Could any of you gentlemen tell me if it is feasable to try to grind or mill a groove in 4142 steel with a 16 inch drillpress? If so, what kind of cooling fluid would I need? Or would it be easier to grind the groove with a angle grinder in some sort of holding jig?

-I'm inclined to suggest the making the groove with a drill press is an insane idea, but perhaps you can be a little more specific. Certainly, anything is possible, but the typical drill press is not well suited to loads that are applied to the side of the spindle. One of the "benefits" of doing so is the chuck dropping off when under load. I can see where that could be rather intimidating, depending on the circumstances at hand.

-If you're trying to make a gouge, there are better ways to do it. If you're at all serious about it, there was a book published back in the '70s that was all about making carving tools, and it was written for the beginner.

The title is _The Making Of Tools_, by Alexander G. Weygers. I've seen it in libraries; Amazon claims to have a few copies, probably used, and the price is less than $10.

It will tell you how to choose a useful steel for the job; how to shape it; how to heat-treat it; how to affix handles and how to sharpen it. A good book. I'm critical about how-to books in general, and especially about books that purport to teach you how to heat-treat a piece of steel with a torch, but this one is the real thing.