Technical Using a Drill Press as a Milling Machine.

I go with or 'recomend' conventional milling vs. climb, and very light cuts. Every side force cut wants to loosen the Chuck.

 

I modified my drill press for an X-Y table [I can mount 2 vices in it] , I also bored the drill press quill for a drawbar and can use MT3 in it.
Now a chain is only as strong as the weakest link ,in a drill press the columm flexes an shakes too much when trying to do milling.
I could try filling the column with block filler, but to be honest you would be better off with a cheap Chinese mill than to sink time and money into converting a drill press.

The X-Y table is worth it for conventional drilling

 

It's not at all hard to have 1/2 or better of the mill cost in accessories...

 

I surfaced the carb face on a cast iron manifold with a drillpress and all the things said against doing it are true...... Lots of tool chatter, and the morse taper kept falling out.... I got the job done but it was very nerve wracking and a large pain in the ****........ I do have an X-Y table that helped a lot, but was still a major pain....

LynnW

 

I thought I was the only guy using a junk Chinese drill press and a junk $40 Chinese HF two axis mill vise for small milling operations! I added locking bolts to hold the quill solid once the cut depth was set. I spot welded the chuck taper, and welded and filed additional metal to the vise joints to eliminate the slop. I had been shopping for a used bench-top mill, but for just occasional hobby work, mine works.

 

Good to hear Brizo.

 

I've spent thousands of hours in front of a bridgeport, a drill press isn't designed to resist the side forces of milling, but in some cir***stances it can be better than a file or chisel
Rich has the right idea about cutter size, keep it small and run at about 3-500 rpm. (most people run everything too fast) If you are getting chatter, (which will loosen the chuck as others have warned) slow down speed and/or feed until it stops. If it doesn't stop, give up! 1/4" 2 flute standard length single end cutters are my first choice for this use. Buy several as you WILL break them. An added advantage to using small cutters is they will break before they rip something big off the table and throw it through your chest.
Good luck, wear safety goggles but no gloves, and don't expect much success.