Making a drill press from a microscope - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: picitup
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2015, 06:04:37 pm
content: Hi allI've got a 125w 240v hobby drill made by a company called supatool (see pic 00). Actually I've seen this model sold by many manufacturers so they are all made by one man in a shed in Taiwan. I have wanted a drill press for this tool and have scoured the net but to no avail so I decided to make one myself out of an old microscope.I chose an old school microscope as it was all metal and held together by screws so it's easy to take apart an modify. The idea was to remove the optics and use the guide, track and gear movement normally used to focus the microscope.I found an old Griffin microscope on eBay for £4.99 (see pic 01) and managed to take it apart in just about 2 minutes (pic 03). Sadly when you move it backwards, it won't quite reach 90 degrees so I think a little cutting might be in order (pic02).Pic 03 shows the guide and track and pic 04 the gear and knobs. The knobs simply screw on. This is too easy!Pic06 shows the guide and track fitted to the microscope with the optics missing.Pic07 shows the clamps I used. These are called Munsen Rings and I bought an M10 threaded backplate to go with mine. They are normally used to secure pipes. You can buy these in many sizes, but the nearest, 54mm was a little large for my drill. So I went to the local garage and blagged an old inner tube for free. I cut sections out of it and glued them together to make rubber rings to increase the diameter of my drill and provide a bit of cushioning.I bought 3 different size metal plates from my local hardware shop (pic 08). I think these are normally used to join wood but hey who cares?Pic 09 shows the Munsen Ring Brackets mounted on one of the steel plates. On the other side are the guide and rail from the microscope (pic 10). I couldn't get the screws perfectly flush so I ground them down with an angle grinder, otherwise they fouled the guide.Pic 11 shows the plate mounted on the microscope. Pic 12 shows half of the Munsen Ring screwed in with M10 threaded rod.Pic13 shows the (almost) final project. You can't quite see it on this pic, but there's a limit screw at the bottom of the guide which stops you smashing slides. I'll get a longer screw and plastic knob for this, so it can act as a cutting depth limiter.Turning the microscope focus knobs is a little fiddly, but I've got some plastic balls and rod so I'll make a method that's easier to use. I also need to cut some out the base at the back so you can tilt the drill a full 90 degrees from the bench.The base is quite stable, but when you push the drill back close to 90 degrees, it does topple. I'm sure my daughter and I made a load of lead teddy bears last year. If I can find them, I'll melt them down and pour the lead into the base to make it more stable.I'm sure I'll find lots to do to improve it, but it's a start. It only took me about 3 hours all in to make this so I'm well chuffed.Kind RegardsSteve

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2015, 06:15:02 pm
content: Runout on those cheap drills ranges from bad to terrible. You probably will want to look at either putting in a proper front bearing if you can find one that can be made to fit, or to make a new front bushing and thrust collar to fit and fettle it to have a minimal clearance on the shaft.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2015, 06:33:37 pm
content: I haven't looked back since buying a Proxxon TBM220 miniature pillar drill.I know it is not as cheap as your solution but if you can possibly afford one at some point in the future, you will not regret it.It is a really dinky size perfect for the electronics labThe drill comes with a collet chuck with several collets but I also bought the more convenient, but less accurate tri-jaw conventional drill chuck that just screws on instead of the collet chuck.In the UK it costs £155 but I bought one new in the box for £80 on ebay some time ago.Aurora

author: TheAmmoniacal
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 26, 2015, 07:01:17 pm
content: Reading this thread I just had to dig up this

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2015, 07:13:52 pm
content: Very cleverAurora