Latest Update: 01-20-2008

The construction of  a Vertical Milling machine from a 12" Drill Press is a project that I have undertaken because of a video that I purchased from the Little Machine Shop in California.   Jose Rodriguez's video show you how to convert a Drill Press into a vertical milling machine. The video is named "Milling on the Drill Press" and is 4 hours long.  In this he shows the steps that he undertook to do the modification.   I purchased a 12" Drill Press from Harbor Freight and have proceeded to do the same types of changes.  Here are some photos of what I have done.



After making some of my changes you will notice that there is a threaded rod sticking out of the top of the front pulley assembly.  This is part of the modification so that you can with precision move the drill bit down a precise amount.
I then removed that top cover from where the pulleys were to eliminate the possibility  of the top falling down on the shaft while the machine is running.



Here is a detail picture of the top of the machine.


The next thing done was to cut down the vertical tube as it was about 3" to high.



The next thing needed is to make the vertical tube stiffer as there is some flex in these small tubes.
So to add anything to the tube the bottom must be sealed up temporally with a freezer bag put between the tube and the base.  It was bolted back into place to seal the end.

Then I added your local post concrete to stiffen the tube.

   Open bag and mix with water and fill tube.  Please notice the custom funnel.

 If your careful you may not make a mess.


I did this to both my new vertical mill and my old drill press as all it can do is help with the flex when drilling.  Also it did not take much concrete from the bag and why waste all of it.


Here is a picture of the tube completely filled with concrete.


More info later as I continue on making this conversion.