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Old 12-29-2003, 12:42 PM
Jeff Higgins's Avatar
Jeff Higgins Jeff Higgins is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 595
There's no such thing as a precision hole from a drill press unless you spend some huge money. Chances are, if you are going through all the right moves, like center-punching, and using a center-drill, then a stub-drill, then perhaps a jobbers-length drill, you MIGHT get a fair representation of a round hole. If all you are doing is centerpunching then poking in a hole with a jobber's bit, you are most likely just making a semi-round hole in the material due to the natural wobble a jobbers drill has.

T.I.R. isn't as big a deal in drill presses as it is trying to hold close tolerances in milling. Most folder makers I know, myself included, work off of cheapo drill presses. You'll want to be drilling undersize, then reaming to size anyway for a precision fit.

What I do is buy a drill press of reasonable quality (try to find one) and replace the chuck with a precision keyless chuck. Unless you want to spend lots of money for a used Rockwell or a Clausing, this is almost as good as it gets. Reamers are our friends!


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