Hand powered drill press

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Tjurved

Nomad
Mar 13, 2009
439
3
Sweden
Hello made an "adapter" for a Black & Decker drill stand to fit a hand powered drill :). It is very safe, cheap and quiet. The downside is that both hands are needed to operate it and it can't drill big holes.

The real experts I guess wouldn't need a drill press they just drill freehand... with this contraption for me it is less of a lottery when drilling holes that need to be precise.

It was quite fiddly to make the oak adapter plate with handtools only. The holes needed to be dead on to fit and it really needed to be square in two directions.
znahat.jpg
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,718
1,964
Mercia
Excellent work

Hand drill presses have been around for a long time - and used by experts too :)

b6f6f8b01799f7485db92f531afd070c.jpg
 

Tjurved

Nomad
Mar 13, 2009
439
3
Sweden
Excellent work

Hand drill presses have been around for a long time - and used by experts too :)
I always wanted to try one of those but they are very rare around here. I wonder how the index mechanism work with different drills. As I understand the drill press in your picture only need one hand to operate.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,718
1,964
Mercia
I confess I have never used one Tjurved, but they do come up cheaply here now and again - if I see a cheap one locally, it would be fun to restore!
 

Biker

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I always wanted to try one of those but they are very rare around here. I wonder how the index mechanism work with different drills. As I understand the drill press in your picture only need one hand to operate.

I think you'd need two hands for that one in British Red's picture - one to crank the handle and the other to lower the drill body down, via that big wheel onto the work. A clamped down vice to hold the work would be in order for something like that (and yours). I've seen some that have been adapted to use with a foot treadle to turn the drill, thus freeing up one hand to hold the piece on the work plate.
 
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Everything Mac

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 30, 2009
3,112
83
36
Scotland
As I understand it they're pretty slow but you can drill pretty much anything... Looked into one myself but couldn't get one cheaper than a regular pillar drill...

Looks like you've done an excellent job there,

all the best
Andy
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,211
364
73
SE Wales
Now that's sterling work sir. Well done! goodjob

As for real experts not needing a pillar drill to drill straight holes, anyone who thinks they're that accurate choosing freehand over mounted drill press is deluding himself.

Bang on there, Biker; if you want precision you can't do it freehand :)
 
Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
Why can't you drill holes large, just work your way up the drill sizes. If your using a tank cutter add a weight to the drill head. Clamp the work anyway before drilling!
 

SteveW

Forager
Dec 10, 2006
202
0
Launceston,Cornwall
I use one as my main drill, it has a small cog that advances the drill with each rotation of the big handle, so you can hold the work with one hand and turn the drill with the other. It cost me a whole £1.00 on ebay :)
 

Demonwolf444

Tenderfoot
May 18, 2013
82
0
Ripon, North Yorkshire
I have a regular pillar drill/ drill press but i have been wanting a manual and cranked pillar drill for some time for drilling where holes would be better cut slow to afford better precision and accuracy in cutting
 

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