Drill press issue

[Joe Cowan]

I am debating on selling my Griz free standing drill press and going with a bench top. I rarely use my drill press other than simple holes etc. Just thinking of the space needs for my shop. Wondering if anyone else has traded down and if they have had any regrets?

[Thomas Williams]

I went to a 10 inch bench top and found that for what I was doing the DP was short on quill travel. So I went to a floor model and unless space was an absolute issue would not go back to a bench top model.

[Lee Schierer]

I have a bench top drill press and there are a few times when I need to bore holes that are in a piece greater than the height available under the quill. I recently discovered that there are two locking screws holding the tube that supports the motor and quill assembly in the base of my drill press. By loosening these two screws, I can rotate the head to either side of the mounting base. Since my drill press is located on the corner of my work bench I can rotate the head so I can drill into longer pieces. I need to make an auxiliary table that will mount to the side of my bench so I can keep things square, but I now can gain an additional 30+" of height.

[Dan Karachio]

I'm going to argue from experience that a bench top takes MORE valuable space than a floor standing drill press. I would not do this and did just the opposite and am much better off space wise.

[glenn bradley]

The actual working footprint is so close I would find some other area where I could gain space and leave the DP alone. You might add some sanding drums or mops or buffing wheels to the DP area to increase its value(?).

A fliptop for my planer and mitersaw was one of the best things I did to gain some space. I now hardly ever use the CMS so the fliptop holds the planer and a sanding station. A DP can be very usable even when angled into a corner. My setup doesn't support this but I am always jealous of folks who can do it.

[Don Alexander]

went from a huge radial floor drill press to a 12" BT model to better utilise space i mounted the DP on a slideout shelf that sits just below the benchtop . by making a removable piece in my benchtop i can keep the DP slid back into the bench for most normal applications which clears the bench for the miter saw station and other things
when i need the extra height for drilling in long stock i can slide the shelf out to the edge of the bench and have the space all the way to the floor available

this setup frees up considerable space in a small 12x12 shop :)

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Another solution is to keep the floor model and build a small cabinet. This is what I did. When I need the extra room under the quill, I just slide the cabinet away.

-Jeff :)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/1864x675.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/2864x675.jpg

[Brendan Plavis]

Another solution is to keep the floor model and build a small cabinet. This is what I did. When I need the extra room under the quill, I just slide the cabinet away.

-Jeff :)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/1864x675.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/2864x675.jpg

Arent those some nice renders.... show off.....

I like the idea though... you definately save space with that... but might I ask about the draws? Are they shapped, or how do you get stuff in there with the base of the drill in there too?

[Don Jarvie]

Put some wheels on it and it should be able to fit in a corner or against the wall.

A bench top will be on a bench and take up bench space so 6 of 1 and 1/2 dozen

[Ryan Baker]

I've worked mainly on a 10" bench model for many years, and it will handle 99% of my needs. That said, I also have a full size press, and I would not downsize from that if I already had it (because of quill travel and throat depth). A drill press is one of the easiest things to fit into a crowded space in terms of footprint.

[mark kosse]

I've found that most benchtop drill presses have too little room under the chuck. You could just shorten your press and then put a cabinet under it. I have a sears 15.5 that I did that to.

[Rich Engelhardt]

A fliptop for my planer and mitersaw was one of the best things I did to gain some space

I mounted my benchtop DP on the flip side of my planer.
It certainly looks bizzare when the planer side is up and the DP is down, but, so far it's worked great.