Drill Press Recs

[Ashwini Kaul]

Have decided to finally get a DP.
Would like some guidance on what to look for and what to avoid.
Budget: Under $1000
Use: Weekend hobbyist.
Will need some basic bits also since I only have a set of cheap dewalt handheld drill bits.

Thanks for the help!

[Bill White]

Look around for an old one. I found a King Seely Craftsman floor model for $125.00. Cleaned the dust off and put it to work.
If ya can't find what ya want that way, try lookin' at Grizzly DPs.
Bill

[Ashwini Kaul]

Look around for an old one. I found a King Seely Craftsman floor model for $125.00. Cleaned the dust off and put it to work.
If ya can't find what ya want that way, try lookin' at Grizzly DPs.
Bill

Have been looking at the local CL lately and have not found much except tiny bandsaws!
I am very short on shop time between work and young kids, do dont want to hassle with used.
I have been looking at the Grizzlys, the Ridgid, PM, Jet and Deltas.
Unless there is a fantastic Black friday deal from Jet/PM or Delta, will probably go with one of the floorstanding grizzlys.

[David Hostetler]

Grizzly, Steel City, and I think Delta all have floor models with lots of speed options, and huge quill travels. Both of those features will be hugely important...

[David Kumm]

I found a little millrite and use it all the time. I never liked the regular DP and used it little. If you get lucky enough to run into a reasonable MIllrite, Burke, Powermatic mill, even a small Clausing, go for it. You will find a million uses for a little milling machine. Dave

[pat warner]

1000 bucks, whilst a good start, buys more bells & such than iron, design, & good machine work.
Would rather look at well rebuilt Powermatics, Rockwells, General (Can.) Buffalo's and others made in the USA ~20-35 years old.
Drilling tools: another matter. That's where the money really is over the life of the tool.
Examples. (http://patwarner.com/images/drilling_tools.jpg)

[steven c newman]

Not sure where you are at, but you might try Harbour Freight. Seems they have several kinds there. Including a couple floor models. I have a bench-top version, about $70 out there door. Five speed, just about all my little hobbist shop needs.

[Dale Cruea]

My recommendations are that you look for a cast iron base and table, no less than 1 hp and no less than 12 speed.
If you want to use Forster bits you need the hp and speed range.
The Deltas I have seen have a 3/4 hp and I am not sure they will spin a bit over 1".
I had a bench top Delta with a 3/4hp and it would stall on anything over 3/4" Forster bit.
Lower speed about 350 rpm or a little less. Top speed about anything. Unless you are using small bits all the time you will not use the top speed often.

I have a PC 1hp but I am not real happy with it. The spindle is not real tight.

[Trent Shirley]

I have a 10 year old mid-sized Craftsman and it is all I need for a drill press. I have had no occasions where I needed larger and the only thing I could wish for was longer quill travel and especially speed controls without swapping the belt around. But for what I need to use a drill press for there is no justification for high end spending and I put the money towards other tools.

[Victor Robinson]

Quill travel, quill travel, and quill travel. Did I mention quill travel?

Easy speed/belt changes.

The new Delta 18-900L has a full 6" of spindle travel. It's the cat's meow, though close to your budget.

[Chris Tsutsui]

I think the Jet drill presses are well built so don't rule them out. There's also decent parts availability.

If I had to get a new one right now i'd probably take a look at a grizzly G7944, 47, 48. I'd compare stats to the delta and powermatic models as well, and maybe check out Rikon and General.

A while back I bought a used and abused Jet floor model from a fire sprinkler contractor for $75. They beat the crap out of the thing and the chuck was beyond repair.

Rather than pay $55 for a new JET chuck I put in an albrecht keyless chuck, bought a couple of small fix it pieces and it works great. I also added the rockler drill press table which I bought on craigslist for $25 and it comes in handy for repeat tasks like boring cabinet door hinges and so forth.

I recently upgraded to a V-link belt and it runs smoother and quieter now.

For tooling you can do a lot with a complete set of drill bits and a drill doctor. I never really found a particular drill bit brand to stand out... Just don't get a really cheap bit that will dull after the first hole or bend.

I'd invest in maybe a decent set of forstner bits like Freud Diablo, or if you use it rarely then just get a cheap set from Harbor Freight. I bought a cheap harbor freight hole-saw set and spindle sander drill press set and those come in handy on those rare occasions. I just used a spindle sander in my drill press to cope and stick round mouldings. If you have a drill press table you can use a spindle sander attachment with fences and make yourself a mini jointer for delicate work pieces.

Remember that just because you spent $600 on the drill press doesn't mean you can't go over budget for you can get a sliding cross vice, Hold down clamp set, Laser, light, mobile base, mortising attachment, etc...

