Radial Drill Press Opinions

[glenn bradley]

Anyone had any experience with a radial DP like this:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G7946

Are they more trouble than their worth. I guess I expect accuracy and stability problems vs. a "solid" DP. I guess I'm after a longer swing without the cost of a large DP.

Opinions welcome!

[Jim DeMarco]

I have an old Rockwell Radial drill. It is a great tool, and no trouble at all. Adds some great flexability!! For example drilling a hole in the end of a post, swing it off the side, and drill away. Just an example?

[glenn bradley]

Thanks Jim. That's just the kind of thing I'm trying to take into consideration before I replace my baby Delta bench top DP.

[lou sansone]

radial drill presses are a wood workers best friend. there are several creekers who have them. I would recommend that you take a look at the Rockwell or Walker Turner RAM radial drill press. They were the very best light duty radial drill presses made.
here is a link to mine.

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

[Frank Fusco]

Looks like any other drill press to me. What does the term 'radial' mean? How are they different from a non-radial drill press?

[Peter Gavin]

I also have an oldre Rockwell Radial Drill press and love it.

Peter

[Tyler Howell]

Looks like any other drill press to me. What does the term 'radial' mean? How are they different from a non-radial drill press?
Look close Frank, there's more.

[Sam Howe]

I have one of the old Rockwell ones also. At times it's pretty handy, but it really gets used very rarely. I use my old benchtop drill press probably 99+% of the time. the tilting head feature is nice, but there's a lot of deflection in the arm when drilling.
Sam

[Jim Becker]

The two concerns I've always had with radial presses is realignment after "creative" cuts and flex. They are certainly invaluable for folks who make chairs or otherwise need multi-angle drilling, but for most folks, I think that they add expense with little return on investment. I'd rather see more (and lower) speed settings and increased depth of cut for the money, personally. That's merely an opinion, however...a good heavy one is certainly going to be a good machine.

[Frank Fusco]

Look close Frank, there's more.

Before reading further posts, I do note the round, perhaps rotating table. Is that the 'radial' thingy?

Second try, posting and edit: OK, I looked further at the links. The head does angly things. Looks handy, I'll consider one for my next drill press.

[Peter Gavin]

Frank,

As well as angling, the head can slide out (or back in) to give you more clearance or to reach the edge of your table so that you can drill into items off the table completely.

Peter

[Philip Glover]

I agree that the Rockwell or W/T ram head machines are the way to go, especially if you like the adventure in finding and rebuilding one.
If you want a new machine a good one is the Kunth AKB 16 radial drill press http://www.knuth.de/frameset_usa.htm . I don't own own one, but I think it's better than the rest of RDP's that are available today.

Regards,
Phil

[Jim DeLaney]

I have the Shop Fox version of the radial drill press. It's essentially the same as the Grizzly, but painted white instead of green.

I've had mine for about a year, and like it a lot. I use it 90% of the time with the head retracted back to maybe a 9" radius, but have also used it extended almost full length. At short extensions, it's pretty solid - almost as solid as a 'regular' DP - but the further you extend it, the more flex you have.

BTW, I also have a Powermatic 16" press that I use for drilling metal, etc. I pretty much use the Shop Fox for wood only. It's great for angled dowels/mortises, or for drilling chair seats, tenon holes in chair legs, and stuff like that.

I got mine at Hartville Hardware about a year ago. It was on sale, during their "Tool Days", for $199.00. Hartville is 'local' to me, so there was no delivery needed - so no shipping costs.

[lou sansone]

Looks like any other drill press to me. What does the term 'radial' mean? How are they different from a non-radial drill press?

I think that term radial is related to the ability to change the "radius" of the drill press. many drill presses are on the order of 16". Measured from the column the center of the drill chuck will have a radius of about 16". Take a look at my post if you will, and you should be able to see that the drill assembly is attached to a sliding dovetail mechanism. That feature gives the RAM style drill press a range of " radii" from about 12" to about 32". So, I believe for this reason a drill press with the ability to change the radius from post to drill chuck is known as a radial arm drill press.

In regards to Jim's concern

The two concerns I've always had with radial presses is realignment after "creative" cuts and flex. They are certainly invaluable for folks who make chairs or otherwise need multi-angle drilling, but for most folks, I think that they add expense with little return on investment. I'd rather see more (and lower) speed settings and increased depth of cut for the money, personally.

He does raise a valid point. I can't speak for the green machine in question, but I am not aware of any drill press with a greater quill depth of 6" whether, a Radial arm or regular style DP. Most WT's had only a 4" travel ( like mine ), but many if not all Rockwell versions have a 6" quill depth. Most WT's and all Rockwell RAMs also had 16 speeds with the lowest range in the 175 rpm range. There are a few DP with lower speeds ( Rockwell 20" machine for one with a low speed of 125 rpm and what are known as gear head DP's ) but most are in the 210 range. Flex is an issue though. There is some flex in most the RAM type units, but nothing I have found to be a problem. You would have to go to a real machinist version, such as a Cincinnati American hole wizard to get a machine with out a lot of flex, but they often weigh in the range of 5000 lbs it would be a little over kill. IRT getting things back true after a "creative cut" it is not a problem. The venerable Bridgeport universal milling machine has twice the articulation and machinists use them all the time.

Lou