Looking for your opinion

[Mike Kenney]

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?vertical=TOOL&cat=Bench+Power+Tools&subcat=Drill+Presses&pid=00921900000&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

Is it wirth it for the price i dont have one and its cheap. So what ya think

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mike.....I used a similar one for 15 years or so. One thing I'd check is the quill travel distance. The reason I got a replacement is that the quill on mine would only travel 2". If you can, find out how far the quill travels. I would prefer a minimum travel of 4" so you can drill through something 4" thick without using alternative methods.

[Don Bullock]

I agree with Ken. Limited quill travel is the only thing I don't like about my Delta 300L.

[Andrew Williams]

My benchtop Delta is probably one of the first machines that I will think to replace, since it has three major flaws.

1. Limited quill travel


2. Quill bearings are poor quality and one can feel slop in it when you extend the quill, chuck or no chuck. (most cheap DPs that I have checked out have this issue) This may not be an issue for a self-centering type of bit at higher speeds, but seriously affects things like drilling metal, and laying out with punches. You might be off by quite a bit once the bit starts spinning. Think about making a router base plate...


3. Poor balance. This is not as much of an issue at high speed, since the machine itself resonates at lower frequencies, but at low speeds, you can get a totally nasty vibration. I am not convinced that a link belt would solve the issue in a cheap benchtop DP, so I haven't bothered to invest in one.

I most likely will either try to find old iron or perhaps the canadian General 15" once the time comes to get a better DP. For a tool that gets used all the time I would much rather have one that does what it is supposed to do.