Laser Attachment for Drill Press

[George Bokros]

Does anyone have one of the laser attachments on their drill press for targting the drill bit? Do you like it and would you buy it again?

Woodcraft has one on sale for $29.99, was $45.99, starting Sunday.

I bought a laser attachment for my old miter saw and it was worthless.

Thanks

George

[Gordon Eyre]

If you move your table the laser point will be off. I can't see how this would be much good unless you always had the same setup.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

George
Save your money. One came with my Delta drill press, used a couple of time, have not used it in years. You have to reline both lasers every time you change table height, or move your project position on table top. Tom

[pat warner]

Drilling for lag bolts? Then you got it.
Drilling, even to + or - .010"? Forget it.

[George Bokros]

Thanks for the responses. I thought it was not really worth the cost.

George

[Roy Harding]

One came with my drill press. I tried it a few times when I first got the drill press - haven't used it since about two days after I took delivery (four years ago).

[Tom Ewell]

Don't know about add on lasers but the one on my press uses cross hairs to spot the center of the bore, doesn't matter where the table is, center of the bore is center of the bore. Any error of adjustment is on the adjuster.

Wouldn't depend on it for mill type positioning but quick setups for general woodworking it's ok.

[Phil Thien]

Don't know about add on lasers but the one on my press uses cross hairs to spot the center of the bore, doesn't matter where the table is, center of the bore is center of the bore. Any error of adjustment is on the adjuster.

Wouldn't depend on it for mill type positioning but quick setups for general woodworking it's ok.

That is my experience, as well. People having problems w/ alignment probably need to calibrate their units.

I've found the lines projected by the lasers are typically too thick to be helpful for precision drilling. Simply using a scratch awl to mark a center and letting your brad-point bit "find" this dimple is actually quite a bit more precise.

[Aaron Berk]

My DP came with a laser,,,,,,, fast forward 5 yrs, I still don't use the laser.

My kids love it though.

[Wade Lippman]

I had that laser on my old drill press. When I sold it last year I didn't mention the laser in the ad because I didn't want anyone to expect something that worked.

OTOH the built into my Porter Cable works reasonably well, and the laser on my Kapex is wonderful. So, some lasers are useful.

[glenn bradley]

Similar report here. The projected line is much wider than any tolerance I use the drill press for. If I'm shooting that loose, I freehand it.

[Roger Feeley]

George, I had one of the add on lasers. If properly aligned, there was no problem when you moved the table up and down. The unit came with a painted white rod that had a thin black line down it's length. You put the rod in the chuck and align both lasers with that line. Now the line generators are both exactly aligned with any drill bit at any height and the table height is irrelevant.

That said, I used it a few times but it wasn't worth it. The thing was battery operated and the battery was hard to replace. It had no auto off feature. Usually, when I wanted to use it the battery was dead. I toyed with the idea of putting an AC adapter on the thing and wiring it up to the light on my drill press. At some point, I must have hit it and busted on laser off so I just threw it away.

I won't buy another.

[Thomas Canfield]

I bought one of the add ons for my Delta 16.5" or something. The set-up took some time getting the two lasers aligned as Roger says above, but with them aligned, the cross remains fairly accurate with table height adjustment. As said in an earlier reply, the accuracy is not super, but pretty good for general work. I don't use it too often, but it is handy for the large diameter forstner bits I use for a flat on turning stock. I guess I would do it again for the times it does get used. The battery will run down if left on overnight - don't ask, but change was not that difficult.

[Rich Engelhardt]

My piece of junk GMC benchtop drill press has one.
Actually, I get a lot of use out of it - mainly for drilling pockets for Euro cup hinges where the Forstner bit blocks seeing were it's brad point hits the spot it needs to hit.

FWIW - and to explain that & why I just can't look at where the brad point is from the side..
I toss an old roll of masking tape down on what I'm drilling to corral the chips a Forstner bit makes. A shop vac nozzle directed anywhere in the general vicinity sucks the chips up clean as a whistle.
It's just easier & faster to use the laser to position a door.

[Bill Huber]

I have one on my old Craftsman drill press, it did take some time to get set just right, like an hour. Once set it is spot on and will not change when I raise or lower the table.
I use it all the time, not for the finial position as much as to get my fence set or the table set to the point I want to drill. It is nice when setting up a stop for drilling a lot of holes or when you have to drill a lot of hole in one part.

[Duane Meadows]

My piece of junk GMC benchtop drill press has one.
Actually, I get a lot of use out of it - mainly for drilling pockets for Euro cup hinges where the Forstner bit blocks seeing were it's brad point hits the spot it needs to hit.



I set up a fence and stop... can drill for euro hinges all day long without worrying where the center point is! Every one is the same. IMHO, that's the easiest way.No laser needed. Also I have a guage block that I keep so I can come back tomorrow, next week, or next year, set up in a minute and drill identical spacing.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have a laser, I use it occasionally. As mentioned, it's good especially when setting up for Forstners or hole saws. Takes time to set up. And takes a second to switch it off when not in use. I usually turn it on, line up, and switch it off. Since it is hard to swap batteries.

Is it a good buy? I think so, for the few times you may need a pretty accurate spot using a hole saw or large forstner. Is it necessary? Probably not. If you like gadgets, then it is a necessity:D.

[George Bokros]

Based on the comments here I am going to pass on one. Have too many other things I have recently spent money on.

George

[phil harold]

my sentiments exactly
I still toy with the idea of a power supply instead of batteries


George, I had one of the add on lasers. If properly aligned, there was no problem when you moved the table up and down. The unit came with a painted white rod that had a thin black line down it's length. You put the rod in the chuck and align both lasers with that line. Now the line generators are both exactly aligned with any drill bit at any height and the table height is irrelevant.

That said, I used it a few times but it wasn't worth it. The thing was battery operated and the battery was hard to replace. It had no auto off feature. Usually, when I wanted to use it the battery was dead. I toyed with the idea of putting an AC adapter on the thing and wiring it up to the light on my drill press. At some point, I must have hit it and busted on laser off so I just threw it away.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I set up a fence and stop... can drill for euro hinges all day long without worrying where the center point is!Been there/tried that. The laser is way faster for doing an odd door or two.
Doing a whole bunch of the same length doors or like you say, all day long, yeah..I'd use stops too.