Electrician's Drill Stand - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: asbokid
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2013, 05:04:29 pm
content: Anyone tried one of these? The DONAU ELECTRICIANS DRILL STAND is £20 or thereabouts, so no bank breaker.Any good for drilling out PCB holes?http://www2.westfalia.net/shops/tools/drilling/drill_accessories/small_and_mini_drill_accessories/534113-electricians_drill_and_stand.htmcheers, a

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2013, 05:28:23 pm
content: A friend of mine that used to work at an optical ship had an exact drill/drill base for repairing glasses, drilling lenses etc. I had used it couple of times for my DIY PCBs and it worked really good.Alexander.

author: Fezder
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2013, 06:55:26 pm
content: Well, what i know about these things, that looks a LOT better than what we have at school....it doesnt have depth adjustent, you have to lift pcb upwards towards the blade...and another nice killer for those with long haird: it is belt-fed, without belt cover :O.i dont know how come such piece of you-know-what is doing otherwise ''top notch'' lab.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2013, 07:42:07 pm
content: Just do not use it with carbide drill bits, only HSS. The runout on the motor and the stand is too much for the carbide ones, the HSS can bend more before it shatters.

author: Telstar
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2013, 10:12:30 pm
content: It seems better than the Dremel ones that have some alignment issues (and it's cheaper).* Telstar likes

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 12:08:48 am
content: The idea looks good, for that price if I didn’t have a drill press I would get one. Found a bigger image and the frame where the drill is mounted looks like plastic, it could be a problem after long time usage.Like SeanB said, I would use HSS drill bits, but if the drill itself is well balanced you could try carbide drills, but I strongly doubt that.This is the image I found:

author: FenderBender
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 01:49:15 am
content: Why not just get a regular drill press? Too much torque? Too fast?I've used a standard press for some pcb work. It worked fine. And now you can use that press for other things.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 02:24:24 am
content: Quote from: FenderBender on March 11, 2013, 01:49:15 amAs I understand it a regular drill press turns much too slowly for PCB drills. A typical drill press is measured in 100's of RPM while a miniature PCB drill should turn at 1000's of RPM, more like Dremel speeds.You can work this out. Suppose you have a 6 mm drill bit. If the drill is running at 1000 RPM the speed of the cutting edge will be:(1000 / 60) x (6 x pi) = 314 mm/secNow suppose you have a 0.5 mm drill bit. This time the speed of the cutting edge will be:(1000 / 60) x (0.5 x pi) = 26 mm/secIf you want the same cutting speed the drill will need to be turning at 12,000 RPM instead of 1000 RPM.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 02:25:40 am
content: Has anyone actually found a cheap/small drill press or dremel press whichissuitable for carbide drills?

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 03:03:01 am
content: IanB is right about speeds, specially with carbide bits. However I got a small drill press from Proxxon and it is driven by a belt and highest speed is 8.500 rpm. I have good results with carbide bits, the reason for this is a good balanced chuck and no vibrations on the Proxxon, but it would be even better if it could go up to 10.000 rpm.Psi, did you check Proxxon in Australia? Or the brand which Fran use in her last video about drilling a PCB, it is a rebadged Proxxon.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 05:31:27 am
content: I have the Proxxon TBM-115 and it does a fine job drilling PCBs with carbide bits. I never even use the higher speeds, don't really see the point just drilling boards at home. I don't think I've ever broken a bit with it.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 11:26:47 am
content: Rdl, you got same drill press as mine but yours is for US market. As for the speed, like I said it works good because of the quality in our machines, but like IanB said higher speed is better for PCB drilling specially with the machines like topic starter linked us.But did I understand correct, you are using lower speed on your Proxxon? Because it has only 3 speeds 1800rpm, 4700rpm and 8500rpm and first two are really low.

author: Telstar
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 01:00:34 pm
content: Quote from: Spawn on March 11, 2013, 03:03:01 amProxxon mini-drill press costs about 270€ in Germany (and ofc more elsewhere).Which model you got? If it's the one i think, gz for the purchase, it is on my wishlist.On the other side for metal drilling, a SLOW speed is needed (around 500-1000rpm max), and this is the problem I have with most dremels and clones, because I need to cut M2/M3 holes in aluminium heatsinks, not only pcb.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 01:42:07 pm
content: Telstar, I got a TBM 220 for long time now. It is around 170 euro’s here in the Netherlands. I think you mean its bigger brother TBH which goes around 340 euro’s here, it is too big for my bench and maximum speed is 6400rpm.Here a Dutch online store:http://www.kruis.nl/artikelen/728128/proxxon-tafelboormachine-tbm-220.htmlI got it even cheaper for 155 euro’s new back then.and the TBH:http://www.kruis.nl/artikelen/728124/proxxon-tafelboormachine-tbh.htmlHere some pictures with two brothers next to each other:http://verysoft.free.fr/MY_PHOTOS/PROXXON/PROXXON_TBH_TBM_220_ENSEMBLE/SERIE_1/Asbokid, sorry if we are hijacking your topic

author: Telstar
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 02:22:14 pm
content: Quote from: Spawn on March 11, 2013, 01:42:07 pmYes, I referred to the TBH, the best price I found was 290 (not 270 like I wrote), and therefore out of my budget. But the little brother like you have could fit mine at around 150. I need to know the max height of the item to drill under it, because some big heatsinks are 12-15 cm high. I would use roughly 75% for heatsinks, 20% for metal sheets and only 5% to drill PCBs.Sorry to the OP, but I think the goal of the topic is to find a cheaper alternative (the Dremel + stand is close to 150€ and much less precise than a real column drill) to a machine like your ProxxonA friend of mine got a cheap chinese little drill, which does slow speeds of 500 and such. I wasnt able to find one, they are all too fast for metal.Which is the min rpm of the TBM? on one site says "Leerlaufdrehzahlen: 1.800 - 4.700 und 8.500/min"For the TBH is "1.080, 2.400 und 4.500/min" while you say 6400 *confused*

