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Can Mag Drill replace Drill Presses in a shop

gkopp88

Plastic
Joined
Mar 30, 2018
Hey Guy,
I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about mag drill in jigs replacing drill presses. I see points on both side but I am looking for some feedback from you guys! Jig pictures and ideas would be great also!
 
A mag drill with more than 2" of travel, or 3" of throat, is pretty rare. I could not do 90% of my drill press setups on a mag drill, as the vise or V-block at the heart of the setup would eat all the vertical.
 
A fully-equipped shop ought ALWAYS to have a dedicated drill press. There are many things a mag drill just can't do. The distance from the base to the bit is very limiting, as is the overall height, not to mention the hoops you'll have to jump through to drill non-magnetic material.

Just my $.02.
 
When you need to drill smaller pieces with the mag it is a pain.
It's also a pain when you want to use a drill that doesn't come with shank sized same as a typical annular cutter. I needed to tap 5/8-11 on one project, so had to spend a couple of hours making a 3/4" OD adapter for a 17/32" tap drill. It took that long because I had to bore a sliding fit ID for the drill shank, mill and drill double flats on the adapter, grind double flats on the drill itself, then turn clamping buttons for the double flats as the setscrews in the mag drill arbor weren't long enough to reach the drill shank. And the result only works for one size of drill...

I've got a 20" swing drill press in my shop now, and would not object to a stouter one with the same or larger swing, especially if it had a more rational arrangement of table T-slots than my current machine. (Pro tip: T-slots that run radially toward the center of a drill press table are much less convenient than parallel slots. ;) ) I'd feel real cramped on a 17" swing, and anything smaller would be a non-starter (as a main drill press) in my shop. There's always a role for a small "precision" benchtop drill press, but I can work without that where I can't work without a decently large one.

If you're asking why I did not use the cheap-ass drill chuck accessory that came with my mag drill, it's because it is a cheap-ass accessory, and it takes up too much of the travel to use even screw-machine length drills.
 
Listening to a screaming universal brush motor is irritating at best.

Motor life is shorter as well.

A typical drill & tap job on a radial drill is very fast, as your center drill,
drill, countersink, and tap are all in quick change holders.

As soon as the center drill is located over the punch mark, it's a simple job
to swap thru all the tools, and produce a hole in very short time.

The newer, small "annular cutter" type mag drills don't have much tapping capability,
and don't have any quick change tooling.
 
It's also a pain when you want to use a drill that doesn't come with shank sized same as a typical annular cutter. I needed to tap 5/8-11 on one project, so had to spend a couple of hours making a 3/4" OD adapter for a 17/32" tap drill. It took that long because I had to bore a sliding fit ID for the drill shank, mill and drill double flats on the adapter, grind double flats on the drill itself, then turn clamping buttons for the double flats as the setscrews in the mag drill arbor weren't long enough to reach the drill shank. And the result only works for one size of drill...
Hougen, and probably Jancy too have tap drill sizes, just need to order it, probably not stocked at weld supply house.
 
I have found that an ironworker and a bridgeport do a pretty good job of replacing a drill press in many situations.
Still use the drill press a fair amount.
We use the mag drill on job sites, and when we need to drill holes on big fabrications that wont fit in the bridgie.
Most mag drills these days are made to take annular cutters, and dont have enough throw for a chuck and a twist drill, anyway.
I have a nice Bosch corded drill that goes down to about 100 rpm, with a 1/2" chuck, and, most times, its easier to use than a mag drill.
Armstrong powered, but it works just fine.
 
A mag drill of any sort is usually a tool purchased to compliment an already well established shop. With this said, I, from personal experience, dread pulling out a mag drill to do anything. My first habit of nature is to go to the drill press or if really low speed is needed, the milling machine. In fact, I tend to resort to a drill press on rare occasion. For repeatability, setting up stops and or gauges, I find the milling machine much faster after an initial set up is done. Now if we are talking just need to open up a existing hole in say w12 x whatever beam, then maybe mag drill or punch, but small plate then a drill press.
 
The mag drill is handy for what it's designed to do. If I have to drill a hole through the center of the bottom of a piece of steel tubing 12' in the air, from a Scissor lift, the mag-drill is the tool.

