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DIY mini drill press

Posted: 16 Mar 2014, 05:06
by rocklander
so this is really only proof of concept at this stage but it's looking like it'll work okay.. I need to tidy up a lot of it but I'm pretty happy with the result so far..


it consists of:
a base (offcut of some decking timber I had)
a flushmount from a light switch
some plastic waterpipe
some dowel
a plastic waterpipe mounting bracket
a piece of thin timber to which the bracket above is screwed
a DC drill with 0.8mm chuck (ex ebay for <US$10)
some kind of spring (yet to get this)
some screws to hold it all together

I sourced some pipe from the hardware store (they only sell like a metre at a time so I have way too much now) and found some dowel there too which fit a lil too tight inside... sanding required to ensure the dowel slides up and down inside the pipe.
I attached the flush box to the base board, then drilled a hole in the wood and inserted the pipe.
I cut a straight (at least that was the intention, and in mine is not ,but I have plenty of pipe left so the next one will be better ;-) ) line the width of some screws (so they'll be able to slide up and down it) in the pipe down to the level whereby I can see the drill will go past the flush box, but not into the wood.
I aligned the slot so it's at the front and then flipped it over to drill a hole for a small screw through the inside of the base end of the pipe to ensure it can't spin.
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next, I mounted the DC motor (drill) to a small piece of timber I had (offcut from some trellis) with the waterpipe bracket then lined it up so the drill was straight with the the cut slot (waterpipe) and mounted the trellis timber to the dowel with some screws leaving slightly more than the width of the pipe wall gap between the down and trellis timber.
slide the dowel into the pipe and it's all ready to drill straight up and down.
I need to source a spring to put in the bottom of the pipe and then I'll screw a metal plate over the hole underneath and presto.. should have a mini drill pres.
I'll wire up a switch for the unit on the side and will prolly make up a plate that the drill can pass through and PCBs can sit on.

it looks budget as hell but that stands to reason since it's made to a budget...


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Re: DIY mini drill press

Posted: 18 Jul 2014, 13:26
by tasteless
Cool !
I have nothing to add - I'd just like to applaud You.
Oh , wait here we go :applause:

Re: DIY mini drill press

Posted: 18 Jul 2014, 19:48
by Duckman
Lovely concept... a real DIY stuff.
But, what if the PCB is bigger than the drill point? You'll never reach the center area of the PCB. Maybe with a longer arm for the motor, but your accuracy can be possibly affected... Maybe two waterpipes, one on each side (kinda of a CNC look) :hmmm: Just guessing

Re: DIY mini drill press

Posted: 18 Jul 2014, 19:53
by Duckman
Atreidesheir posted before

http://www.instructables.com/id/Micro-Drill-Press/

The point is, you need more room, like the example above or like a sewer machine :idea:

Re: DIY mini drill press

Posted: 18 Jul 2014, 21:26
by rocklander
Duckman wrote:Atreidesheir posted before

http://www.instructables.com/id/Micro-Drill-Press/

The point is, you need more room, like the example above or like a sewer machine :idea:
you might, but I don't :wink:
the link above is actually what inspired me (I'd been asking work colleagues if they had any old microscopes) when I came up with my (I think "improved") idea.

almost all the boards I do are 1590a based anyway, but I think that even the largest pedal pcb I've made (GGG or tonepad fsh and the like) would still be reachable with this one.

that said, I was telling my old boss about what I was doing with this and he said he had an old purpose built mini drill press I could have for nothing so have been using that, heh. it's got a longer reach as you suggest... but I don't need it

Re: DIY mini drill press

Posted: 19 Jul 2014, 20:21
by Duckman
rocklander wrote:
Duckman wrote:Atreidesheir posted before

http://www.instructables.com/id/Micro-Drill-Press/

The point is, you need more room, like the example above or like a sewer machine :idea:
you might, but I don't :wink:
the link above is actually what inspired me (I'd been asking work colleagues if they had any old microscopes) when I came up with my (I think "improved") idea.

almost all the boards I do are 1590a based anyway, but I think that even the largest pedal pcb I've made (GGG or tonepad fsh and the like) would still be reachable with this one.

that said, I was telling my old boss about what I was doing with this and he said he had an old purpose built mini drill press I could have for nothing so have been using that, heh. it's got a longer reach as you suggest... but I don't need it

In that case... :thumbsup

Re: DIY mini drill press

Posted: 19 Jul 2014, 21:44
by Ice-9
Nice one rocklander, can you add the bits to turn it into a cnc miller for me. Only joking, great DIY project :applause: