Jet 15" drill press

[Adam Augustine]

I am in the market for a new drill press and I am looking for suggestions. I am considering getting the 15 inch 16 speed jet. Any input would be appreciated.

[Brad Cambell]

I have the 16" Delta. I don't know how many speeds it is. I have a floor model. Once you have a drill press you won't know how you lived without one. I used my hand drill until I got my shop going and started making real furniture. Forstner bits have too much torque to drill by hand.

[glenn bradley]

I cannot comment on the specific DP you are looking at but, will say that bit more reach may make you happier. The reason I say "may" is because we all do different stuff. I frequently found my 14" drill press to have inadequate reach for things I wanted to do. My 17" machine has rarely been inadequate. Someone else may find 15" to be plenty where another will find 17" restrictive. I assume it is like jointers; 6" was always too small but my 8" is almost always plenty big.

Think about what you might do on the DP and go through the motions. Is a little over 7" between the post and your desired hole location adequate? Another consideration is between floor and bench models. I went with a floor model as I envisioned edge drilling and so forth . . . I have yet to do so and would much rather have the unit standing on top of a cabinet full of drawers. I may take to cutting the post down to facilitate this yet ;-)

For a particular model I can suggest things to check out:
- Extend the quill all the way and try to move the chuck side to side; is there any play?
- Extend the quill part of the way and lock try to move the chuck up and down while holding the handle still; is there any play?
- Check the aftermarket chucks that you may be interested in and confirm that the taper is compatible.
- Go through the motions of changing speeds; if this is a pain, you won't do it . . . if you don't change speeds to match your drilling operation you will get sub-optimal results.
- If it comes with a lamp, position the lamp in a few different locations and see if it stays put.
- IMHO laser systems are a waste as the width of the laser "mark" is many times wider than the accuracy I use a DP for.
- Does the table tilt easily or is it a metal-working style table that requires tools? If so, look for how capable the table is to accept an aftermarket or shop made woodworking table and fence setup.
- Crank the table up and down and observe the mechanism; does it seem stout enough to outlast you? A well made table mechanism really reduces the need for excessive quill travel.

I'm sure there are other things that are important to other people but, that about does it for my checklist.

[william watts]

I have a Jet model JDP15-M bench mount DP, the same model is available as a floor standing unit. The run out was so extreme the work would wobble side to side on the DP table, and the hole would be elongated, really not usable at all. In my area there is a Jet warranty repair center that Jet customer service sent me to for the warranty repair. After 3 attempts to repair its finally drilling acceptable holes with much less run out, but still noticeable. The repair was to replace the chuck, but with a 3 jaw chuck that ran truer than the original 4 jaw chuck. It now drills marginally acceptable holes. It came with a 5 year warranty and I may pursue further repair but I need to take to the repair center, not easy for me.
The lever used to adjust the belt tension is to short to get enough mechanical advantage so I use a 12 inch stick between the motor and the housing as a lever. The table adjustment works good. The motor has plenty of power and the construction is beefy enough to handle it. The 3 inch quill travel has not been a problem for me. Bottom line is, Its inexpensive and works as expected.

[Brian W Smith]

Do not take this as Jet bashing,just another pce of equip.They all have their quirks.

We got a completely trashed/gutted Jet 17 DP.It came out of a medium sized furniture plant down in High Point NC.They were using it as a mortiser....in this instance it was to augment their other,big...dedicated mortisers.It was used for one specific setup....


I got it for free.They had basically torn/sheared off the rack/pinion on the spindle.Return spring MIA....heck the whole handle was falling out.The table was off a Delta.The column was straight but the poor "rack" gear for height adj was bent,and really messed up at the locater ring.Handle for height adj was stripped in two places.

The good;Motor was in great shape.All castings were still servicable.Alignment between head,table,column was in tolerance.Spindle bearings were still good.Upper end(pulleys) was fine.Switches were fine.

I repaired all the damaged parts.....as ordering them was going to throw money at a machine that probably wasn't worth it?But it dosen't matter to this discussion,I simply repaired everything that they had trashed.What do we use it for?This is the really funny part....I ordered off fleabay,what for all purposes was "period correct",Jet labled mortising "kit".Yup,we use this machine in exactly the same fashion that gutted it in the first place.

I have in the past,maybe bashed on Jet here and there.......So much depends on how equipment is used.There are some folks who can tear up an anvil,haha.Good luck with your decision.

[Adam Augustine]

I found a 17" Dayton on craigslist any thoughts.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Adam,

The one thing about the Jet 15" that I find lacking is the quill travel distance. It's only 3 1/8". This may not seem like a major thing to some but...it won't drill all the way through a 2x4 in the 4" plane. It won't drill all the way through some of the longer pen blanks.

When I first started turning pens, I ran into this problem and bought a Jet 17" drill press because my old drill press only had a 3" quill travel and wouldn't drill completely through some of the longer pen blanks.

BTW..I have been happy with my Jet 17" floor model drill press.