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Thread: Grizzly G0759 as a drill press - user experience?

  1. #1
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    Grizzly G0759 as a drill press - user experience?

    My wife asked me today my wish list for the holiday season. I said it's too long so I will keep it a secret. A few hours later, she said that she would like to replace my old, wobbly Ryoby bench top DP that drills slightly oval holes. With the budget she specified, I can afford a Grizzly G0759. It's a G0704 with a DRO. I have been reading about using a mill as a drill press and the G0704 mill, which is a popular small mill for home use. I am convinced that a mill would make a very accurate drill press. I also would like to work with aluminum, light steel, and plastic. However, the 2" quill travel of the G0704/G0759 worries me a little. Though the column can be moved, is the quill travel of 2" too shallow as a drill press? How is your experiences with this (G0704/G0759) or similar mill as a drill press?

  2. #2
    Hi Shinta,

    I had exactly the same thought process and bought a mill/drill.
    I almost bought G0704, which seems one of the most popular mill/drills out there, but I ended up with mini mill from LittleMachineShop, which is similar to G8689. The decision was partly due to the size and weight, but also a wealth of in formation in LittleMachineShop made me comfortable to try a machine that is totally new to me.

    Here (http://littlemachineshop.com/info/minimill_compare.php) there is a very good chart comparing mini mills from different companies, all from the same Taiwan manufacturer.

    Mini Mills do not have quill travel and the column travel is the only z-motion. So, it can be used just as a drill press with bigger travel and it works well. I chose the littlemachineshop version because it has a belt drive. If you look at Youtube, you would be surprised how noisy gear-head mills are. The belt-drive versions are very quiet.

    Mine is also an upgrade from a $99 Ryobi and it is definitly a much better machine and it should be with the 10 times more price. I am still in a learning process. There are many threads discussing about mill/drill for woodworking but other than these, information is definitely scarce. In the thread, some say they love it and some say it can't be a substitute of a drill press. I couldn't fine any sources discussing about table designs for woodworking.

    I'm not a big drill press user. So, I am more interested in the mill as an overarm router. I'm a big router hater and I want to see how it performs as a router substitute for something like mortises. So far, I'm not 100% convinced about "milling machine for woodwork", but I need to wait for the final verdict for maybe several more months.

    Here are my observations so far;
    > It is accurate and solid. No comparison with a cheap drill press. Almost a over quality for simple drilling. the motor speed control is nice. No need to change belts or spin wheels. I'm not sure why drill presses can't use the same electric control....
    > The XY table seems a great promise but there are two weak links; it's slow and you somehow need to fix your stock parallel to the X or Y axis, which is more difficult than you would think. Of course, we can use it just like a drill press without the XY table; attach a table with a fence and slide the stock manually with stop blocks. In this way, you don't have to worry about parallel and perpendicular of the stocks, but you basically defeat the purpose and existence of the XY table.
    > Alternatively, you can mount a vise. You can set the vise's jaw parallel to the X axis. So, if your stock is narrower than the vise's jaw (3-4 inches), you can enjoy all the XY table functions, although it is still slow....
    > The fact you can move the bit laterally like a router is great. For mortising, you can bore several holes just like a drill press and then you can do lateral boring for clean up. That's nice~ I have to make zero-clearance plates for my table saw soon that will require boring several recesses. It had been an unpleasant work with a router but should be breeze with the mill.

    I'm just a hobbyist and I hope somebody with much more experience would chime in, but these are my experience so far.

  3. #3
    Forget drilling with a 2" plunge stroke.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by pat warner View Post
    Forget drilling with a 2" plunge stroke.
    That won't drill a pen blank hole.

  5. #5
    Milling machine has quill travel (like 2 inches) AND column travel.

    The quill travel is by drill-press-like handles and column travel is by a separate wheel usually.
    My mini mill has only column travel by a drill-press type handles and goes more than 10 inches. That's for "mini mill". I assume G0704 can go more than that.

    Milling machines also have a micro adjustment wheel for fine controls.

  6. #6
    Add that to set up and indexing time and you'll have your first hole x dinner.

  7. #7
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    Susumu-san, thank you for going into details about your personal experience with your mill/drill. My goal isn't to drill hole that is within 0.001" tolerance in wood, but I also can't stand my current drill press making holes larger than intended. Like you, I am not a heavy drill press user. My motivations are to have a machine that bores accurate holes and be able to play with media other than wood. There are more than a few home improvement projects that my wife and I discussed that require the ability to work with steel. I also want to make jigs out of aluminum like Pat Warner, just not at his level.

    On the topic of setting up, as warned by Pat, Ian Maybury recently posted a detail description of his drill press table, modified to use with his mill. It is found here. I plan to do something like that too if I end up with a mill.

    After examined my projects thus far, I rarely drill holes deeper than 2". Though I write with fountain pens, I have no desire to make pen or drill pen blank hole. I care more about nibs and inks. I have just been wonder if there is any problem with drilling hole deeper than 2" and having to use both quill and column travels to accomplish the task. I imagine it would be slow and somewhat inconvenience.

    It seems that the population of woodworkers using small mill/drill machine in place of drill press is small, but thanks all the same to all who took the time to reply.

  8. #8
    The problem is not the depth of the hole.
    As you suggest, 2" is generous.
    The problem is the set up, lengths of drilling tools and the loss of centricity. Drill lengths run from short to very long.
    Most ordinary drills for wood and plastic are from 2" - 6".
    Taps are short, countersinks and counterbores are quite variable.
    Reamers, your precision hole makers, might be 6" - 10" long!
    So for holes with multiple opps (hole, ream, chamfer and tap e.g.) you'll have to change the table height. And table ht. changes are your worst enemies with respect to indexing, referencing and centricity.
    A drill with only a 2" plunge stroke, & a table that can't quickly register your work to the quill is as bad as it gets.

