Well, actually....Before I got a real mill, I used a drill press and vise to mill out pockets and such with an endmill, and did it by holding the vise with my hands.
granted it took alot of holding power to grip the damn thing in my hands, and after making a block, my tendons in my hand were killing me for a bout a week after,but no lost fingers or skin.
THIS IS NOT SAFE PRACTICE WITH MACHINERY OF ANY SORT. I just couldnt find enough patience to wait until I got something better to mill blocks with. But for me, doing it by hand worked out pretty well.
After 3 blocks, the drill press needed spindle bearings as the original ones were shot.This should give you an idea of how little axial force that a drill press is designed to handle. Equivilent to around 5 hours of milling total.It was time for a milling machine anyway by this point.
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