What a Difference a Great Tool Makes!

CDHumiston

CDHumiston

Well-Known Member
I have been having a terrible time drilling proper holes in my knife blades with my old drill press. I've also been burning up bits like nobody's business.

Today I received my new drill press, and it is amazing! I drilled holes in about 10 blade tangs with no effort at all. The holes are perfect, and the bit is still in great shape!

Wish I would have bought this long ago. The best part is adjustable speed from 0-5500 RPM with no belt changes!

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That looks like a nice machine, if you don't have a Drill Doctor you should look at getting one. I've been using the same drill bits for over twenty years, just keep sharpening them, it doesn't work well for really small bits but I know some, like my 1/4" have been sharpened over a hundred times.
 
Sweet! I think I saw that drill press in the Grizzly catalogue a while back. Not quite sure why ya need a DVR built into you drill press, though... I mean, most cable boxes come with them built in, now. It IS nice that you can watch TV on that screen while you're working, though. No more missing The Game, cause you've got a job to do. :D

I advise checking the operators manual to see if they have a break-in procedure.
 
bladegrinder said:
That looks like a nice machine, if you don't have a Drill Doctor you should look at getting one. I've been using the same drill bits for over twenty years, just keep sharpening them, it doesn't work well for really small bits but I know some, like my 1/4" have been sharpened over a hundred times.
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My grandpa taught me how to sharpen twist drills on the bench grinder when I was little. I resharpen twist drills till the flutes are gone or the web gets to thick (the web thickness actually tapers along the length of a drill. Thinner on the end). I've resharpened 1/16" twist drills with good success, you just need a fine wheel and a light touch.

The other thing I've done, is make form cutters out of twist drills. I ball off the end of a drill to make a dome/spherical shaped hole to make punches for doming rivets. doesn't take but a second on the grinder.
 
Ford: Sounds like you've got drill sharpening down pad. I use my 2X72 for twist drill sharpening on larger bits,but have got lazy and use drill doctor on smaller bits. The old eyes don't see as well as years ago.

Chris: Congrats. That is one nice drill press you've got. The DVR (Digital Variable Reluctance) motors are great. I added the DVR motor to the Rikon 14" bandsaw I've got. Been well pleased with it. I'll bet the quill is more like a precision milling machine tolerance than a drill press.
 
KenH said:
Ford: Sounds like you've got drill sharpening down pad. I use my 2X72 for twist drill sharpening on larger bits,but have got lazy and use drill doctor on smaller bits. The old eyes don't see as well as years ago.

Chris: Congrats. That is one nice drill press you've got. The DVR (Digital Variable Reluctance) motors are great. I added the DVR motor to the Rikon 14" bandsaw I've got. Been well pleased with it. I'll bet the quill is more like a precision milling machine tolerance than a drill press.
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Did you take a look at the specifications for that Nova drill press? Says 220V, 10-15A, 2HP... Say 80% of that 10A is actually being turned into useful HP, that'd be a little over 2-1/3 HP. 15A would be 3-1/2HP. Wonder what the deal is with that. I'm assuming they're accounting for the max 5,500RPM. Maybe something else?

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52 Ford said:
Did you take a look at the specifications for that Nova drill press? Says 220V, 10-15A, 2HP... Say 80% of that 10A is actually being turned into useful HP, that'd be a little over 2-1/3 HP. 15A would be 3-1/2HP. Wonder what the deal is with that. I'm assuming they're accounting for the max 5,500RPM. Maybe something else?

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I did see it could run on 220, but it came wired and ready for 110V. I haven't had time to get familiar enough with the unit to delve into the depths of its capabilities. I need to get my laptop hooked up and upgrade the firmware and check all the settings.
 
Yes, I did look at the specs, and did some chasing about DVR in general info. Read lots of stuff, but nothing I found gave a simple efficiency rating for DVR motors. They operate very similar to stepper motor or servo. MUCH different control schemes, but they all have good speed control and full torque at full RPM range. I use a stepper on my milling machine power feed, and a servo on a drill press and sewing machine. AND, a DVR on my bandsaw.

While the efficiency of a DVR might be up around 80%, remember the control system also uses some power. This might be the deal that gives an honest usable 1.75 hp claimed. I think it says 10 amps for 220vac and 15 amp for 115 vac. Using the 15 amps at 115 vac and "assuming" 80% efficiency would = 1.84 hp, as claimed with 750 watts/hp. Remember, a few of those watts will be used by the electronics dropping to perhaps the 1.75 hp claimed.

From the specs: https://www.protoolreviews.com/nova-voyager-dvr-drill-press/
  • Motor Voltage (V.): 115/230 Single phase input
  • Motor Current (Max.) (Amps): 15/10
 
One of the complaints I saw was the chuck not holding a 1/16th bit. It holds a 3/64th bit nice and tight and that is a very small bit! By my conversion to mm even smaller than a 1/16th. 1/16th = 1.57mm and 3/64th = 1.19mm.

