Angle Drilling on a Drill Press: Tilting the Table vs. the Part

Angled holes show up constantly: pivot brackets, angled bolt flanges, compound angle jigs, bevel gear housings. On a mill, you tram the head or rotate the part in a tilting vise. On a drill press, you have fewer options — but two reliable ones.

The choice between tilting the table and tilting the workpiece comes down to three things: the angle required, how the part is shaped, and whether you can safely clamp at that angle.

Method 1: Tilting the Drill Press Table

Most floor-standing drill presses have a table that tilts 45° left and right. Some tilt 90°. The table locks with a rack-and-pinion clamp or a T-bolt. Most do not have a reliable degree scale — treat the built-in scale as a rough reference and verify with an angle gauge or digital inclinometer.

How to set it accurately

1. Loosen the table lock and rotate to approximately the needed angle.
2. Set a digital angle gauge or precision level on the table surface (not the column).
3. Dial in the exact angle and tighten the lock.
4. Verify the table did not shift when you tightened — retighten a second time if it moved.
5. If drilling square to the angled surface (a true compound angle), you may need to compound-rotate both table tilt and workpiece orientation.

Clamping at angle

This is where most setups fail. A tilted table means your clamps want to slide. Options that work:

• Step clamps with wedge blocks: Pack the low side so the clamp bears down, not sideways.
• V-block set into a notch: For round stock drilled at an angle, a V-block keeps the part from rolling and lets you clamp normally.
• Vise with tilted jaw: A vise mounted to the angled table and shimmed so the jaw face is roughly vertical — gives you square clamping on a tilted part plane.
• Double-sided tape + clamp: For light cuts on non-production work. The tape prevents lateral shift; the clamp prevents lift. Not for production, but works on one-offs.

Method 2: Tilting the Workpiece

Leave the table level. Use angle blocks, a sine bar, or a tilting vise to present the workpiece surface perpendicular to the drill. This is usually the more accurate method because you can measure and verify the workpiece angle before drilling, and clamping stays conventional.

Angle blocks

Precision angle blocks (1°, 2°, 5°, 10°, 15°, 20°, 30°, 45°, and combinations) let you build up nearly any angle in 1° increments. Stack the block(s) under the workpiece so the surface you want to drill faces up, perpendicular to the spindle. Clamp the workpiece to the block or to the table surface with the block acting as a wedge support.

Sine bar method

A 5" sine bar set with gauge blocks under one end gives you any angle to within fractions of a degree. The formula: gauge block height = 5 × sin(angle). Set the part on the sine bar, clamp in a vise or to the table, drill. This is the go-to for precision work where ±0.5° is not good enough.

Tilting vise

A milling vise with a tilting jaw adjustment lets you set angles by degree markings directly on the vise body. Faster than stacking blocks. Accuracy depends on the quality of the vise and how well the degree scale is calibrated — verify with an angle gauge on the part face before drilling.

Which Method for Which Situation

Spotting and Starting the Hole

Drill walk is worse at angle. The point skids across the surface before it can bite because the cutting forces are no longer balanced by a flat entry. Always spot drill before drilling at angle:

• Use a spotting drill (not a center drill — see the spotting vs. center drilling post) at the drill's final angle.
• The spot establishes a cone that guides the drill point on the angled surface.
• For very steep angles (>30°), consider milling a small flat at the entry point first if the material allows it.

Verifying the Angle After Drilling

The fastest field check: push a plug gauge or a known-diameter pin into the hole and measure its angle relative to the part face with an angle gauge or protractor. For critical work, check with a CMM or coordinate measurement on a surface plate.