New Drill press for the next 5-10 years under $1,500

Well, I am a little late to this party, but I rebuild and sell Delta 17" drill presses from the 40's and 50's and for $650 you can have a 17" drill press with a 3 phase motor, Automation direct VFD, remote speed and forward/reverse control. ball bearing thrust bearing on the table lift (which works as smooth as glass) a nice table, a superior 4 bearing spindle/spindle pulley set up and much more. Spindle speed range is zero to about 4,000 rpm.These weigh about 400 pounds. The sad part is I don't have any available as I sell as fast as I can get one done.

I once was looking for an upgrade and looked at what was coming in from across the pond and decided to wait. I finally got into "old arn" and never looked back.

If I lived near you Peter, I would be on your waiting list!
We had the Powermatic 2800 at work, frankly it was a disappointment, lightweight and intended to be pampered by a hobbyist, didn't hold up to production work, within a year, the laser, worklight stopped working, the rack and pinion gear had buckled (twice, replaced once) A screw came loose from the depth stop, turns out it was stripped, so that stopped working properly. Next to our old Delta and Rockwell presses, it didn't compare. Don't mean to beat up on PM, I have some PM machines I'm very happy with. But I would never buy, not recommend buying that drill press. I suspect the New Delta is similar, Lots of nifty features to lure the hobbyist, but in the end, a lightweight......

I think this will suit my needs fine. She's all setup and ready to roll. Thanks for the help folks!

Attachment 354766

Looks good. Enjoy it!

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Originally Posted by Barry Richardson

If I lived near you Peter, I would be on your waiting list!
We had the Powermatic 2800 at work, frankly it was a disappointment, lightweight and intended to be pampered by a hobbyist, didn't hold up to production work, within a year, the laser, worklight stopped working, the rack and pinion gear had buckled (twice, replaced once) A screw came loose from the depth stop, turns out it was stripped, so that stopped working properly. Next to our old Delta and Rockwell presses, it didn't compare. Don't mean to beat up on PM, I have some PM machines I'm very happy with. But I would never buy, not recommend buying that drill press. I suspect the New Delta is similar, Lots of nifty features to lure the hobbyist, but in the end, a lightweight......

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The old Delta's are out there. I get 3 or 4 a year and try not to travel too far for them.
Peter

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Originally Posted by CPeter James

Well, I am a little late to this party, but I rebuild and sell Delta 17" drill presses from the 40's and 50's and for $650 you can have a 17" drill press with a 3 phase motor, Automation direct VFD, remote speed and forward/reverse control. ball bearing thrust bearing on the table lift (which works as smooth as glass) a nice table, a superior 4 bearing spindle/spindle pulley set up and much more. Spindle speed range is zero to about 4,000 rpm.These weigh about 400 pounds. The sad part is I don't have any available as I sell as fast as I can get one done.

I once was looking for an upgrade and looked at what was coming in from across the pond and decided to wait. I finally got into "old arn" and never looked back.

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CPeter James

Keep a friend in mind next time you have one to "move on". ;)
I've been looking for a DP exactly like that for awhile now. I need one to go slow, less that 150 rpm, and maintain torque.A bench top model would be ideal. I thought I had a line on a Delta Radial out on the Cape, but the ad was pulled from Craigslist. There's one central New Jersey, but that's a bit more of a drive than I'd like to make.
Like others, I'm just not impressed with what is offered as new in drill presses.

Peter is there a specific model you try and focus on for rebuild?

I'll probably get laughed out of the forum for suggesting this, but my uncle gave me an older shopsmith. I removed the legs and mounted it vertically on my wall, it serves as my drill press and some sanding operations. Variable speed, enough power for what I need and a ton of flexibility with table height, fence, ability to angle the table, etc. There are a lot of things I don't like about shop smiths, but they are built to last and are great drill presses in my opinion.

I have to chuckle, are we shopping for a tools or trophy wives? I think we all are guilty of it.:)

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Originally Posted by Andrew Kertesz

Peter is there a specific model you try and focus on for rebuild?

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The older Delta 17" from about 1940 to late 50's. They were a true industrial and designed to run 24/7. Many of them did during the War and are still running now.
Peter

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Originally Posted by Mike Cutler

CPeter James

I need one to go slow, less that 150 rpm, and maintain torque.A bench top model would be ideal. I thought I had a line on a Delta Radial out on the Cape, but the ad was pulled from Craigslist. There's one central New Jersey, but that's a bit more of a drive than I'd like to make.
Like others, I'm just not impressed with what is offered as new in drill presses.

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I have one of the big Delta radial based on the W/T design. It is from 1967 and while it will go down to almost zero, the spindle pulley is too small and there is not enough torque to do any serious drilling of large holes. It does have it's place, especially drilling on a angle and the 32" from the column to the spindle is nice. After Rockwell bought the W/T line of tools in 1957, it would have been nice ig they had changed the drill head on the big radial to the Delta 17" and not stayed with the W/T design fron 1940. They were still available up until a few years ago, price = $11,400!! Still using oddball bearings from the W/T era!

If you can find a Delta 17" look for the slow speed pulley set. They are much more versatile and with a 3 phase motor and VFD will go from zero to well over 4,000 rpm. They really have some nice features and are worth the effort to do a rebuild on. I have a spare spindle nut wrench you can borrow id you need it. It works much better that a hammer and punch.

My 20" W/T
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udZ_hgZjLT4
Peter

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Originally Posted by Alex Snyder

I think this will suit my needs fine. She's all setup and ready to roll. Thanks for the help folks!

Attachment 354766

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Looks awesome.

It's always nice to get the one you wanted in the first place. And not let the forum talk you out of what you wanted, cuz there's always that itch.