Drill Stand + Milling Motor = Drill Press + Overhead Router?

[Prizen]

Hi All

Due to space issues I can no longer accommodate a drill press, and even if I could, I would need to move it about quite a bit which isn't really desirable for me.

I wonder if a milling motor/spindle (such as the Mafell FM1000) plus a reasonable quality drill stand (something from Wabeco), along with an xy table would be a good combination that would take drill press activities and a bit more, perhaps overhead routing/milling?

Regards,
P

 

[Alpha-Dave]

Honestly doesn’t sound great to me. A drill press is great for quick travel, drilling reasonably accurate holes at 90 degrees to a surface. The rig you describe will have little torque (being a spindle motor) and probably be too fast for most drilling applications. I would also be sceptical about using for routing due to the sudden, high forces if a spindle grabs into something; the press may snap and you will have a router flying around the room.

Breaking the problem into small parts: you don’t need a drill press for vertical holes. I often use a Gator drill guide for making holes in sheets that I can’t get under my drill press.