[George Gyulatyan]

Wish I had a $1000 budget for a drill press. I've been eyeing the Steel City 20520 17" press. Everyone seems to be raving about the 6" quill travel on that one. And I'd keep the $400 left over for other things :)

[John Coloccia]

You know, it's sad that I find it hard to recommend a drill press due to lack of quality and features. My vote goes for search craigslist and tool dealers looking for some nice old iron. The new Delta isn't too too terrible (the 18-900 I think), and the price is right. My next drill press like object will be a mill/drill...I tried to order one earlier this year and Grizzly was out of stock.

[Don Wacker]

You can spend alot of money on a drill press and still get junk, its hard to find a good one now days. Alot boast about long quill travel 6", doesnt do much good when it travels left and right / forward and back 1/8". Even the expensive PM2800 isnt all that great. Id look for real old or go PM or the new delta and stay away from all the cheaper ones. I had a shop fox and a griz prior to PM and they were both garbage in terms of drill press quality.

Don

[Steven Wayne]

My vote is for a used, small milling machine. In my experience it will do anything a drill press will do and a whole lot more. I have a full sized Bridgeport style mill. It is not just a metal working machine..

[Jim Foster]

I would not be surprised if the standard drill press for the home woodworker is an underused item. I would suggest a radial drill press if you can find one used or new. I think it has a lot more uses in a shop than a regular drill press and is quite versatile. My drill press (20 year old delta 17") gets very minimal use and most of the time I think it will get used, I find myself using a brace&bit or a hand drill. I also think a dedicated mortise machine might be a better investment then a drill press. I do like the looks of the new Delta's and Powermatic's that come in at just around or above $1K though :)

[George wilmore]

I bought the delta 18" drill press from tools plus for 749 plus 6.50 for shipping. It is an excellent drill press 6" travel, laser centering guide, work light and easy to change speeds.

[Whit AndersonIL]

Have decided to finally get a DP.
Would like some guidance on what to look for and what to avoid.
Use: Weekend hobbyist.
Durability and Precision are hard to measure before you buy, but important.
Quill travel (a factor more often than you would think) has been mentioned.
Ease of speed change (if it is hard to change you won't change it when you should and you won't get the best possible holes and you can ruin drill bits) has been mentioned and is important.
Another factor to consider is how easy is it to move the table up and down. Some drill presses have good rack and pinion gears to raise and lower the table. Some have a poor system. Some table top presses have no system at all except that you wrestle the table to get it to move up.

--Whit

[Bob Deroeck]

Hi,

I went through this exercise last year. I found that when looking at new drill presses there were considerable problems with runout, which I considered unacceptable. I also found the quality and finish of new DP's under $800 was poor in general.

I ended up going the old iron route, buying a 15" Clausing variable speed with a 3/4 HP Baldor motor for $550. Runout is undetectable (by me), quill travel is about 5", and there is a large table. The table is designed for metal working, but this was a compromise I was willing to make for the overall quality of the machine. A removable woodworking-friendly table will be installed on top of the metal-working table.

A big advantage of buying used is that you can usually try out the machine before purchase. Thus, there are no surprises with respect to performance, alignment issues, bad bearings, etc. The downside of buying used is that it requires the cost and your time for traveling to check out and, hopefully, buy the tool. For my DP is was a 300 mile round trip for pickup. Well worth it in this case, but it would have been disappointing if the machine turned out to have problems. I talked to the seller on the phone and got the strong impression that I was dealing with a straight-shooting guy. Based on this impression, I decided to chance the 300 mile trip. Fortunately, the seller had accurately described the condition of the drill press.

I've been fairly lucky buying old iron machines, but if you decide to go this route you must be willing to accept some failures and the time and cost associated with what can be perceived to be "wasted" trips. I look at such trips as time invested to allow me to equip my shop with quality used tools that, if purchased new, are beyond my price range. Time-wise, I've found that the purchased used machine seldom needs much tuneup work to put it into service. I suspect that the travel time for looking at and picking up used machines is less than that required to assemble new machines. But, maybe I've just been lucky so far.

Note, in New England I've found over the last year that a Clausing 15" or 20" drill press will typically show up on Craig's List about once every 1-2 months.

Good luck with your search.


Bob

[pat warner]

"Quill travel, quill travel, and quill travel. Did I mention quill travel?"

So 6" deep holes are something you drill regularly? Why so deep? For what?

[John Coloccia]

I think if you take most of these long travel quills, bring them all the way to the end of their travel, and give the chuck a wiggle, you'll be surprised at just how much it wiggles. Again, the new 18" Delta seems to really not be too terrible in this respect (at least the ones I've seen) and my only hesitation is if it will be like that 5 years from now.

Dial indicator is an essential tool buying a drill press these days...especially a new one. I would live with 3" quill travel if the stupid thing was straight and didn't wobble....AND had a real quill lock....not an up/down lock...a QUILL lock.

