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Vol.1
No.10
8
May 2002
The
Cameron Drill Press, more than a precision drilling machine.
George
Hoffman
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More
than a few years ago, while on a visit to the home of Don
and Nancy Buttfield, my wife Sally and I were invited
to see his shop and were introduced to the Cameron drill
press. The opportunity to see the shop of someone that
I considered to be tops in the miniatures field was indeed
an honor and a privilege.
Don graciously and happily showed Sally and I all his projects
and tooling. His enthusiasm for miniatures and how to create
them was, as ever, infectious. Don wanted to share every
bit of information he had discovered, adapted, or created.
Eventually we came to his Cameron drill press...and he said, "George,
this is THE tool you need for your shop." It sounded
great but even in the late 70's the price of $160 seemed
expensive. (The current price is much greater, but if you
factor in inflation the Cameron has not out-priced itself.)
However, It didn't take my wife Sally long after that visit
to say, "George, you need that Cameron. Buy it!." With
that visit to Don's shop and the information gathered there
I quickly found a lifetime love for this little machine.
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Our
original Model #164B has been in use for some 20 years--and,
we have added two more Camerons to our private "tool pool".
They have been used at the Guild school for many years and
every Guild Study Program and workshops we have given at the
various shows and at our home shop. The machine itself has
never failed in its performance. Perhaps my set-ups didn't
cooperate but that's my problem and not the mighty little giant,
The Cameron.
More Than
a Precision Drill Press
My brand-spanking-new Cameron #164B
We truly had a professional piece of machinery for me to create
with –unpacked, set up and bolted down on our workbench. (It
used to be said that buying tools was a ‘guy thing', not so--many
of our women students have taken a fancy to "Mr. Cameron" and
bought one for their home workshops.)
The
first add-on to my Cameron was an auxiliary table that consisted
of a piece of tempered hardboard larger than the already existing
drill press table of the Cameron. The extended edges allowed
for the clamping of rip guides etc. This worked quite well
and allowed much more control and accuracy than the old Dremel
drill press that I had been using since I first began to make
miniatures.
With
the passage of time I began to explore set-ups that allowed
me more shaping styles and cutting for different joinery techniques.
It was then that I decided to build a slide table that could
be mounted onto the original drill press table. This allowed
me even greater ability to do the joinery techniques. My next
important accessory was adding a table lock so that when lowering
or lifting the table, the lock under the table could be moved
to the new position and tightened. This allowed for the table
to moved left and right without it dropping. Our students at
the Guild School were delighted with the increased accuracy
and safety of the Cameron. The frustration of making and keeping
and adjustment had been eliminated.
What
are the techniques that may be performed using the Cameron?
Shown in the drawing are several. Some of the drawing captions
say use drill press and some say drill press or table saw.
Looking at the drawings you may be able to see just why a particular
joint has the double option. Using the slide table and mounted
vise allows quick, easy setup for many types of joinery. Once
you have developed jigs and fixtures to perform these tasks
set them aside for later use on other project. Here are some
examples.
- Various
joinery techniques. (See drawing below)
- Shaping
special moldings.
- Pin
routing. Here the Cameron works very well due to the accuracy
of the press. A bit more complicated in the initial setup
and preparation that calls for the making of a carrying block
but well worth the effort.
- Slotting.
Using jewelers slotting blades allows you to make a plow
joint on door rails, window rails etc. Here you will want
to use the depth dial indicator during your setup for a precision
cut.
- Repeat
drilling in a line, such as a Shaker peg strip.
- Angle
drilling such as you find in chair bottoms for legs
- Making
blind holes. Set the depth stop, lock the cutting bit at
a specific height and you can raise or lower the bit in the
quill to the desired height and lock it in place.
Many
of the drill presses designed for the miniatures market do
not have the depth adjustment lock, the position holding lock,
or the ability to lock table height enabling side adjustments
without incurring slippage. They loose accuracy when you lower
the bit onto your work piece. The Cameron, designed for the
aerospace industry, is made of good strong metals and maintains
its accuracy.
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