Pianotech

  • 1.  Drill Press Recommendations

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-07-2020 09:53
    I'm replacing my 35-y-o Sears floor drill press, and wondering what to get. It will be drilling blocks, so run-out is critical. (BTW, I just checked the run-out on my $125 Ryobi hobby drill press, and it was down to 1 mil. So, in the current market, maybe run-out is one thing these makers do get right.)

    I do require a good depth stop AND a quill lock (to set the chuck at a desired height off the table). I don't need a floor model, bit if the column matched the Sears' 2.75" diameter, it would be a floor model (plus fit my current block-drilling set-up).

    TIA

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    William Ballard RPT
    WBPS
    Saxtons River VT
    802-869-9107

    "Our lives contain a thousand springs
    and dies if one be gone
    Strange that a harp of a thousand strings
    should keep in tune so long."
    ...........Dr. Watts, "The Continental Harmony,1774
    +++++++++++++++++++++
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Drill Press Recommendations

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-08-2020 10:31
    Woodcraft.com has all Powermatic machinery 10% off and free freight now.  Best deal I've seen in awhile.  Considering this one myself:








  • 3.  RE: Drill Press Recommendations

    Posted 02-08-2020 10:44
    A used Bridgeport, if you have the space, is actually less expensive than these new consumer level drill presses. I got mine for $1200 including delivery, from one of the multitude of machine shops who, now that CNC proliferates, no longer have a need for a shop floor full of Bridgeports. They are basically sold by the pound.   Even a well used 1960's Bridgeport exceeds the quill slop and poor tolerances I find all these consumer grade machines exhibit, by an order of magnitude. Just a contrarian thought. Should you have the floor space for one of these, you would quickly learn how versatile and accurate they are. They would change how you think about your work.

    I only use my drill presses, these days, for spinning polishing bonnets and the like, or for when I really don't care whether the drill bit actually enters the stock where I want it to, or whether it follows a straight path through the plunge...just a thought.

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    Jim Ialeggio
    grandpianosolutions.com
    Shirley, MA
    978 425-9026
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  • 4.  RE: Drill Press Recommendations

    Posted 02-08-2020 16:41
    I use a mill/drill for drilling my pinblocks. The combination of mass and accuracy is worth it.  https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-8-x-29-2-HP-Mill-Drill-with-Stand-and-Powerfeed/G0760   

    There are many uses of this tool in the piano trade. I can make almost any tool, jig or part i can dream up with it.  

    Jim mentioned briefly about drill bit drift problems. This is a combination of an improperly sharpened drill bit and or bad drilling technique.  Sharpening a drill bit by hand is not too hard and is a skill worth practicing.   When you drill correctly you should be able to drill pinblocks accurately with no clamps, no uplift, no smoke, and all tuning pins with the same feel.  I have been using the same drill bit for 8 years now.

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    If it's pinging, it's not singing, it's just ringing,
    chernobieffpiano.com
    grandpianoman@protonmail.com
    Knoxville, TN
    865-986-7720
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  • 5.  RE: Drill Press Recommendations

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-08-2020 18:54
    Chris, you should teach a class just on sharpening tools, more so drill bits.  I think that's a skill that has helped me a ton.  But I've never sharpened a drill bit... 





  • 6.  RE: Drill Press Recommendations

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-08-2020 22:18
      |   view attached
    Thanks all, for your suggestion. I'm thinking its going to be this Enco https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/32752461
    Chris, your Grizzly is well out of my price range, as is Mateo's Powermatic. (When I got down to a Grizzly bench model, the reviewers were constantly complaining about run-out.) Also I have a small shop (19'x24') and am constantly shuffling my stationary tools around, depending on which one I'm using. The small shop would also rule our Jim's bridgeport, which I'd love to play with.

    But in the end, the clincher is that the Enco matches the column diameter of my dearly beloved Sears, allowing this bench model to immediately become a floor model (using the Sears base, column and table). Which means I can immediately put it to work drilling blocks, without having to adapt my current set-up to a new column diameter. It's being sold as for metal work, which might mean negligible run-out. I have a question in about the quill lock, but heck, a pipe clamp on the quill could easily solve that.

     



    ------------------------------
    William Ballard RPT
    WBPS
    Saxtons River VT
    802-869-9107

    "Our lives contain a thousand springs
    and dies if one be gone
    Strange that a harp of a thousand strings
    should keep in tune so long."
    ...........Dr. Watts, "The Continental Harmony,1774
    +++++++++++++++++++++
    ------------------------------