Using a cordless drill in a drill press stand

[sams93]

I was wondering if anyone has had any luck mounting a cordless combi drill in one of these. I appreciate it isn't going to replicate a proper drill press. Also how did you go about squeezing the trigger?

 

[artie]

I've not done it, but I imaging you could pull the trigger and lock it in place till you're done.

 

[Richard_C]

Neither of my cordless drills have a collar, almost all mains ones did. If you do manage to mount it, a spring clamp or even a peg might hold the trigger in, you need something a bit "precarious" so you can knock it off in an instant, string or cable ties would make it hard to turn off quickly and there is no plug to pull out. The mains ones had a trigger with a button to hold it in, the button was designed to let go with the lightest touch on the trigger. If you are working where there is electricity, why not get a pre owned mains drill, I keep my old Bosch for just this sort of thing.

 

[ajs]

Wouldn't fancy your chances. A lot depends on the drill of course but I'd imagine the motivation here is economic in which case we're unlikely to be talking about a top flight drill. Two concerns. Firstly vast majority of cordless drill lack a mounting collar raising the question of how you will mount the drill. The other is sheer power, home DIY level cordless drills are noticeably less powerful than the equivalent mains drill. Personally when I use a drill press I expect it to have plenty of grunt, esssentially bonk the drill down and there's your hole. Your typical cordless drill isn't going to do that.

Of course both issues may not apply with a beefy professional grade tool but that bring me back to economics, you'd probably be looking at £350 for such a cordless drill which is four times the cost of a basic but usable pillar drill.

 

[sams93]

The motivation here is to save space - was wondering if I could get away with my combi and one of these instead of a pillar drill for the occasional use.

Doesn't sound like it! Thanks for the advice

 

[KeenToLearn]

I tried one of those clamp on drill stands, it was useless, didnt drill straight and to get it to clamp on, you needed to tighten it nearly to point of breakage. Gave up and bought a small purpose made drill press. Tbh it does not take up much more room than that clamp on type, but is infinitely better in operation!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I have a Bosch S7 drill stand that's fine - it was expensive, I paid something like £70 for it about 40 years ago. There's a world of difference between the top end ones and the bottom end ones. A bonus with a good stand is that with a 43mm collar they will carry a router with a collar that size.

 

[scholar]

I have had for years a Wolfcraft drill stand that has been very good - I still use it on my project away from home. IIRC it needs a drill with a 43mm collar which was a standard, but not many cordless drills have these now.

My old (Pro) B&D mains drill has such a collar and can be locked on.

I have two cordless drills that fit - a DeWalt XRP 18v and a Festool TPC Quad drive - both of these work well and I lock the drill on with a ratchet hand clamp - this type of thing

Cheers

 

[Fergie 307]

The little Chinese pillar drills sold under all sorts of brands, Wickes for example, are ok for occasional use. Look on e bay or fb, there are always loads about for maybe £50.

 

[clogs]

I was given 3......
plan to use the steel bits in a project and melt the ally down for another........

they are from the 50's with a make anything do attitude.......rubbish....like most DIY tooling from that time...
even my dads wood chisels wouldn't out perform some Chinese stuff today....
the 50's are best forgotten.....besides Rock n Roll hadn't started yet......lol....

 

[Orraloon]

Saving space you say, well a benchtop pillar drill will only have a slightly larger footprint than that drill stand. I reckon the Bosch benchtop drill would be taking the same amount of space and it has dial in speed and everything else that you expect from a pillar drill. If I have access to power then I mostly prefer plug in to battery. Exceptions being driving screws and going up ladders. I find the pillar drill to be one of the most used tools in the shed and it does more than just drill.
Regards
John

 

[sams93]

I probably should invest in a pillar drill.... reccomendations of any with a smallish footprint?

I'd prefer to buy an older well made used tool if possible so happy to keep an eye out for one going if people have suggestions. Also happy to buy broken and repair.

 

[sams93]

This is only 30 mins from me - shame it's 3 phase and a bit big!

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/228667563338123/

 

[throbscottle]

I run my battery drill flat every so often to prevent battery memory (old drill with nicads). A spring clamp holds the trigger in place for that. I got a cheap drill stand from Lidl about 8 years ago. With a mains drill it's vastly better than trying to drill straight handheld. Now I have small bench drill it's even better, though it's old, cheap and a bit wobbly.

If you find me on instructables.com, you'll find a project for "horizontal boring without a lathe" I think I called it. Anyway, in that I showed how to mount a battery drill in a frame so it can be fixed to something. Possibly you could adapt that idea to mount to your stand (and go mad in the process). But really the only sensible option is to use the stand with a mains drill, or get a bench drill. It will make your life better!