If you need to drill a hole in a small area inside a piece of very shapely steel, the foot of the mag-drill is NOT going to go there.. and without throat travel, it won't finish what it starts.

So... get both. And a plasma torch... and an EDM... and every other tool you think you'll never need... ;-)
 
I have a second hand mag drill and have found it very good for the jobs I bought it for, drilling holes in RSJs, box sections and steel plates that won't fit in the drill press or milling machine. I wouldn't bother using it for anything else.

However:-
I have discovered that Rotabroach cutters can be bloody useful in the milling machine. A 3/4" Weldon holder or 19mm ER collet gives the ability to cut large, accurate holes at very rapid rates with little load on the mill. I find that I'm buying more different sized cutters to use in the mill than I ever needed for the mag drill.
 
I've been without a drill press and bridgeport for about a year, and had only the mag drill to pick up the pieces. Now, I have multiple mag drills...one with a chuck, one that takes annular cutters, and an enormous assortment of tooling.

I've gotten by, having a steel work table.

It's not something I'd care to continue to do.
 
I have a second hand mag drill and have found it very good for the jobs I bought it for, drilling holes in RSJs, box sections and steel plates that won't fit in the drill press or milling machine. I wouldn't bother using it for anything else.

However:-
I have discovered that Rotabroach cutters can be bloody useful in the milling machine. A 3/4" Weldon holder or 19mm ER collet gives the ability to cut large, accurate holes at very rapid rates with little load on the mill. I find that I'm buying more different sized cutters to use in the mill than I ever needed for the mag drill.

They are even more useful in the drill press, but I had to make a custom MT3 holder for them.
 
Hey Guy,
I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about mag drill in jigs replacing drill presses. I see points on both side but I am looking for some feedback from you guys! Jig pictures and ideas would be great also!

I had suggested in another thread that a mag drill and jig might be an alternate to a mill if you didn’t have one, in order to use annular cutters in (limited) production, not as a replacement for a drill press. That job was within the throat/ throw capabilities of a mag drill.

They are generally far more ridged than a drill press, and great at what they do, but also quite limited

P.S., I just cut down and resharpen the twist drills as needed to fit in the Jacobs chuck adaptor, not too difficult. Usually for for drilling multiple holes (in the size range below the annular cutters) in thick(ish) steel in the field.
 
^ Just buy stub length aka screw machine drills, there ideal for it and if you use them in the mill because there short you won't need to spot drill most things.
 
^ Just buy stub length aka screw machine drills, there ideal for it and if you use them in the mill because there short you won't need to spot drill most things.

Of corse, I usually do, and they cost less too, but sometimes they are too long for the above use, as noted in a previous post.
 
Here is how I used a mag drill yesterday to drill 88 17/32" holes in 7 1/4" thick alum for a customer of mine. Had to tap 1" deep.

Hougen with drill chuck and stub length.
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Here is how I used a mag drill yesterday to drill 88 17/32" holes in 7 1/4" thick alum for a customer of mine. Had to tap 1" deep.

Hougen with drill chuck and stub length.
What kind of place won't even set that on some waist high sawhorses ?

And how long did it take, kneeling on the floor, to layout, punch, drill and tap those 88 holes ?
 
Strangely enough, I got a really good deal on a nice Milwaukee mag drill when I was 16 and have had it for nearly 2 decades now.

I have used it maybe a dozen times? If I didn't have one I think I would want one, but having one I just don't use it that much. Mine is pretty large capacity with both holders for annular cutters and a 1" Jacobs super chuck on it. I know I haven't used it in several years now. Probably loaned it out more than I've used it.

My plain old drill press lives with a single flute countersink in it.

For most drilling and tapping I use my 3' arm radial drill with quick change tooling. It's just the fastest and simplest to use tool for poking a hole through pretty much anything.

I just did a job axially drilling and tapping a bunch of large motor armatures. I was going to set them up on my 4" HBM, but thought it through for a minute and ended up doing them stood on end next to the little radial drill in about 10 minutes a piece.
 
I actually drilled them while they were on the forklift. I just had to take this picture for the safety guy since we drilled them on 2nd shift.

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