[RichardDeptris]

I don't own a mill or lathe, but I do have a drill press. I would like to drill deep and large diameter holes from 3/4 to 1" using possibly silver and demming bits. The problem is that my drill press mins out at 500rpm. I just embarked on a new project to convert another cheapo Harbor Freight Drill press into a low power, low precision milling machine to address the problem and to do light milling work.

Yesterday, a weird thought hit me. Is it possible to use a brace and bit (pictured below) to drill large and deep holes. It may not be very efficient, but it will certainly give you low RPM and reasonable torque. Depending on your diet, you can apply a hefty amount of force by throwing your body weight on it. Does this sound plausible? The OMMs (original manual machinists) must have used something similar before the advent of power tools. Of course, you wouldn't use the bit pictured, but an appropriate bit for metal working.

[handlewanker]

Hi.....you must be joking.

I once had to drill six 60mm diam holes through 150mm thick cast steel......by hand.

We used a ratchet drill that has a 2 metre long handle to do the ratchet drive.

We first drilled a 9mm hole to act as a pilot using a large B&D electric drill......then it was all the way with the 60mm drill.

Each hole took approx. 2 hours to do.......that was back in 1958 when I served my apprenticeship.

Back in the "good old days" ratchet drills were quite common for large holes.
Ian.