullie.I first poured cement in the tub body and I made sure the body and motor were on true,I then puth the chuck in and trued it up I have it running close 3 thousand out,I then took the spring of the drill
and had made a handle were the spring was so I can turn the press on and kiss the work and lock the arm down like
a real mill,I can makes cuts that any mill can,I know the limits of the mill/drill but is is possible to do any one
interested in pictures of it,I will glady email you some to
make
it a little clearer.
email is house-house@mindspring.com

For what it is worth, an 1/8" carbide rotory file that fits in a dremel tool will do small mill type work too.
I often use that instead of the mill over in the corner because it is so quick and easy to slot guards by hand.