Tapping cast iron machine table

[Lazurus]

I need to tap a couple 6 or 8mm holes in my bandsaw table. Anything to watch out for with cast iron. any advice?

 

[Mike Jordan]

Cast iron drills and taps well. In my case I needed the holes to be at 90 degrees to the surface . The easiest way was to drill a piece of scrap timber with the drill press and then clamp the timber to the machine bed and use the hole as a guide.

 

[ColeyS1]

Cast iron drills and taps well. In my case I needed the holes to be at 90 degrees to the surface . The easiest way was to drill a piece of scrap timber with the drill press and then clamp the timber to the machine bed and use the hole as a guide.

That's such a great tip. I saw it on pinterest this morning and saved it

For a few minutes work it should make hole tapping much more straightforward

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[custard]

I wanted some holes drilling and tapping in a spindle moulder table for a power feed.

I'm not very confident about metal working,so I got an engineer in to to the job. He took a big block of wood from my scrap pile, pre-drilled it on my pillar drill as a guide for the pilot hole, and then borrowed some of my F Cramps to secure it to the table.

By this time I was thinking, blimey, is that all there is to it? I could have done all that myself!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Same method for dog holes in a bench.

 

[Beau]

I know little of metal working but put some 12mm threads through the Felders top to give so extra spindle fence adjustment. The wooden block sounds a good idea but got by with no guides. All good many years on

 

[AES]

I can understand that anyone who's not tried it before would be worried about drilling and tapping cast iron. But it really is "EASY-PEASY" - perpendicular hole (however you get to that, block of wood will be fine), take it easy and clear the tap every couple of turns (max) and "Robert's yer Dad's Brother". You'll wonder what you were worried about, 'onest (as custard already said).

 

[Lazurus]

That's great, thanks for the advice will give it a go......

 

[Rorschach]

Cast Iron is one of the nicest materials to drill and tap as it forms a small chip and is self lubricating. Turning it on the lathe though is not so pleasant.