Drill Press

[Paul Canaris]

Time to upgrade my 20 year old Taiwanese drill press (shot bearings etc.). Would appreciate hearing from anyone on what is good bad and ugly out there in the way of choices. Does not need to be new as I am open to OWM. Would prefer something with a bit more oomph so larger Forstner bits don’t stall. Must be floor standing. Thanks for the assistance.

[Chris Barton]

I have the floor standing Delta that is about 3 years old and it has been a great machine. Like you say, power is important but, more important to me was quill travel.

[Allen Bookout]

There was a real good thread a few months ago about this subject and I did a search but could not find it. Maybe it was too long ago. Because of that thread I bought the Delta 17-965 and really like it. At that time it had more for the money than any other drill press that I could find.

I you change speeds a lot the variable speed model might be a good option but for me the additional cost was not worth it - not that I would not like to have had it though.

[Larry Fox]

I have the Delta 17-965 as well. I find it a very capable machine for my needs and I found it to have good price / value ratio.

Couple of things about the machine I don't like and that may or may not affect your work;

1) Vibration. The plastic cover sometimes makes a lot of racket when it is running. I have been too lazy to upgrade to link-belt which I think will reduce / eliminate the vibration. More an annoyance than anything as I hate noisy machines. One side of my dehumidifier is caved in from repeated kicking to stop the buzz when the housing vibrates. I am too old to get my foot up high enough to reach the top of the drill press or it might have similar battle scars.
2) Depth stop - It is a POS and I don't trust it. You can get about an additional 1/16 - 1/8" of depth beyond where you set it due to flex. It is on my list to make a better one.
3) As Allen says, if you change speeds a lot the VS model might be a better option. Changing speeds via musical belts is a bit of a pain. Not that big a deal for my work.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I have a Walker Turner I rescued from a machine shop. It's older than I am. It's built like cast iron was free, and runs great. I'd go looking for another one of those if I wanted another DP.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Paul,
If you're frugal, you may be able to change the bearings yourself. You can buy a host of bearing sizes online from many sources. If you're itchin' to buy a new drill press, please disregard my comment. :)

If I were to buy a new drill press, I'd serious look at variable speed. Dirty fingers from changing belts is a hassle. Delta makes two models now (#17-925 @ $900 and #17-968 @ $550) with a 16-1/2" swing. Other retailers sell variable speed, but the speed range may not suit your needs since some only go upto 2000 rpm. It's nice to have a speed range between 150 and 3500 rpm for general use including spindle sanding and polishing. The 17-925 goes to 3200 rpm, and the 17-968 goes to 2500 rpm.

cheers, Jeff

[Sam Blasco]

Went through this decision about a year and a half ago. Wasn't too happy with the usual suspects and ended up with a Knuth KTB32, pretty much the low end of their boring line up, but high end as drill presses go. May be more heavy duty than what you are looking for and they only come three phase. But I will tell you I am very, very satisfied with the machine, and the colors didn't clash with the rest of my equipment.

I have no affiliation with the company, but here is a link to the website:
http://www.knuth.de/prod_eng/fraesen_bohren/konv_bohren/saeulen_riemenantrieb/ktb23_32_32v.htm

[Randy Gillard]

I recently acquired the Delta 17-965. Great drill press. You can't go wrong with this one.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/hrgillard/DSC01818.jpg

[Julio Navarro]

Randy: Can you expand on that drill table?

[Jim Becker]

If you're interest lies in big cutters...Forstners and wing-cutters, be sure to look at the lowest speed settings. Another important factor is drilling depth...more is better! Don't worry about the size and shape of the standard table...you should be using an auxiliary table for woodworking, anyway. IMHO, of course.

[Paul Canaris]

Thanks guys, good places to start.

[Myk Rian]

If you want a benchtop, I have a Delta DP350.. I like the variable speed, and the heavy cast table it has..

[Chris Padilla]

The Delta 17-965 is a mainstay and a decent DP. My only beef with it is the wimpy switch Delta (put on mine, at least...dunno if they've changed it since 5 years ago) puts on it. Mine broke and I couldn't shut the darn thing off. After taking it apart, I was shocked how wimpy the switch was for such a piece of equipment that will be turned off and on 1000s of time during its life. Lets just say some super glue fixed it up but I bet it breaks again soon....

[Jim O'Dell]

Another vote for the 17-965. Mine is very smooth. Haven't built a table for it, yet. It's a bear to put together. don't make my mistake and do it by yourself!!! Jim.

[Bruce Page]

Paul, there's some good drill press info in this thread.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=35661

[Frank Chaffee]

Paul,
If you have the time, inclination and discerning judgment required to get an old drill press into your shop, go for it and more power to you!

My choice for this interim period before I have room for a Bridgeport vertical mill is the Delta X-5 variable speed.

As Larry Fox has pointed out, the depth stop is terribly flawed, and must be fixed.

I like the long quill travel (6”), this model affords. It allows successive drilling operations utilizing several cutters w/o the need to change the table height, or the ability to drill a hole thru 6x stock. Drill press tables in general are difficult to align to axis when changing height.

For a home shop unit, the range of speed from 150 rpm to 3,100 covers most woodworking needs. The extreme low speed is what I looked for, as it allows larger dia. cutters.

With the two speed range cranks, one for high to low range and the other for high to low speeds within each range, I can adjust to any speed almost as fast as I could w/ a Bridgeport, and far faster than I could with any drill press I have previously used.

Paul, please know that I am not necessarily recommending this drill press as the last one you should consider, but am merely sharing impressions of the one I chose.

