Herman,
Beautiful work. Thanks for the comment about using a center drill for the initial hole. They are *much* stiffer. The only real issue is there is very little daylight between the table and the chuck. So a selection of screw machine length drills will probably be required. Though I could switch to a regular drill press once the holes were spotted. Holes I can hit. Can't do punch marks any longer.
As for how to extend the range there is the possibility that someone makes a plastic 8" or 12" caliper though I have not seen one. Extending the range merely requires drilling and tapping a 3rd hole in the table and a knurled screw to make it easy to move. Just rezero the caliper after a move.
I have a 6" x 24" Clausing 8520 mill i can use for larger work. But as my interest is small DIY T&M or QRP projects, the caliper length really isn't a limitation.
I bought the plastic calipers for the sole reason they were crazy cheap and likely quite accurate. Coming from temu, if they were not, once they hit my B&S Johansson gauge block set they would have been a full refund from temu. They were dead on.
Have Fun!
Reg
On Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 10:11:27 AM CST, Herman van Rees via groups.io <herman@...> wrote:
Hi Reg,
That is my favorite manner of drilling.
Centering with a punch & hammer is very difficult te be spot-on.
I use the X-Y coordinate system, calculate the positions and start with the X & Y display on 0 at the corner of the front panel.
The results is perfect, first drilling with a center drill as used on my lathe.
See picture and final result on QRZ.com on my webpage there.
w. greetings,
Herman,
PA0VRE
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