Delta Drill Press

[Paul Dombroski]

I was looking at the Delta 17-950L drill press on the internet. It seems to have a table which is more oriented towards the woodworker. Does anyone have this model? If so, does it have any drawbacks? Do you feel that the 1/2hp motor is adequate? Will the 3 7/8" quill travel should be enough for routine work?
Thanks

[Peter Elliott]

I just bought one, so I haven't had too much time to drill with it.

But... I did a lot of research and the guys on here seem to like the Delta.

It assemble very well, easy to do. Seem pretty good workmanship on the parts..

Buy it from your local LOWES. It's on sale, 15% off 369.99, still cheaper than Amazon with your local tax. Plus you don't have to worry about ship damage. I know most Amazon stuff is good but you elimate that chance.

I had bought some screws a few days before and won a $10 gift card. So it lowered the price. Lowes is running some promotion, each time you buy, you may get a free gift card. I almost bought another small item to see if I could win another gift card. By there winning website, they are handing out a ton of gift cards.
http://www.loweswinners.com/

I like it, just need to set up this laser.

Peter

[Charles S Wilson]

I bought mine last July, when it first became available. Also bought it at Lowes. I have used it for a number of projects and am reasonable satisfied with it.

When I use the sanding drums, I remove the replaceable fiberboard insert from the center of the table, and run my shop-vac hose up through it to make a reasonably dust free sanding station.

I haven't found the 3 7/8" quill travel to be a problem.

The mortising attachment requires a little thought to use properly, and the quill allows for a couple of degrees of slop in holding of the mortising chisel, so that mortises are not quite 'picture perfect'. You can hold onto the quill as it descends to minimize this.

After some adjustment, I was able to get the laser guide tuned up, and have found it to be very handy. Just bored 16 holes last night, and used the laser to find the centers, skipping the layout step for marking the centers of the holes.

Overall, I am very pleased with it and haven't found the 1/2 HP to be inadequate. I have done some heavy duty boring into White Oak with no problems.

[glenn bradley]

I have one setting in the box in my shop waiting on me. I had planned to upgrade my DP sometime next year but with Lowe's having 15% off and accepting the HD coupons and all that, I went ahead.

I'll post a formal review (and Gloat) once it's set up. The worst review I read for it was a 4 out of 5 with no cons listed (?). I'm hoping my experience will be the same. Wanted to hold out for the SCTW 6" quill travel. Good to hear the 'almost 4' inch travel isn't too impactive.

[Jeff Wright]

I'm pleased with the recently introduced 17 inch Steel City DP with a 6" quill travel. With the rebate (which I believe is on til the end of April), it cost $394. You may want to check it out before making a final decision. I added the laser system for less than $40 (from Steel City) and the Woodpecker DP table which I really like. Like most all my machines, I also installed the DP on a mobility base.

[Peter Elliott]

Steel City - looked at those too. Very nice.

My budget was $250 so I was able to bump up a bit with the discount.

Glen, did lowes give you 15% plus 20% or just the 20%.

I've read the thread on this and wasn't sure to try that? Just kept it at 15%.

[Bill Webber]

I've been looking for a drill press upgrade for quite a few years. Last time I looked at Delta and Powermatic I was very dissapointed in the depth stops. The design was ok but the metal used to implement it was too light. Check it out by dropping the quill down to the stop and then see how much more the chuck moves when you really pull down on it. It's important that the stop be rigid. You'll understand what I mean if you are trying to do consistant countersinks or pulling a big forstner bit to a stop position.

Just something to check before you buy. 'course I'm still using my old Sears unit because it has good stops. :rolleyes:

[Jim McDonald]

Along with Jeff, I'm equally pleased with my SCDP. I added the laser also. My best advice is bite the bullet, order one, and you will not regret it! Can't always say that about all my other tool purchases, but this one is an exception! Added a home brew table which is working well. Like the quill lock and the 6" travel. Depth stop is quick change and solid. Belt change is easy and 3/4 hp is great, had a 1/2 hp that would occasionally stall out.Also mounted on mobile base due to a crowed 10 x 16 shop.

I'm pleased with the recently introduced 17 inch Steel City DP with a 6" quill travel. With the rebate (which I believe is on til the end of April), it cost $394. You may want to check it out before making a final decision. I added the laser system for less than $40 (from Steel City) and the Woodpecker DP table which I really like. Like most all my machines, I also installed the DP on a mobility base.

[glenn bradley]

The LOML is the queen of coupons. By the time she gets done explaining to merchants exactly how their coupons work, they'll do almost anything. The manager (real nice guy) couldn't get his system to allow the coupons to be "stacked" in the transaction. So he overrode the system, gave me 20% off the DP rounded down and gave us 20% off anything else we cared to pick up on that visit . . . so we picked up a lot.

P.s. if you can get that $370 deal on the SCTW, I would seriously consider it. I wasn't really planning on getting the DP for a while yet. My thoughts were on the SCTW sometime next year, but at the price, I went ahead.

[Brad Ridgway]

I'll Ditto Jeff and Jim on the Steel City...

I have only used mine a few times for minor drilling and sanding, but it's way better than the benchtop delta it replaced... 6" is a lot of travel and i like the fact that the light is not imbedded in the main housing like the Rikon / Shopfox... Something just sees bulbs breaking a lot like that (like all the ones i break every time i move the cheap hanging auto mechanics light i have)

There is a little play side to side in the table which i'll need to shim or something which caused run out to be hard to measure, but seemed pretty accurate when i held the table still -

i mounted my old rockler router table top to it (i'll be posting seperately on that as i have questions) :).

-brad

[Don Bullock]

Unfortunately the Steel City rebate ended March 31 st. I've read some good reviews of their drill press and plan to buy one when I'm ready to upgrade from my bench top drill press. The 6 inches of quill travel is very handy.

[Lance Norris]

I have the Delta 17-950L and have been very happy with it. I decided to buy it because of the table. I bought it from Amazon because I am not happy with Lowes and Amazon was cheaper, free shipping and no tax :) I havent found the short travel of the quill to be a problem, I upgraded from a baby drill press where the quill travel was 2". Ive used my drill press for sanding and drilling and I use the BIG table for work holding also because my bench is crowded. I would like to figure out a way to attach a 4" dust hose to the underside of the table 'cause I do a lot of sanding with this dp. I have not attached the laser because it seems like a gimic, but thats just me. I can see if you were doing alot of production and needed to be fast it would be useful, but not for the things I am doing. Laser is just sitting in the box. Oh and one more thing. 1/2 horse seems to be plenty. I dont do any metal work, and the power is more than enough for wood. I have drilled with a 1/2" bit through bloodwood and purpleheart and all is good. 5 stars.

[Eddie Darby]

Delta has some Drill Presses coming out in May, that are designed with the woodworker in mind. I'm waiting to see if they live-up to the hype.