Can this drill press be used with a boring head?

[Bmr4life]

Its from Harbor Freight. I know its small, but it will only be $40 in June. I'd want to use it with a 2" boring head to make some bearing holders out of aluminum.

[WATERJET71]

Its from Harbor Freight. I know its small, but it will only be $40 in June. I'd want to use it with a 2" boring head to make some bearing holders out of aluminum.

I think its going to vibrate a lot so you wont have a nice finish.Can you use it I dont see why not .

Good Luck

[Geof]

The spindle on a drill press is not the correct design nor is it rigid enough to use a boring head. Normally the chuck is held on by a taper and this will come loose when it is subjected to a side load. Also the bearings have too much play so the tool would deflect and not cut a true hole even if the chuck did nit come loose.

[Bmr4life]

Thank you. Whats the cheapest drill press that is strong enough to handle a boring head? Its its close to $400, I'd rather just buy the x2 I've been trying to avoid, lol.

[Geof]

No drill press is suitable because of the chuck being held on a taper. No matter how sturdy everything else is the chuck will come off if it is subjected to a side load like happens with a single point boring tool, or a milling cutter. It may take a while to come off but it will and a chuck coming loose with a sharp tool while spinning at a thousand rpm or more is dangerous.

Get a small mill.

[Bmr4life]

Thank you, that is valuable information.

[Twin-10s]

also feeding by hand is not a great idea with a boring head. quill feed is really a must for safety and Finnish.

[Bmr4life]

Would quill feed also help for boring a hole of a certain depth?

[arizonavideo]

You need to make a pocket to hold a bearing.

You can use a regular drill bit to get you close and then use a cheep spade bit to flatten the bottom. I cut one down so it would have less wobble. Look to see if the spade bit cuts a flat bottom.

You can also look for a counter bore bit. They require a pilot hole be drilled and will cut a nice flat bottom hole.

This is a 7/8 bit on ebay.

330566114551

Most smaller drill pressed have a MT2 tapper. You tap out the drill shank and insert the counter bore and with the correct pilot you can drill a nice flat bottom hole.

I have a good amount of used counter bores, most will go in a drill chuck, that I dont really use anymore. If you know a exact size to bore I might have one for supper cheep. I sold my drill press out of a lack of space and just use the mills for pockets.