Maybe they have upgraded the chuck?
 
CDHumiston said:
One of the complaints I saw was the chuck not holding a 1/16th bit. It holds a 3/64th bit nice and tight and that is a very small bit! By my conversion to mm even smaller than a 1/16th. 1/16th = 1.57mm and 3/64th = 1.19mm.

Maybe they have upgraded the chuck?
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You might want to pick up a miniature drill chuck that you can install in your full size chuck. https://www.mcmaster.com/30505A5/

Edit, take note that the one I linked to is made in USA.
 
CDHumiston said:
The chuck that came with it can hold down to 1mm bit. I should be okay.
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Yeah. Just figured I'd throw it out there.

A Dremel drill press or Dremel mill setup is really the way to go with twist drills that small, anyway. For a 1/16" drill at 200SFM, you want a little over 12,000RPM. That'd be a good speed for a carbide drill in soft 52100. More like 3 to 4 thousand RPM with an HSS bit. Then you get into tool coatings and that effects SFM, too.

Niagara Cutter

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I tested the runout at the chuck right under the chuck key holes and it's .0005 which is fantastic in my book. My old drill press was so bad you could see the runout just looking at the chuck!
 
CDHumiston said:
I tested the runout at the chuck right under the chuck key holes and it's .0005 which is fantastic in my book. My old drill press was so bad you could see the runout just looking at the chuck!
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Good, a response to my post #5 saying "bet the quill is more like a precision milling machine". THAT could almost convince me to purchase one, perhaps the $1,000 desktop drill press. I've got a good 2hp floor drill press.
 
I've bought a bunch of budget tools in my life that worked okay. I'm older now and I decided that when I equipped my knife making shop I would not skimp.

It may be a huge investment and I never plan to make my money back selling knives because it's more of a hobby for me. I'm just in a place in my life where I can afford what I want, and I want the good stuff!

I wish I would have bought the drill press before the bandsaw because I had no idea how truly crappy my old Ryobi was until I got the Nova! What used to be a nightmare is now a joy...

A well-equipped knife making shop is so much fun to go work in...now if I only had a new 18x20 building in the back yard!
 
@CDHumiston Chris, do you happen to know how much that drill weighs? I can't find it searching. A couple of our lawncare guys moved my new HF rollaway downstairs for a half hundie and I wonder if this is a weight they might manage, too. Sadly, the small stairwell would preclude that 380lb precision Matthews mill drill. Or maybe that's a good thing. LOL
Thanks for any info.
 
fitzo said:
@CDHumiston Chris, do you happen to know how much that drill weighs? I can't find it searching. A couple of our lawncare guys moved my new HF rollaway downstairs for a half hundie and I wonder if this is a weight they might manage, too. Sadly, the small stairwell would preclude that 380lb precision Matthews mill drill. Or maybe that's a good thing. LOL
Thanks for any info.
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Well, Amazon says the overall dimensions are 63X28X18. I'm assuming that's for the box/crate it comes in. Now, doing the math, ~31,750ci... we know at MOST it weighs 9,000 pounds :)

BUT It has some plastic components, so prolly weighs a bit less than that.
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Probably more like 307 pounds. :D

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fitzo said:
@CDHumiston Chris, do you happen to know how much that drill weighs? I can't find it searching. A couple of our lawncare guys moved my new HF rollaway downstairs for a half hundie and I wonder if this is a weight they might manage, too. Sadly, the small stairwell would preclude that 380lb precision Matthews mill drill. Or maybe that's a good thing. LOL
Thanks for any info.
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The good news is that it comes in about 4 pieces, the drill head being the heaviest, the base, the upright pole and the work table. It came packed very well in a wooden crate about 2' wide and 5' long. The weight stated on Amazon is 307 pounds. Not sure if that was with the packing...

I had to have my wife help lift the drill head onto the pole. It was too much for me and the two of us struggled to get it up there!
 
Thanks, Chris! Tells me all I needed to know. Now to spring the money from my wallet. It's either this or a TIG I don't need but horribly desire! lol The drill press would be a real welcome change from watching these two Taiwanese jobs wobble the bits despite having a Starrett arbor and an overpriced Albrecht chuck.

Side note to @52 Ford - As it works out, I will be looking at the Froenius (sp?) TIG welder you mentioned, this week I hope. Choices look like Miller, Lincoln, Froenius, or ESAB. Baseline model. At this point, if HF reviews on their better TIG didn't have 4 or 5 "it broke the second time I used it" I'd look at them, too. Can't do it.
Pretty sure I'm going for a Miller elite helmet after hearing scathing anger at 3M for how they handle Speedglas.
 
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