  9. #9
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    Pat, would a CNC conversion solve the indexing, referencing, and centricity problems?

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by pat warner View Post
    The problem is not the depth of the hole.
    As you suggest, 2" is generous.
    The problem is the set up, lengths of drilling tools and the loss of centricity. Drill lengths run from short to very long.
    Most ordinary drills for wood and plastic are from 2" - 6".
    Taps are short, countersinks and counterbores are quite variable.
    Reamers, your precision hole makers, might be 6" - 10" long!
    So for holes with multiple opps (hole, ream, chamfer and tap e.g.) you'll have to change the table height. And table ht. changes are your worst enemies with respect to indexing, referencing and centricity.
    A drill with only a 2" plunge stroke, & a table that can't quickly register your work to the quill is as bad as it gets.
    However the table is fixed and we don't know how fast the head can raise and lower on the column. I will be at Grizzly in the next week or so and will check that out. By itself 2" would be unacceptable but if the head accurately and quickly raises and lowers then it could be a good setup for Wakahisa. As for the setup time that is a non issue. Unless he is setting up for precision work it shouldn't be any more difficult than any drill press.

  11. #11
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    Why not get the Grizzly G0705 or the Harbor Freight 33686? Same RF style as Ian's. Much heavier, longer spindle travel and cheaper.
    "Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you’re right."
    - Henry Ford

  12. #12
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    Wakahisa

    2" of quill travel is limiting, but then how many times have you needed to drill a hole greater than 2" deep. For many people, I would say, not often. Usually it's the total height that gives people challenges. For wood working though, I'm fairly certain that you could walk down the head of a GO759 and still retain the accuracies needed for wood.
    I've also been lookin to use a milling machine as a drill press, but for different reasons. I want the lower rpm, accuracy and power.
    I've been looking at the GO754. It doesn't have the DRO, but I don't need one. Unless you have a really specific need for the DRO on the GO759, you might want to look at the GO754 for the same $$$$$.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  13. #13
    "Pat, would a CNC conversion solve the indexing, referencing, and centricity problems? "
    ************************************************** **************
    Work positioning is dependent on fixturing and material prep. If either is screwed up, the intended operation will occur but where?
    Wood, metal and plastic fabricators, if not in production (modeling e.g.), will present a different sized workpiece to his machine for nearly every operation. Whether it's drilling, milling, sawing or sanding, setup configurations always have to be addressed.
    I've seen tile and wood flooring folks cut their stock without a fence, just free-hand. Safe? Hell no, but done everyday. Good, safe set up demands work confinement and indexing. Any workpiece has 12 escape routes and all of the fixturing, unless well accounted for, has these same 12 modes of escape. And incidentally, that's the reason for saw kickback; that is, the work (in this case: the cut-off) is not confined.
    Back to your question. Is CNC a solution? In my view, CNC is not justified for one-offs. The setup is just too time consumptive. In production the CNC setup is ready for next work piece with no setup variables; speedy, accurate, high quality. CNC for the hobbyist is recreation. Doing computer & making stuff, a great pastime. For production it is the industry standard.
    ************************************************** *********

  14. #14
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    Watched a video about the machine and that is a very interesting tool. Flexible and would provide lots of functionality for milling all sorts of materials. Plus the size is reasonable (as compared to say a "Bridgeport") and at less than 400lbs. it could almost be called transportable. I am assuming it is not going down a set of cellar stairs.

    I don't have any mill though I have long coveted one. I suspect that with a bit of use one could get familiar enough with the controls to have it function almost like a drill press. That 50rpm slow speed will make it very usable - few DP's have a speed that slow. My drill press today is a 15" Clausing variable speed which has virtually no runout. It is very flexible for me, and very fast to perform most drilling tasks. Even were I too get a mill such as that unit you're considering, I think I'd still want a drill press such as my Clausing or similar. The current Powermatic VS unit appears to be very well thought out and built.
    Last edited by Bill Adamsen; 11-15-2015 at 10:39 AM.
    "the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” Confucius

  15. #15
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    Ronald, thanks for the offer to look at the machine when you visit Grizzly. One of the reasons I consider the G0759/G0704 is the dovetail column. From my reading, dovetail column can maintain registration/indexing when the head is lower or raised. This is more difficult with a round column.

    Andrew, I narrowed my choices to a dovetail column machine. Also, I considered future growth with the machine, which I plan to keep for a long time. My reading indicates that quite a number of people ended up doing a CNC conversion on their small mill. The G0704 is very popular in this respect. I watched a lot of videos by Hoss and were very impressed with what he did to his small mill. Moreover, I have limited space. If I didn't have space constrain, I would opt for a used Bridgeport. For the time being, my needs are to drill acurate holes, mill aluminum, plastic, and light steel for jigs. I am sure once I get a mill, I will find all sort of things to use it for.

    Mike, I have learned that the DRO helps a lot with repeated operations. Also, I thought to stay with dovetail column machines.

    Pat, so CNC would slove the indexing, referencing, and centricity issue. I am a hobbist, so this is all play. A CNC conversion will problably be in the future for me.

    Bill, you know, this is what my wife suggested; get both a small mill and a DP like the Powermatic. I am lucky that she has been very supportive of my hobbies, but I would like to buy the most versatile machine for my need. I am also on the look out for a local CL deal on old DP. So far, no luck!

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