Drilling perfectly centred holes using a Drill Press?

In this video I'll show you how you can avoid having to buy a lathe for more than 27 years straight. Although I would not recommend that.
The trick is to use your drill press basically like a metal lathe, by chucking up your workpiece in the drill chuck and using the drill press vise like a lathe's tailstock.

[richardpalmer]

Great tip . Let another grandfather share a slightly different method . Put the drill for the hole size in the vise, chuck a smaller drill in the press, lower the chuck, or raise the table, move the vise until the two drill points meet and you are centered . Takes a little longer, but no stress on the drill in the vise . Thanks for this tip from a 75 year old grandpa .

[Sludgepump]

Simple, effective and annoyingly obvious after hearing this gem. Thanks Cosmas... This is very useful!

[mirdza]

Your grandfather showed you a great trick. You can upgrade it by using the drill chuck to perfectly align the drill bit in the clamp before securing it in place. Love your videos.... you are one very smart guy

[normanbott]

Absolutely brilliant ! I served an engineering apprenticeship and no-one ever taught us that trick: probably because a lathe would have been available some where. I'm almost 3 times older than you and I STILL don't have a lathe ... ;-(

[rpfl]

If its not perfectly centered? How does it find center when you make that first pilot hole? What am I missing?

[zapapnt]

Amazing! I was saying all kinds of terrible negative things during thee video.
"This is BS!" (at minimum) I still can't imagine how this works so perfectly
Great tip. Thank you. 😁✌🖖

[IEnjoyCreatingVideos]

Neat trick Cosmas! Thank you for sharing it with us.👌👍😎JP

[woodsandbarclay]

I don't understand. The very first center hole that you drilled you didn't get it in the exact center of the work piece. So then how is the hole going to end up being in the exact center of the workpiece?

[paulangus]

Awesome Cosmas! Thank you for sharing.

[robinburke]

As long as you need a through hole, for a small part like that I’ve always done it in the opposite direction... chuck the part in the drill, lower it to the vise, lock the head of the bolt (in this case) in the vise and lock down the vice to the drill press table. Release the chuck, mount the smaller drill bit and drill through. Flip the part, re-center it with the small drill in the chuck (insuring a parallel hole to the length of the bolt), mount the larger drill bit and drill to the depth required. With my 70-year-old eyes and hands it’s the only way I can insure a straight hole! If you don’t need the through hole then ignore this idea. Like your videos. Please keep them coming!

[singJJBplay]

Wow, very interesting! Thanks for passing on your grandfather's wisdom. My grandfather taught me his method for eating peas. He would say, "I eat my peas with honey, I've done it all my life. It makes my peas taste funny, but it keeps 'em on my knife." :)

[rickpalechuk]

Thanks for sharing your GP's knowledge. You best be doing something about that lathe issue :)
Cheers

[nealwalden]

Very useful to know. Greetings from California. Enjoy your videos.

[jtluttermoser]

This helped me so much, literally the exact kind of part I'm making as an adapter. Thanks for the video!

[timoschneider]

I whish i knew this trick before i bought a lathe.

[benfranklin]

Wonderful technique. Thanks for sharing!

[holton]

Excellent! Now I just have to get a more accurate drill press. The Ryobi I have has a one-piece shank and arbor. It is inaccurately made, and cannot be changed or altered easily. Ugh…

[Tugmun]

I just felt my life change, thanks Cosmas.

[memybikeni]

0:44 “still don’t own a lathe at almost 27 years old” 😂. Me neither, and I get by without one, just make do with a pillar drill and a good engineers vice.

[miketabar]

Now that's thinking outside the box. Great tip.