Drill Press Minimum Quill Stroke?

[Dan Grano]

Hello everyone. I'd like to save up for a floor standing drill press. I have searched the forum for information on quill stroke, but I have a specific question on what you view as a minimum threshold for woodworking. I have read some tool reviewers (not anyone on these forums) suggest that 4" (or more) of quill stroke should be the minimum consideration. I know that in many cases this bumps up one's options in size and cost. I'm looking to stay around $800 or less, and right now I'm open on used or new. But the main thing I could use advice on is whether to draw a strict line on 4" of quill stroke or if it is OK to consider less. I will be using the press to drill mortises among other tasks, and I plan on building arts and crafts style furniture.

Thanks so much!

[glenn bradley]

For some reason drill presses are a challenge for many makers to get to market with a solid quality. Longer stroke is a great convenience but, many DP's have accuracy issues at 4" let alone 6". I would love a solid 6" stroke machine if anyone made one for under a few grand. I have used a 3-7/8" stroke machine with only the very occasional issue relating to stroke length for 15 years. I will upgrade it in a heartbeat as soon as something better comes along at a price not figured in orders of magnitude. :)

[Frank Pratt]

I have a General Int. with a 6 or 6-1/2" stroke & have needed the extra length many times (this is starting to sound dirty). I've never measured runout or play on it because I've never had an issue with either. It's a solid, but basic machine with few frills & a horrible depth stop. I don't remember what I paid, but it was on sale & it was under $1000.

[Paul F Franklin]

If I had to, I would trade a good depth stop for "extra" travel if it came to that. Pretty much all I use my old shopsmith for these days is the drill press, and it's travel is about 4 inches. There have been times when I needed more travel, but not a lot of times. But the depth stop is used frequently. As always, it depends on what you use it for. You say you will be using to hog out waste on mortises. Blind mortises aren't usually more than a few inches deep and through mortises can be bored out from both sides usually. When I do get around to upgrading to a separate drill press, I will look for 6" of travel but I've managed with 4" for close to 40 years now.

Often the bigger limitation is distance between the quill and the column; I bump in to that limit frequently as well.

[Dan Grano]

If I had to, I would trade a good depth stop for "extra" travel if it came to that. Pretty much all I use my old shopsmith for these days is the drill press, and it's travel is about 4 inches. There have been times when I needed more travel, but not a lot of times. But the depth stop is used frequently. As always, it depends on what you use it for. You say you will be using to hog out waste on mortises. Blind mortises aren't usually more than a few inches deep and through mortises can be bored out from both sides usually. When I do get around to upgrading to a separate drill press, I will look for 6" of travel but I've managed with 4" for close to 40 years now.

Often the bigger limitation is distance between the quill and the column; I bump in to that limit frequently as well.

Thanks so much for the replies so far everyone. I was wondering about how to think about mortise depths so this is very helpful.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

When I began building a woodworking shop I already had a cheap benchtop drill press with about 2 1/2" stroke IIRC. Once I began turning, I couldn't even easily drill a pen blank with it. I upgraded to an 17" or 18" which has at least a 4" stroke. I wouldn't go for less stroke now. JMHO. I have a GI mortiser that works well for me.

[Rick Potter]

Another reason for long stroke is so you don't have to raise and lower the column often. Mine has a table around it and is inconvenient to raise and lower. With a six inch stroke, I rarely have to.

I also prefer the depth stop to be the type with the threaded bolt along the side, not the twist type with spring. This is very handy to measure your stroke, using brass setup blocks. Also handy to just hand clamp a spring clamp on it to hold the bit close to the work so you don't have to crank it up and down with a lot of extra movement.

Mine is a 6" stroke Delta with the reeves drive VS. Don't like it much, but as others mentioned above, it would be hard to replace it with something better.

[Steve Demuth]

I have 6" stroke on my machine. 95% plus of what I do requires less than 4" of travel. When I have needed the extended travel, there were almost always ways I could have worked something out with a short stroke. But for all that, I wouldn't trade the longer capability away. Just the frequency with which it means I avoid having to move the table makes it valuable - the occasional deep hole work is just gravy.

[Jim Becker]

My Jet has "about" 4.5" of quill travel and it's been rare when that wasn't sufficient. I'd want the machine itself to be extremely high quality and with minimal run-out of it had that longer throw because longer tooling is also going to add more run-out in the mix already.

[Alex Zeller]

I would do a search on Craig's list and Facebook market place. Chances are you can find a used one in your budget that will have plenty of stroke. As for how much? Like others have said, longer is better. The problem is that if you are too far from your work and reach the limit and raise the table it's real easy to have it move from side to side forcing you to start over again getting it lined up.

[Ole Anderson]

For me the need for extra stroke would be primarily to minimize the number of times I need to adjust the head or table up or down. Having a quill lock is as important as having a good depth stop.

[Lisa Starr]

I have an old Rockwell Drill Press (Model 15-17) with around 4.5" of quill stroke. I like that travel to avoid raising and lowering the table frequently and maintaining rigidity. Of course, those old Rockwells are built like tanks and have great rigidity period . It has a jig style table, but was easy to make an enlarged table. The thing I dislike most about it is the belt changes for speed adjustments, but it isn't enough to make me give up all the things I like about it.

[Robert Hayward]

Nova Voyager has 6" of quill travel. About double your budget though. I have had mine since shortly after they came out. Do not recall having needed the full six inches of travel, or even close to that.