Frank

[lou sansone]

my vote would go to the RAM style drill press. These are just ideal for wood working and since you are not adversed to OWWM then you can find them if you spend some time looking around. I few of the creekers here have them and they all love them. If you can find the rockwell version you will be better off. I have the walker turner version that is also nice, but the quill travel on most is only 4 inches vs the 6 inch travel on the rockwell version

here is a link to my Walker Turner RAM style press


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=18970

lou

[David Rose]

I bought a Delta 17-965 when I started woodworking or soon thereafter about 5 years ago. It has a decent (could be better) quill stroke that is better than many. The stop is better than most, though it will fail you when you need it. Runout is reasonable at the chuck. The cheapie chuck gives me about .004" runout at 1", which doesn't cause trouble "too" often. Chucks can be replaced though. The real killer for this machine (don't read that everyone who has one recommends it) is that there is no spindle takeup in the head. Mine has about .020" play in the head. That is, it runs true for most of the travel... measure the deflection at the very bottom of the stroke when you reach the stop and it moves over a full .020". That has caused me some grief. Vibration was helped a bit with a link belt, and I soon put a larger wooden table on it.

35 years ago, I bought Sears best Craftsman drill press for my metal working business. It has a teeny belt, so I bought a spare, which is still in the package. Basically, it is not much different than the new Delta. Though it does have more travel (6"), less slop in the chuck (it came with a Jacobs chuck), and the head has a "split" with two allen screws to snug the head to the spindle. I get no more than .002" deflection at any point. And it is silky smooth at all speeds. This machine is far and away better than my newer Delta.

Disclaimer: I have no alligiance to Craftsman. In my opinion, Craftsman stuff is junk. But this one tool seems to be an exception. Maybe other older stuff is the same way, I don't know. I paid BIG bucks (for my budget way back then in 1970) for this tool. It has been a good one and is still in use.

If I were looking for a GOOD, ideal drill press now, I would check spindle play at all points, I would look for a long stroke, I would check for LOW speed (all go way up, but few will really handle a large bit on the low end), I would look at the stop for very positive stops, and I might even fork over for an electronic speed change though I really don't want it often. All this will probably mean either a relatively expensive machine or an old one.

David

[Randy Gillard]

Randy: Can you expand on that drill table?

It's this one from WOOD magazine. I like it.

http://store.woodstore.net/drilprestab.html



http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/woodstore_1904_31879582

[Gary Curtis]

I paid $35 for a used Walker Turner. Did I say used? It was made in the 1940s. It needed $200 of work to get the quill to plunge smoothly. I also had the motor re-wired, replaced the belt and added a foot switch for that price. I was happy to pay it when I compared it to what's being sold new in stores.

The small tool repair facility wanted to buy the machine from me when they finished. They said that an equivelant would cost upwards of $700. It is a bench-top model and weighs about 150+ lbs. Very quiet operating. There's a lot of these babies out there for sale.

Gary Curtis

[Phil Ordway]

Since you've waited this long, wait a bit longer and get an old one - Rockwell, Powermatic (I have an old 1150 which I like), Craftsman or Walker-Turner. Be sure to take a dial indicator with a magnetic base (an inexpensive one is fine) to check runout.

[Brad Townsend]

The new issue of Wood magazine which came in the mail today had an add for a new Powermatic variable speed DP. Had lots of bells and whistles. Digital speed display, laser guides and table with built in extension wings, fence and what looks like miter slots (but perhaps just hold-down slots for the fence). I've checked and it's not even on their website yet. I'm betting it's expensive.:rolleyes:

[Joe Mioux]

Went through this decision about a year and a half ago. Wasn't too happy with the usual suspects and ended up with a Knuth KTB32, pretty much the low end of their boring line up, but high end as drill presses go. May be more heavy duty than what you are looking for and they only come three phase. But I will tell you I am very, very satisfied with the machine, and the colors didn't clash with the rest of my equipment.

I have no affiliation with the company, but here is a link to the website:
http://www.knuth.de/prod_eng/fraesen_bohren/konv_bohren/saeulen_riemenantrieb/ktb23_32_32v.htm

It also has a nice color scheme, heh?;)

[Corey Hallagan]

Randy you have a nice looking set up there!

Corey

[Alan Turner]

I'm with Lou on the RAM. Mine is the Delta head, 6" quill travel, quiet, dead on, etc. But, it is 3 phase, and I suspect they all are. We have 3 hase, so not an issue. Speed range is 185 to 8500. We generally have it set at about 400 or so. VS would be nice.

I strongly favor the 6" throw as a major feature. But, that is just me.

[J. Greg Jones]

I recently bought the Delta 17-925 variable speed and I like it a lot. They do normally sell for +-$900, but a local store had them on sale for $399. The only downside that I see with this press is the table is suitable for metal work only-has the t-bolt slots rather than the clamp slots. Not a big drawback because neither style is best for woodworking, so I'll be making my own table.

http://homepage.mac.com/jgregjones/.Pictures/Shop/DP/Delta17_925_01.jpg

[Hank Knight]

I agree with those who have recommended a Walker Turner. My dad had a bench model Walker Turner (WWII vintage) that was the best drill press I've ever used. If I could find one close by, I'd trade my Delta for it in a heartbeat. I think the ram style radial Walker Turners are very nice, but are way too large for my small shop. The standard Walker Turners (bench or floor-standing) are unbeatable, IMHO, for quiet, smooth, accurate operation. Nobody makes 'em like that anymore.

Hank

[Jack Ferrell]

Greg, That's a heck of a buy. I just bought the Delta 17-965. It's still in the box and I can't put it together until this Sunday. If I could have gotten yours for that price, I think I would have bought it even if I didn't need a DP. WTG