Robot Building for Beginners, Third Edition

CHAPTER 20 ■ COUPLER

Drill Press

A drill press is a device that holds a drill firmly and completely perpendicular to the work piece (see Figure 20-19).
A lever on the side of the press lowers the drill straight down. Notches on the lever indicate the depth drilled, for
precise control.

With the drill turned off, you can position the workpiece and lower the lever to show exactly where the
hole would be drilled. Thus, a drill press insures that a hole will be drilled straight, in the exact location, and
to the exact depth intended.
Maybe I’m sounding like a broken record, but a drill press is the third tool (rotary tool and vise being the
other tools) that I couldn’t build decent robots without. The Dremel drill press or Dremel Rotary Tool Work
Station is available at hardware stores and Amazon.com.

Drill-Press Vise

The Dremel drill press comes with instructions for making clamps to hold the piece being worked on.
A drill-press vise is a superior solution for small items. The Wolfcraft vise has a V groove in the jaw to hold
round items, which is perfect for the coupler (see Figure 20-20). The vise is available from Micro-Mark, item
#82546, for $29.80.

Figure 20-19. Dremel rotary tool installed on a Dremel drill press. Optional oil and drill-press vise also
pictured