[Bill Dufour]

Most drill presses in home use never get close to wearing out. Good ones can adjust quill for slop as it wears into the casting. Springs do break. Except for walker turner 15" all the bearings are standard AFAIK. If you buy a used one with a 3 phase motor it is probably better and more accurate then anything in your new budget unless you can move the quill by hand at full extension then it may be too worn..
Bil lD

[Bill Dufour]

I figured I needed 3.5+ inches so I could drill through a 2x4 in one shot. I think my Walker Turner 20" dp is better then anything sold today at the big stores. I did replace the quill bearings, I know it was made before 1952.
Bil lD

[Bernie Kopfer]

For me the need for extra stroke would be primarily to minimize the number of times I need to adjust the head or table up or down. Having a quill lock is as important as having a good depth stop.

Please Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to be a trend with the newer machines to not have a quill lock. That feature i use all the time, stick the drill bit in the intended spot, lock it, and adjust the fences and hold downs to the workpiece. Length of stroke has only come into consideration only a few times in years of use of a Delta 17.

[Derek Cohen]

Nova Voyager has 6" of quill travel. About double your budget though. I have had mine since shortly after they came out. Do not recall having needed the full six inches of travel, or even close to that.

Robert, my Voyager has 12” of travel. I think that you have a typo :)

The advantage of a long travel is that it becomes easier to swap out drill bits (long for short, and short for long) without having to alter the position of the chuck.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Frank Pratt]

Robert, my Voyager has 12” of travel. I think that you have a typo :)

The advantage of a long travel is that it becomes easier to swap out drill bits (long for short, and short for long) without having to alter the position of the chuck.

Regards from Perth

Derek

That's what I find to be a big benefit of a longer quill travel.

[Randall J Cox]

I have 6" of travel on an old Rockwell 15" that I restored and love it. I didn't realize they were kind of rare until I had it for a couple of years. Randy

[Robert Hayward]

Robert, my Voyager has 12” of travel. I think that you have a typo :) Derek

Not a typo here. As I said, my Nova Voyager has 6" of quill travel as measured by the normal method. Unless you count six inches down and then six inches back up.

[Robert Hayward]

Please Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to be a trend with the newer machines to not have a quill lock.

My Nova Voyager has a quill lock and I love it. I had never owned a drill press with a quill lock prior and did not know what I was missing.

[andrew whicker]

I think part of the reason quality DP's don't exist in this range is due to knee mills.. ? I've also gone down this rabbit hole of trying to find a nice drill and even up to 2k I don't see anything mind bending. I use both metal and wood (and other materials in the future) and my big want is variable speed and rigidity. Once you get above 2k on price, then milling machines on auction start to look nice. Of course tooling becomes much more costly.

When you start talking about not moving the table while switching bits for accuracy reasons, I start to think you're using a drill press with the hopes of creating mill quality work.

The things that have irritated me with my DP: 4" stroke, handle spoke gets in way and you can't take only one spoke off, distance between upright post and drill bit. For me, a long stroke length would also be awesome because I've had a few times where I could roll my DP up to the part while it sat on horses or whatever but the stroke wasn't long enough to reach the part. It's like I wish I could move the head up and down instead of the table / material. I guess at that point you're looking at portable DP's with suction on the bottom or building a stand for the DP that moves up and down.

[David Kumm]

Here is my " Drill Press" $900 including a bunch of tooling. Variable speed 0-2400 rpm, 5" quill travel with three down speeds, and the table travels in both directions. Originally these Moore Jig Borers were accurate to .0001. I also use a vertical borer that is foot operated and has an 8" throw, and a small Millrite with a 3.5" quill. All three together were cheaper than a good used Ellis which is kind of the standard for drill presses. Dave447457447458447459447460

[Jim Becker]

That's a....tiny...little thing, Dave! :)

[David Kumm]

That's a....tiny...little thing, Dave! :)

I'm compensating. Dave

[Rick Potter]

I can only dream of such stuff. That is outstanding.

Just curious though, which one of those pictured do you really use the most often? I suspect you might use the one next to it a lot also? Just for convenience if nothing else, when you just need to drill a couple holes.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I have the 17” Jet and it has 5” of travel. It’s about 20 years old, so I don’t know if new ones have the same amount of travel.

[David Kumm]

The Vertical borer is my go to for wood drilling. The little Jet is almost never used. The Moore gets most of the metal drilling and tapping but my Rambaudi has a 5" auto quill as well on a NMTB 50 taper so it does the large metal boring.447498 Dave

[Steven Cooper2]

My 42 Delta has 5" which seems like a reasonable amount, however today I could have used 7... though I will admit I didn't really need to use the drill press for the task, I have it and it's fun to use so I did anyway.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Dandy Rockwell 15-665 on the auction site for $599.
Maybe it's near you.

[Rick Potter]

Good grief David. It's like 'which Bentley shall I drive today'. I am turning green with jealousy.:D

[Alan Lightstone]

Nova Voyager has 6" of quill travel. About double your budget though. I have had mine since shortly after they came out. Do not recall having needed the full six inches of travel, or even close to that.

I actually used the full 6" of quill travel on my Voyager this week. But that's been the only time since I owned it. But 4" or more is very nice to have.

[Tom Bender]

That's tough to follow, especially with mine. My Craftsman has served me well for 35 years, and has only 3 1/4" stroke. I do have to move the table often. Had I read this post 20 years ago I'd have upgraded but now I'm looking at the dark at the end of the tunnel.

[Rod Sheridan]

3 to 4 inch stroke is fine.

The main items I look for are runout, a large cast iron table that's square to the quill, a table elevation rack or other mechanism, and a range of speeds that's adequate for woodworking, not metal working......Rod.

P.S I also like a square or rectangular table, much nicer for jigs or clamping.

P.P.S. i would give up on the mortising attachment, I had one and gave it away to someone I didn't like :-)