One lived permanently on my bench drill, until I replaced it with a (very) second hand round magnetic chuck.

They work well.

Bill

Very useful but do fit a heavy gauge flat washer next to the eye-nut under the table. Depending on the rib configuration on the underside of the table a hex nut may be more versatile than the eye-nut.

Bob D

Yes.. I have one of those and would not be without it, in fact I am thinking of getting another.

As Robert says above, you need to make a nice thick washer so that the eye bolt does not slip into the web space and I defy anyone to fit that eye bolt one handed underneath the table without dropping it.

I made two thick washers which fit accross the web space, a top washer is needed for the same reason as the bottom one.. see below..

…Bob…

May I mention the use of a quick nut in place of the standard item? See my photos at:

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=159956

Hi Guys,

I used to use a length of all thread bar and clamp work or jigs to the drill table, much in the same way as clamping work down on the mill table. Nowadays I have an X-Y table on the press drill with "T" slots and use the same technique for clamping work down.

Dead good! Had a couple for many years from a local hardware store, they are superb for holding larger, thinner stuff on a drill press that won't go in a vice and much, much safer than holding stuff with your fingers.

Highly recommended

Edited By Mike Hurley on 22/11/2021 09:21:53

Mixed results from mine. Really useful when it fits, otherwise unsuitable. The clamp is a bit too big for my small pillar drill's titchy platform, which is uneven underneath due to strengthening ribs. I think this type of clamp is better suited to bigger pillar drills.

The size and type of work I drill can mostly be held in a machine vice, but the vice is useless for holding sheet or long jobs, which I do occasionally. When the machine vice is unsuitable I reach for G-Clamps or the Axminster style clamp. The latter's quick release and reset is particularly good for drilling a sequence of holes along a thin strip.

I don't use mine as often as expected, but am glad to have one.

Dave

I should mention that the implementation shown suffers from the deficiency that there is a considerable bending moment at the junction of stud and clamp body. It was originally intended to buttress it here with a large diameter threaded sleeve, say M10 inside and about 20mm fine outside for the clamping wheel thread. This was not done because no suitable combination of tap/die/bolt was found. Despite this, it has so far been satisfactory.

As chance would have it this morning I had to go for a Blood sample, near to the blood clinic is the tool shop I bought my drill press clamp from, so I called in to get some bottle brushes and a few other odds and bits. Whilst there I checked on the drill press clamps and it has now gone down in price to £6.99! So I grabbed another as I'm bound to lose one sooner or later and at £6.99 it looks like a bargain when compared to other retailers. Can't believe Axminster can charge nigh on £20 for them.

Another vote for the drill clamp. Bought two many years ago, and wouldn't be without them. I like the idea of incorporating a tee nut. Thanks for the suggestion Macolm.

Not having seen the Axminster ones I can't comment – other than in the photographs they certainly look like siblings if not twins!

And at the end of the day it's just a bl**dy clamp, not a micrometer!

Martin

My only comment is that the treaded part is a bit short. The “nut” on mine was wonky as well but I trued it up a bit on the lathe.