How to Use a Drill Press?

One of the most important tool used at the wood shops are the drill press. But many people usually get stuck on how to use the drill press, let’s list out some of the way.

Make sure you choose the correct diameter

It is important to select the appropriate drill diameter at the time of drilling a hole. Then you can choose any machine drill or the wood drills. Wood drills work best with a spiral kind of cutting side. And when compared with the mechanical drilling press it can’t run fast when you work with bolt.

Setting the speed

Most drills have their speed set by moving the drive belt from one pulley to another. Generally, the smaller the pulley, the faster it spins. With most cutting operation, slower speeds are much better for drilling metal while faster are better for woods.

Fitting the belt

To fit the belts, open the chuck, slide in the bit and snug the chuck by hand around the bits shaft by hand, then tighten the three jaws of the chuck with the key. Remove the chuck because by leaving it there, it becomes a dangerous projectile at the time of turning on the drill. Take note that drilling of larger holes requires drilling of a smaller pilot hole first.

Adjusting the table

Some drills come with a crank for adjusting the height of the table while others can move freely after the release of the clamping level. Set the table to the desired height as per the operation you need to perform.

Depth gauging

Sometime you may not need to adjust the gauges depth, especially if you are just drilling a hole on a piece of stock. On the other hand, depth gauging is important if you are dealing with stopped holes of fixed depth, reduce the bit to the desired height, then adjust the pair of Knurled nuts at the depth gauge to the correct stopping point. One of the pair should stop the spindle while the other lock in place the first nut.

Securing the workspace

Fixing the work piece in place is important starting to operate the drill press. The drill bit rotation may try to spin the metal or wood work piece, this calls for the need to clamp the worktable, brace it against the supporting column that at the rear of the machine.
NB: you should operate the drill without anchoring the workplace.

Drilling

Once you have set the speeds, adjusted the table and secured the work piece, putting the drill press to work is very easy. Confirm that the drill is spinning at full-speed, present the bit to the work piece while lowering the bit by swinging the rotating level. After the hole has been drilled, release the pressure on the level to return it to its original position using its Spring-loaded return mechanism.

When drilling metals, it’s important to set the drill press at low speeds due to the high density of the metal material. Drilling through a metal at high speeds will burn out the drill bit. You can also apply afew drops of cutting oil before drilling to the metal as an additional preventive measure.
To cut a circle, you should attach the circle cutter and then clamp the work piece to the table. To prevent table damages, place a scrap piece of wood under the work piece.