[Timothy Wolf]

I bought a Jet for about $250 used that I wish I hadn't bought way too much runout and I think the spindles on them have a reputation for bending or warping, come tax time next year unless a great deal comes along on craigslist I plan on getting the new Delta or possibly the Powermatic but I haven't had enought time to do a lot of research on either yet. I like the features and feel they have at my local Woodcraft.

[phil harold]

I think if you take most of these long travel quills, bring them all the way to the end of their travel, and give the chuck a wiggle, you'll be surprised at just how much it wiggles..

My Dad showed me that on his Drill press
His had no movement

every other one unless it was in a machine shop, failed


now I have his old SouthBend...

drill bits
need a set just for the drill press and buy the best that you can, they should last you a lifetime
I prefer:
http://www.gfii.com/site/cleveland/

[johnny means]

I struggled with the drill press choice for several years before settling on a used Delta. It just seemed to me that l the current models had some short coming that made them less than acceptable at the $800-$900 range. Shoddy construction, short throw, inconvenient speed controls, these were my options. No one is offering the complete package in a sub 1K drill press. What they do offer is useless gimmicks. Pull out extensions, lasers, led tachometers, none of which would help do a better job of drilling.

[Russell Sansom]

My Taiwanese vertical ( knee ) mill has 5" quill travel. The speed change is manual and not so cool, but otherwise, it's a quiet, lovable machine.
The precision is an order of magnitude better than a consumer drill press. The single disadvantage is that the table only travels about 16" and there's no getting around it. It cuts mortises, tenons, dadoes, grooves, and rabbets with great precision, though I'm mostly a hand woodworker these days. I paid $1200 for it and spent $100 moving it to my shop.

I also have a 20" Craftsman drill press that's 15 or 20 years old. I was able to get the runout down to about .002" but it took some fiddling resetting the chuck on the taper over and over. One thing I really love about it is a quick depth stop. I now use the depth stop all the time. The very large chuck is a great pleasure.
I completely agree about the speed change. Mine is so awkward I tend to rationalize not changing it. This is my third DP over the years and the big machine is superior to its smaller cousins.

In my opinion the newer consumer drill presses are pretty shabby.

[Mike Wilkins]

I would consider one of the benchtop units and build a nice roll-around cabinet to mount under it. There are some nice units that are just shorter versions of the floor standing units. I would seriously consider the Delta benchtop unit with the variable speed. You would have a nice pile of cash left over to purchase some good-quality bits and cutters. Then I would do as others have suggested; keep an eye out for one of the older, solid machines that are of much better quality than some of the imported offerings. Think Rockwell, Powermatic, Walker-Turner, Clausing. I currently use a 1974 Rockwell drill press with only 4 speeds. But I have never felt the need for more speeds. Just upgrade whatever you get with a nice aftermarket table with a decent fence and hold-downs.

[Jim Rimmer]

I bought a set of bits from Woodcraft for $70. It has 170 brad point bits and seem to be pretty good. Price right now is $83 but they put them on sale for $70 pretty regularly. http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2081568/30005/170-Piece-TiN-Coated-Brad-Point-Drill-Bit-Set-With-Drill-Bit-Gauge.aspx I go for better quality on specialty bits but this gives you a good supply of numerous sizes.

[Russell Sansom]

Jim,
I don't know it that's the same set I got, but mine are beyond bad. I think others here have had a similar response to the quality. Perhaps they put out two quality levels or got tired of returns and cleaned up their QC.

[Dave Schwarzkopf]

Hell, I've had my Delta 20-950 (no longer produced) on CL for a month and haven't had any takers. For what it's worth I'd stick with quality bits like Colt 5-star and that new Powermatic DP. Everything Powermatic keeps bumping up in price, so you'd likely be able to sell it for what you bought it for if you ever needed to, that is.

There is something to be said about old arn, though; doesn't usually come with all of the bells and whistles but will likely outlast your grandkids grandkids.

[John Coloccia]

Jim,
I don't know it that's the same set I got, but mine are beyond bad. I think others here have had a similar response to the quality. Perhaps they put out two quality levels or got tired of returns and cleaned up their QC.

Mine are so bad as to be mostly unusable. I toss about 1 in 3 out due to unacceptable wobbling. The ones that aren't dangerous wobble enough to make ugly holes. I use them to drill unimportant holes only, and never on a real project of any sort. Serious waste of money. I've heard others that are happy with theirs so I really don't understand what's going on either.

I buy mostly single bits, these days....all high quality....and only in the sizes I actually need. It turns out that I only use a handful of sizes.

[Doug Colombo]

I have the Jet 17" FLoor Drill Press (JDP-17DX) and have been very happy with it. (Amazon - $510 with free shipping).
http://www.amazon.com/JDP-17DX-17-Inch-Wood-Drill-Press/dp/B001KQFJZE

[Mike Heidrick]

I am after the new Delta but a $100 King Seeley Craftsman drill press from the 1950s came into my shop this weekend and I think I might be good for awhile.