Thread: DP vise: when to and not to use one

probably a very 'newb' question but ive noticed lately that some people never seem to use an attached vise on the DP table.
In the shop i have many options for DP workholding, a #20 Heinrich that mostly stays on the DP table, it is 'floating' and has never been attached to table slots.
For bigger holes in thicker stuff i will usually bolt up an X,Y vise or X,Y table and use some sort of DP vise or mill vise.
We have a few other cheapie DP vises and toolmakers vises that get used on the DP either alone or in conjunction with another vise in some way.
So whats the general consensus here as far as vises being attached to the DP table.
Seems at times better to let the drill find its center but then other times i get a fair amount of chatter when starting in and burn up the cutting edges of drills prematurely.
I did in fact ruin a brand new .5" reamer yesterday attempting to 'float' the Heinrich vertically and deep ream a hole in a piece of 1018, costly and frustrating mistake.
any real world advice regarding DP workholding and fixturing is welcome.
FWIW it is an older Taiwain made 16" 'guardian' 1hp, with 5/8 Jacobs and a t slot 'production' table that i adapted. Runs relatively true, for an older drill press that is.
and of course any other DP tricks and tips, whether workholding related or not, are welcome.
knowledge is knowledge and learning about machine tools and their fundamentals is about the only thing i give a shit to read about anymore
thanks in advance

If you are drilling to punch marks, then it makes some sense to use a floating vise. However, I always had a strap clamp handy: bring the centerdrill down to the mark, engaging slightly, and letting the work squirm into position, then tighten the clamp to temporarily secure the vise to the table. I'd typically place the strap clamp on the left side of the vise so that if the tool grabbed, and the clamp were to slip, that the vise base would hit the stud and that would prevent it from going into full rotation.

But, for general layout of hole patterns, I always used a vise on top of an XY table on the drill table, similar to using a vertical turret mill, but allowing for heavier duty drilling with larger drills.

On my regular drill press, a Wahlstrom Float Lock lives on it, it floats, but has a torque arm fastened to the table. Problem solved. On my big Cincinnati though, everything gets bolted down.

Ditto the Float Lock recommendation -- I let it find center and then LOCK it down. One useful addition was to get a locking handle from McMaster to do the lock down part. Another was to make up a table cover 1" thick to protect the table from drills breaking through. My table has t-slots, so I made up hardwood rails to fit the T's and then nailed and screw the cover while these were in place. Thus the table cover can come on and off, perfectly centered, in a flash. For the center portion I used two sizes of hole saw to make replaceable center inserts.

If it's light work and I'm actually going to let the work float, I use a rapid locking vise with a clear space (Heinrich etc. type) so the drill can break through and not hit the table.

My former go-to vise was a Cardinal Speed vise, which adjusts pretty much instantly.

My Solberga drill press also has a side table with t-slots that's useful for drilling the ends of long stuff. A Joregenson clamp-down screw vise works will for most lightdrilling for work held on the side of the table.

I have been using an old somewhat abused (bought that way on the cheap) Kurt D675 with a length stop which is quite handy for duplication when you have even just a few pieces to do. I have these boat loads of aluminum blocks that are offcuts from a production job that I use as "spacer parallels" which I deem appropriate for drill press work and help keep the bit out of the actual vise.

I'm generally pretty conservative (safety-wise) about using a vise on the drill press. I've bent/snapped too many drills, snagged too many sheet metal parts, and flung too many workpieces off the table to want to hold things by hand if there's an alternative. If the part fits into a vise, I generally use it. And most often, I will clamp the vise to the table as well. For larger flat work, I will usually clamp the work on top of parallels.

I don't have one of the Float Locks, but think they are pretty spiffy!

I bolt my vise down- but my main drill press is a funky old (bought it new in 78) Taiwan machine that has a round table. This is great, because you have two locks- one lock for swivel of the table on the post, and one lock for rotation of the round table. That means you can leave the Heinrich bolted to the table, and align the drill with the destination spot on every time, by swiveling or rotating the table, and then locking down both handles.
I never understood why so many drill presses come with big rectangular tables, when they are so much harder to index your parts on.
A circular table that rotates around a center pipe is so much handier.

To paraphrase the old real estate adage, rigidity, rigidity, rigidity. I use several types of vises or clamps for virtually all drill press work, however I admit it can be a PITA to mount the work holding device for a quick one-off job. After dealing with that issue for years, I finally came up with a solution that permits quick work holding set-ups for some of the tasks I often repeat.

One of my smaller DP's is a 16.5” Rockwell. It's one of the oriental import types, similar to the one Ries mentioned, as well as a number of other branded machines that feature rotatable work tables. The bottom of the table on these machines has a round stub shaft about 1.850” dia. that fits into a split-clamp receiver on the table support arm casting. By loosening the clamp lever a few turns the table to be removed in a few seconds.

I've made several fixtures that will fit into the support receiver when the work table is removed, including an X-Y vise, a small Palmgren rotary table, and a V-saddle for cross-drilling in round stock. Fabricating these fixtures was a simple matter of machining a stub shaft and welding it to an appropriate mount, such as the 1/2” plate "bases" I used to attach my X-Y vise and rotary table. It's really handy to quickly remove the factory work table and pop in one of ready-to-go fixtures. BTW, chip pans for these fixtures can easily be made out of an inexpensive baking pan. Such pans are available in a surprising range of shapes and sizes in the kitchen section of any department or discount store.

~TW~

Depends on the drill press, as well. You are a moron if you don't dog down your work TIGHT on a big radial drill, even with a small diameter drill. 5hp at 1100rpm can make a 100lb vise a blur until the drill breaks and sends it sailing. Like Ries, I have a round table cheapo at home for light work and keep a small vise and a pair of C clamps handy. I just C clamp the vise where I want it, rotate the table and column to get it under the drill and clamp everything down. If the part is too big to go in teh vise, I just clamp it to the table with the C clamps. If it's too big for that, it goes on the old Fosdick radial drill. If it's too big for that, I can't get it in the shop anyway.

I just put a bolt in a slot or some c clamp vice grips on the table so the vice don't spin.