Pipe holder for Craftsman lathe

[Frank S]

Thanks for the input. i suspected that a holesaw on 2-3/8 oil pipe would be taxing on the saw.

I had an idea to scavenge an old drill press and retrofit the electric motor with a hydraulic motor. Then this could be powered via the remote hydraulics on a tractor. Mount up the drill press via 3 point hitch and build a mobile pipe notching station. The hydraulics would provide adequate power to cut through anything that the drill bit or hole saw could handle. I would think that this would have to be rigged up via pulley system to allow slippage on the belt because the drill bits would shear off under the load of a hydraulic motor.

You could definitely build a hydraulic motor powered drill press I made one many years ago with 3 quills to drill 3 holes at the same time. However a torque limiter coupling at the motor is recommended along with a flow divert-er and an adjustable pressure relief valve even if you use a pulley system
A shell mill will do reasonably well in cutting oilfield pipe when ran at about 3/4 s or less than optimal recommended RPM and flooded with a good quality coolant . Shell mills are crazy expensive and you never want to bet the farm on only needing just 1. Also it would be best to have what ever rotary cutting tool used have a live tail shaft to support both ends of the mandrel

[scoopydo]

I recently converted an old Leyland-Gilford drill press to hydraulic power. I made a mount for the hydraulic motor on the end of the 3 phase motor and drive it through the motor. I have a hydraulic power supply with variable pump. I can slow it down very slow with no loss of torque. Plus it's a geared head drill press so the speeds are almost limitless. I really love this thing!

George