Millling machine question
 

Been thinking of going to look at some mills this weekend, i struggle with hole drilling accuracy on the drill press, my question is if i wanted to make say a motor mount out of aluminium i need to put 4 mounting holes in 50mm apart, would i be able to clamp my piece of aluminium to the mill then move it using the handles to drill the 4 holes exactly 50mm apart? sorry if this seems a little basic.

Re: Millling machine question
 

Yes you can,but milling machine is mostly for shaping parts,you can do precise drilling on the drilling press, if you measure accurately and use a center punch to mark your holes (you can buy them spring loaded for under $10), also, start with the smaller drill bit and then enlarge the hole by switching to a larger.
Hope it helps.

Re: Millling machine question
 

Yes very easily. Infact my manual mill is mostly used as a drill press anymore it seems

Re: Millling machine question
 

Absolutely! Everything is more accurate with a milling machine! Be sure you use a centering drill to start the holes, then switch to your regular drill bit. Once you have a milling machine, you'll never go back.

Something you might consider also, as a cheaper alternative, is to buy an x-y table for a drill press. It's basically a table with some acme screws so you can position your parts more precisely. It uses the same principal as a milling machine, but most drill presses will have a little more runout in the chuck then a milling machine, so the accuracy may not match a mill, but it will be pretty darn close for most jobs.

Your luck must be better then mine! I've always had horrible, horrible luck trying to drill holes by hand. No matter how hard you try, you'll never get the holes right on. Especially in aluminum. Drill bits wander terribly! Maybe if all you need to do is two holes, you can make it work, and if you go up a size on the drill bit to give yourself some wiggle room so parts line up, but even when you start with small drill bit and work your way up, the holes still will be off. Enough to matter? Maybe. The smaller the holes you intend to drill, the more critical the accuracy needs to be. There isn't much wiggle room if you are working with 2mm screws, for instance.