Bruce Gile
New Member
Whats a good drill press or what should I look for in one that would work well for folder knife making? I've made some fixed blades but want to enter the folder realm. Thanks all.
Drill press advice
- Thread starter Bruce Gile
- Start date
EdCaffreyMS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
For folders the key is precision. Just about any drill press will work for straight knives, because with those we generally deal with fractions of an inch. When it comes to folders, that changes to thousandths of an inch. Holes must be as close to perfect as possible......if it weren't for my Burgmaster OB drill press, I would likely be using the milling machine to do the majority of drilling operations on folders. The other thing that I've learned with folders is that buying "cheap" drill bits is a loosing battle...... A precision drill press, with quality (generally american made) cobalt or carbide bits is the way to go.
Ed,
Would you share specifically the bits you like and the place you might buy them from? I am seeing that there are certain bit sizes that are my "go to" sizes and they are wearing out quickly.
To the OP, I have a Porter Cable floor standing press that I bought at Lowes. While it works fine for me, I would, in no way, say that it might qualify as a press that Ed is speaking of above. Great for fixed blades and it has plenty of speeds and adjustments. Precision? I don't think so.
Would you share specifically the bits you like and the place you might buy them from? I am seeing that there are certain bit sizes that are my "go to" sizes and they are wearing out quickly.
To the OP, I have a Porter Cable floor standing press that I bought at Lowes. While it works fine for me, I would, in no way, say that it might qualify as a press that Ed is speaking of above. Great for fixed blades and it has plenty of speeds and adjustments. Precision? I don't think so.