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The Folding Knife (& Switchblade) Forum The materials, techniques and the designing of folding knives.

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Old 04-28-2004, 07:47 AM
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rhrocker rhrocker is offline
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Drill press for folders

I'm needing a nice dedicated drill press for making my folders. I have two old presses in my shop, both worn out, but ok for woodwork and heavy metal stuff. Now I'm shopping for a "folders only" press, maybe even a bench model, to use with my wire bits on up to about 1/4".
I've talked to Ray about this, and got the info on the Grizzly he uses. It looks good on the Griz web site.
Thought I'd see what everyone else uses and suggests also. Maybe I'm also looking for what not to buy. The budget is around $300-$400, and hopefully that will buy what I need.


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Old 04-28-2004, 08:29 AM
txwoodchip txwoodchip is offline
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I currently have 3 drill presses that I use when making folders. Two of them are the inexpensive ($40 on sale) harbor freight models and I have a larger craftsman floor model as well. The cheap benchtops are nice for the straight drilling operations because you can set them up with different bits and save a little time by not having to change bits every time you turn around. The drawback to them is that they don't have good stops for those operations where you need to control depth. For that I use the floor model. So, I'd say you should get one really good floor model that has good depth setting control and with the leftover money buy a few of the cheapies. Hope this is helpful.


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Old 04-28-2004, 08:42 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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You already know what I have to say about the press so I won't repeat it here but as for what not to buy I'd have to say a $400 press is more than is necessary. I doubt that it would do any harm to spend $400 on a press (except to your bank account) but it probably won't offer much of an advantage for our work either.

As for wire size drills, I have a 5/8ths chuck in my drill press and it handles the tiniest wire bits just fine. You need a good solid machine that is large enough to handle the accessories (like a cross sliding vise) that you will need to put on it. After that, it's more about the skills of the man using the machine than about any characteristic of the machine itself....


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Old 04-28-2004, 09:06 AM
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Yeha I'll have to agree that having more presses dedicated to different sizes of drills you commonly use is perhaps the biggest timesaver of all. AS far as a good drill press for $400, there is no such thing. Everything available at that price is a cheap import, most likely with a famous brand-name on it - like Delta, Wilton, or whatever. You won't find any quality presses until you get over $1300 or so (Clausing). Save your money and get 2 or three smaller presses. buy some cheap keyless chucks (pssst...ENCO), and have fun.


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Old 04-28-2004, 03:09 PM
Frank Niro Frank Niro is offline
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That fellow from Tham knives much have looked into my work shop. His set up is almost the same as mine.I have three $50 jobs and a more expensive but likewise imported one. They work great for folder making. I most always use 0x80 screws for my folders so I have one press with a no. 55 bit for threads, one with a 1/16" for clearance, and a 5/32 for the screw heads. The other press covers other drilling and taping jobs. Frank.


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Old 04-28-2004, 06:11 PM
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Thanks guys. I went to San Antonio today and looked around. Didn't like what HF had particulary (may have just been this particular store), hated the Delta that Lowes had (poor cast iron work), and really liked the $179.00 16" bench model that Sears had. I usually don't buy much from Sears, but I'm thinking seriously about that one. The Griz is a contender also, about the same price. I love Franks set-up! That's what I do with woodworking routers. I have those things all over the shop, with a lot of them dedicated to one specific job. Some of the bits have been in them for several years.
I'll do you guys the courtesy of letting you know what I end up with, and again, as always, I appreciate the advise.


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Old 05-05-2004, 01:06 PM
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Here's a little update to this post. I picked up a Sears bench model press, about $180 or so. I liked it because it's taller than other bench models I had seen, and also has a crank up/down table. With it I can stand at my bench with the table about shoulder heigth, so I see good without having to bend over. I'm happy with the accuracy (visually, I haven't actually measured the run-out yet, but can't detect any) and added a Rohn chuck that's on sale from Enco (Ala Dennis Greenbaum, thanks Dennis). I also got several combo drills from MSC, plus quite a few cobalts of the sizes I use the most.

Want to thank you guys again for the help!


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Old 05-06-2004, 06:50 PM
Johnny Stout Johnny Stout is offline
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Robert, the next best thing you can do in your shop is to convert your drill press to variable speed. It will save you lots of time in changing speeds, drilling titanium slow, wood fast, etc., etc.

The best thing you can do is convert your grinder to variable speed if you haven't already.


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Old 05-06-2004, 08:23 PM
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Hi Johnny. My KMG is variable speed, but the drill press is variable by belt/pully ratio. It's not hard to change though. Good to hear fom you!


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