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 02:55:44 pm
content: Quote from: Telstar on March 11, 2013, 02:22:14 pmI just took a picture for you in highest position, without a drill till the chuck it is 15cm but I am not using the standard collets and with those it should be around 17cm.Quote from: Telstar on March 11, 2013, 02:22:14 pmYeap the TBM is speeds are right, but interesting thing is that the website I linked before claims that TBH has 6400rpm and official site 4500rpm and if you take a look at manual on the drawing of TBH it claims again 6400rpm while it says 4500rpm in the specs, did you get it? I sure didn’t LOL, but my guess is indeed 4500rpm like you said.http://modelbouwgereedschap.nl/images/20060105%20Proxxon_TBH_gesamt.pdf

author: mzzj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 03:52:06 pm
content: Quote from: IanB on March 11, 2013, 02:24:24 amIf you don't need to drill hundreds of holes at once "regular drill press" is also workable. It will be just a little slower but the difference in total time spend is not that big since most of the time is spent positioning the pcb for every hole."Regular drill press" in parenthesis as most of the cheap drill presses are way too sloppy to be used with carbide drills.As a minimum requirement you need dual ball bearing in the spindle (many of the cheapest chinese "harbour freight" drill presses have only one spindle bearing and upper part of the spindle is slopping around)Standard chucks are also useless, so you need drill press with morse taper for mounting collet chuck.Quill fit(or lack of it) is another source of free play, I simply added couple of plastic pieces that I can use to press the quill against side of the hole so that it does not slap around.CTC tools has some nice collet chucks. Despite their low price the quality is more than adequate for this kind of use.I am using this one combined with full collet set:http://www.ctctools.biz/servlet/the-25/ER16-MT2-MK2-COLLET/Detail

author: Telstar
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 04:00:22 pm
content: Thank you very much, Spawn. I have to find out if the min speed of 1800rpm is too high or not for aluminium drilling (I'm afraid it is).

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 04:04:08 pm
content: Yes, I do use the lowest speed on the TBM-115. I drill plastic and aluminum and other stuff also, and I don't like switching the belt around so I just use slow speed all the time. I should also point out that I'm using the adjustable chuck and not collets. This seems to work fine for me, maybe because I never drill really tiny holes. This drill runs very smooth and quiet, like a sewing machine. I can't locate the manual, but the outside of the box claims speeds of 1800/4700/8500 rpm, I have never bothered to actually check it.

author: Telstar
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 04:22:48 pm
content: Quote from: Spawn on March 11, 2013, 02:55:44 pmgee, thanks!So, with the drill tip and standard collet, there is about 13cm clearance?This would make it good for all but the biggest heatsinks and for when I need those I could go out and pay a smith.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 04:25:24 pm
content: Quote from: Telstar on March 11, 2013, 04:00:22 pmYou are welcome Telstar, I was checking out already and found couple charts about drilling, and with lowest speed on TBM you can drill till 18mm and I can already tell you, that won’t fit in the chuck of TBMHere one of the charts which was better to read out:http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z298/Bl4ckW0lfi3/drilling_zps1bc08843.jpgQuote from: rdl on March 11, 2013, 04:04:08 pmI like almost all Proxxons, you could say I am a Proxxon fan, can’t agree more with you. Most of their equipments are affordable and small which is essential for me.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 04:44:52 pm
content: Quote from: Telstar on March 11, 2013, 04:22:48 pmWell I went to my bench and change the chuck to original collets and put in a 3.2mm drill bit in there, I have to say this bit is fairly long one (65mm in length) and even with this long bit there was still 14cm clearance so if you get shorter bits you will have even more clearance. I should note I am not using any vice so it is flat on the work surface.

author: Telstar
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2013, 04:55:38 pm
content: Quote from: Spawn on March 11, 2013, 04:25:24 pmAccording to that table, up to 10mm aluminum diameter is OK to drill with 1800rpm speed. That would suit most of my needs.http://www.proxxon.com/eng/html/28128.php6mm is the max drill size that would fit the machine, though.

author: alrj
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 09:42:23 am
content: Quote from: Spawn on March 11, 2013, 03:03:01 amI'm very happy to hear that. I also have a TBM-220 (with the chuck) and never dared to buy carbide bits because of the relatively low speed. Now I'll get one or two and see how it turns out (no pun intended).Thanks for the feedback!

author: asbokid
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2013, 01:34:35 pm
content: Just to update, I bought this drill stand, and it arrived from Germany. The construction quality is low to dire. Also, out of the box, it wouldn't house the dremel - it needed longer clamp screws. However, all that said, once assembled it does work quite well.Because of its flimsy manufacture and the large amounts of plastic used, i can't really recommend it.cheers, a