The MachinistPost Blog

A drill press table that is not square to the spindle produces angled holes and ruins close-tolerance reaming. How to check and correct tram in under 20 minutes using a dial test indicator.

Mag drills go where drill presses cannot. Surface prep, annular cutter selection, coolant delivery, and safety restraints — the complete guide to running a magnetic drill press correctly in structural steel.

Belt drill presses have 5 to 12 speed settings and no continuous adjustment. Choosing the right one for each drill size and material is a skill that pays off directly in drill life and hole quality.

Runout enlarges holes and breaks small drills. The fix is different depending on whether the problem is in the chuck, the spindle, or the drill itself. Here is how to isolate which one is causing it.

The depth stop is what makes consistent blind holes possible at production rates. Setting it correctly requires accounting for drill tip geometry — most operators skip this step and wonder why depth varies.

How machine-ground Winslomatic geometry compares to hand-sharpened drills in real-world performance.

When to use taper shank drills versus straight shank and how shank choice affects rigidity and runout.

How spotting drills improve hole location accuracy and when they are worth adding to your process.

Every time you resharpen an HSS drill, the web gets relatively thicker. Here's why that happens, what it means for performance, and when web thinning becomes necessary.

When a magnetic drill press is the right call and how to get accurate holes out of one.

Inside the Winslomatic drill grinder and how it produces consistent, accurate drill geometry every time.

Understanding quill depth stops, graduations, and feed levers for accurate depth control on a drill press.

Building the right drill kit for high-volume CNC production to minimize changeovers and downtime.

What high-helix drill geometry does and the specific situations where it outperforms standard flute angles.

How to set up an effective drill sharpening station in a small shop without big capital investment.

How drill press and CNC spindle setups differ and what each demands from your drill geometry.

How to center your workpiece under the spindle quickly and accurately on a drill press.

How to properly set up a drill press for accurate, repeatable holes every time.

A step-by-step method for measuring drill press spindle and chuck runout with a dial indicator.

How to systematically eliminate the variables that rob your drill press of precision and repeatability.

When to use a drill chuck versus a collet holder and how each choice affects runout and life.

How to set up and optimize through-spindle coolant delivery for deep-hole and production drilling.

How drill geometry choices affect your ability to hold tight positional tolerances on CNC fixtures.

Why consistent drill point geometry is critical for repeatable hole locations in CNC fixture work.