Will a mini lathe chuck work in a drill press?

[bead-boy]

I know nothing about machining except what I have read from you people on this forum. So this may seem like a silly question. My old cheap floor drill press that was made in Tawain has an MT2 spindle. It barely drills holes in steel, so I know that I cannot do any cutting with a mini chuck, but would like to do a bit of sanding, grinding or filing on small parts.

Would something like this work in a drill press ? https://www.shars.com/3-3-jaw-self-c...aper-2-arbor-1

And if I do get a benchtop mill, would the R8 version work on a mill ? https://www.shars.com/4-3-jaw-self-c...chuck-r8-arbor

[farmersammm]

If your present drill chuck in your drill press has ever dropped out of the spindle, you'll see why the Morse Taper chuck won't work in the press.

On the other hand...…….in a milling machine, the chuck with the R8 taper will work because the milling machine has a drawbar that holds it in the spindle (long bolt that goes through the spindle into the thread in the tool shank)

[farmersammm]

MOrse taper relies on axial force to keep it in the spindle. Radial force will tend to loosen it without accompanying heavy axial load.

And, it's not a silly question

[bead-boy]

My spindle has never fallen out, but I am sure it is held in by corrosion. If I hammer it out of there, I will forever have that problem.

[farmersammm]

Well, it might be that the taper on my press isn't ground spot-on. It's always had problems when you don't continue on through a hole with moderate pressure. If you have to pull the bit out, sometimes the chuck comes with it

I guess I ought to be more specific...…………….

If you stall the bit, and just try to run the quill back up, the chuck and bit will sometimes come out. This generally happens when the bit has a bite on the bottom of the hole. If you stop the motor, and manually reverse the bit...….it backs out fine without pulling the taper out of the spindle. PITA really Been that way since new.

[ronsii]

Well, it might be that the taper on my press isn't ground spot-on. It's always had problems when you don't continue on through a hole with moderate pressure. If you have to pull the bit out, sometimes the chuck comes with it

I guess I ought to be more specific...…………….

If you stall the bit, and just try to run the quill back up, the chuck and bit will sometimes come out. This generally happens when the bit has a bite on the bottom of the hole. If you stop the motor, and manually reverse the bit...….it backs out fine without pulling the taper out of the spindle. PITA really Been that way since new.

Or.... if you put one of those big rubber sanding drums in the chuck and start pushing in heavy on it sanding something the whole thing will start to drop out while trying to spin oblong!!! not a pretty sight

[M J D]

I had a drill press that did that. Not sure if it was the spindle or the taper on the Chuck, I'm guessing it was the spindle since mt3 bits fell out as well. I ended up putting some blueing on the taper to see where contact was made. I put a piece of 3/4" round stock in the drill Chuck, then chucked that in the lathe. I polished the high spots with Emory cloth and that helped a lot. After that I used some valve lapping compound on a old mt3 drill with the tang cut off and lapped in the internal taper on the spindle.

[Mac's Crew]

Question 1 are you going to be spinning the part or the sander? I ask because there may be a better way... if you are spinning the part I would go with the R8... or a craigslist lathe. if you are spinning a sanding drum i would go with something like this.

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Gri...e-Sander/G0739

I just grabbed that off the net... not backing it up by any means but it is similar in price. just another option.

[EricJ]

I vote for a used lathe, those Chinese drill presses are pretty bad.

[tapwelder]

Does your spindle have a throug hole? Some MT shafts are tapped for a drawbar. My Jet drill uses MT3 never an issue with slipping or falling out. My HF 9x20 lathe is mt2 and does occasionally will spin while drilling.

Cheap drill chucks can be awful.

Check, little machine shop.