SpudFiles

I don’t have a lathe, or a drill press. So for my birthday, I can choose to get one or the other. I choose the drill press, because:

-It can drill accurate 90 degrees holes (overall useful for ammo, mini barrels, etc.)

-It is stronger than my regular drill (for drilling metal and overall faster drilling)

-It can be outfitted with a rotary tool cutting-bit. (this or this )

-It can be used as a lathe to cut grooves (refer to picture below)

-It can make 90 degree cuts in things like a miter saw when something is pulled through the bit with a vice used to guide

-It can be used as a lathe as shown in Gippeto’s “Easy stirrup pump” thread.
http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/easy-st ... 13277.html

So…all these ideas seem legitimate to me. I realize that the cutting bits might not perform that well on a drill since it uses lower speeds than it’s supposed to be used, but I think that it’ll be okay.
Any problems you see in my logic? Any recommendations? And what do you think of the whole cutting-bit business?

Thanks for your help!

Seems like valid reasoning. But don't buy a cheap one, they are not solid enough to do accurate machining operations IMO.

When shopping, look for solid, heavy cast iron construction.

At least a 1/2" chuck 5/8" is better.

At least 1 hp, 1.5hp would be better. Any bigger and you may need to get an electrician to wire a new outlet.

Remember that quality tools do last a lifetime, but they also cost more initially. Buy the best that you can afford and you will never be sorry.

Get something like this too (from a better supplier).

http://item.express.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA ... MILAR_LINK

I've seen some amazing mill work done with a drill press and a 2 way vise.

It's a very cost effective set up. It will surprise you with what it can actually do.

I'd suggest getting a lathe. Doing a lot of these weird operations on a drill press can lead to eventual damage of the machine. Mainly the spindle. Not to mention rigging your machinery, and everything has to be a hassle and a half.

I own a lathe, and all I can say is it is an awesome machine. To tell you the truth I was scared to machine metal at first. Something about touching a piece of metal spinning at 2K RPM, against a metal tool scared me.

I suggest a lathe, as you can drill perfect centers on a lathe and you can't really on a drill press.

holy! of course you choose the lathe! you can look at necrosis and his work on a lathe. and it is easyer to sell the lathe and get a drill press if you wont have the lathe and not possible the other way.

All drill presses have more "slop" in the spindle then even cheep lathes have. Lathes can be adapted to do way more work then drill presses, with way more accuracy. You have to get more tooling for a lathe, but the end result pays off. Get nothing smaller the the 7X10 Pimpmann22 has if we have finaly convinced you to change to the lathe.

Look around the internet and research the different kinds, sizes and what they come with. I got mine from Harbor Freight, it's the 8X12 and came with enough tooling to do minor turning rite out of the box. cnczone.com is a great place to compair just about any kind of shop machiney you can think of.

Well, I really would like a lathe, but I just feel that even though it does do things better and with higher quality, I also need to be able to drill straight holes for certain ammo designs I've been wanting to try out. I don't really have much current need for a lathe since all my pistons at least seem to work well, and this is the closest thing I can get to a miter saw due to parental restrictions.

but you can drill with a lathe!

A milling machine?
You have described a poor man's milling machine.
BTW, A Bridgeport milling machine is one of the few tools capable of reproducing itself. Course the ones I've seen are big and expensive.

Im pretty damn sure that I had already mentioned that you can drill...using a lathe. Just stick a drill bit in the tailstock. I do it all the time.

Wow...that is a real dillema.

I'd probably go for the lathe- you can usually do a drill press's job with a hand drill if you center punch your work before drilling and use a li'l muscle, but there really is no substitute for a good lathe.

Besides, then you can put big metal spikes on everything

I'd go with the lathe myself.

A drill press usually enters someone's shop sooner than a machining lathe 99% of the time. While the drilling precision of a lathe is great, it's just not necessary most of the time and a drill press will be faster to setup to just punch out straight general purpose holes. A lathe is usually put to use as a precision machining tool. However, if you are working mostly with and need a lot of precision cuts, the lathe is for you.

So... 8) ...if I had the opportunity to get one or the other as a gift, it would be hard not to ask for the lathe...especially since I already own a drill press...

Actually, you should strive to eventually have both tools if possible. The drill press will be somewhat cheaper than the lathe.

You didn't actually mention your budget did you?

If you have a budget for a lathe, you might consider something like this;

https://www.smithy.com/product_home.php ... id=8&pid=3

This is essentially what I use at work.

It's a compromise machine at best. It work OK but not nearly as good as dedicated tools.

Shop around carefully. Some makers include things you will need. ie, cutters, steady and follow rests, 3 and 4 way chucks, varying adapters for the mill head.

Don't be fooled into thinking you MUST have carbide cutters either. HSS will be adequate for most jobs you will do.

Dude get a lathe! What you described is a milling machine if that's what you want get that. Drill press's aren't made for the sideways force or whatever happens when you do that. If you want both lathes are more expensive and rarer to find. If your parents are buying it you could always pick up a second hand drill press on craigslist...