Drill Press Search

[Dave Richards]

One of the docs here is looking for a new drill press and he asked me for my opinion. He's looking in the less than $400 or so range, wants floor standing, decent power (1 to 1 1/2 HP), drilling metal and wood, etc.

I have never really shopped for drill presses since I have inherited two--one a 1932 Walker-Turner bench top and the other, an early 40s Craftsman (Atlas) floor standing unit.

I haven't been overly impressed with most of the drill presses I've seen. Don't like the depth stops on most and none seem to have a quill lock unless you get up into the > $1000 range. I use the quill lock frequently on my drill presses and can't imagine being without.

So where do I point the good doctor? Any thoughts or opinions? Thanks in advance.

[Chris Padilla]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00002266L/103-0352942-4723051?v=glance

The Delta 17-965 seems to always get glowing reviews. I have one and I like it just fine.

My only beef with it is the cheesy on/off switch. I've had to fix mine twice and it is easily the wimpiest thing on the drill...too bad it doesn't match the quality of the rest of the drill.

Standing up on a stool to change speeds by hand can be a bit annoying but you save like $3-400 over the variable-speed one that changes on the fly.

[Michael Ballent]

I really like my Jet 17" and its in the price range...

-Michael

[Maurice Ungaro]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00002266L/103-0352942-4723051?v=glance

The Delta 17-965 seems to always get glowing reviews. I have one and I like it just fine.

My only beef with it is the cheesy on/off switch. I've had to fix mine twice and it is easily the wimpiest thing on the drill...too bad it doesn't match the quality of the rest of the drill.

Standing up on a stool to change speeds by hand can be a bit annoying but you save like $3-400 over the variable-speed one that changes on the fly.


I really love my new Delta 17-968, which is the upgraded model that Chris has (left handed gloat....sorry Chris...). This is one of the new editions, which has the industrial ON/OFF switch, and has all the nice features like quill lock and the slickest depth stop on the market. Of course the 17-965 has these features too, but mine has the variable speed on the fly changes. Only cost me about $480, and that's not too much for your Doctor pal to pay if he wants a fine product.

Maurice

[Dave Richards]

Thanks guys. I have told him to buy one of those drill presses. We'll see what happens.

[Stan Smith]

I was in a real quandry as to which one to get, the Jet or Delta 17-965, when I bought mine a couple of years ago. All the ones on the cheaper end seemed to have problems with excessive run out. I opted for the Delta which seems to have runout as well. As to the depth stop. I really like it. The quick set and lock down are just a great design that I use constantly. I agree that changing belts is a p i t a, but i don't change mine very often except to the slow speed to drill metal. I leave mine at 1200 most of the rest of the time. Probably should change to slower speeds for forstner bits into something like hard maple, too. I would only give my Delta a satisfactory rating overall.

Stan

[Dave Richards]

Hmm.. Stan, you make me wonder how big a problem it would be to rebuild my old Craftsman drill press when the time comes. I haven't looked at it closely but I wonder if bearings/bushings are available.

[Chris Padilla]

I really love my new Delta 17-968, which is the upgraded model that Chris has (left handed gloat....sorry Chris...). This is one of the new editions, which has the industrial ON/OFF switch, and has all the nice features like quill lock and the slickest depth stop on the market. Of course the 17-965 has these features too, but mine has the variable speed on the fly changes. Only cost me about $480, and that's not too much for your Doctor pal to pay if he wants a fine product.

Maurice

:mad: :mad: Gee, thanks a lot, Maurice! :mad: :mad: Now I gotta take a bath on my '65 and look into a '68!!!!

:D :D

[Aaron Montgomery]

I looked at the 968, but picked up the 965 two weeks ago when Amazon had it as one of their Friday sale items - take another $25 off for major tool purchase and I had it delivered for $354. That $125 (A 34% differential) was enough to make me choose it over the $499 968.

For the little I've used it, I'm mostly happy with it. The research I did indicated that it was generally thought of as the best DP in it's price range, though there are plenty of happy owners of different brand DPs. If I had money to burn I'd have purchased the 968 or it's bigger brother for yet another $300. In my case cheap simply won out over lazy, but I still got a good DP.