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Thread: Help - Buying a New Drill Press

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kent A Bathurst View Post
    > a row of holes to outline a mortise that will be cleaned up with chisels - how much wandering are you OK with?
    I suppose.. although in this case, my personal preference would be to stay inside the lines because I'm going to have to come back to the base line with a chisel anyway.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kent A Bathurst View Post
    > Holes for pegged joinery - how oversize/oblong can the holes be and look good to you?
    I think the point here is that it's a matter of degrees and not absolutes. I would say that if you don't get a good friction fit or there are perceivable gaps, then it's a problem. Not sure how much runout would be a problem since I don't do much pegged joinery. At some point I'll get out the dial indicator and reset the taper i\on my new drill press. But I probably won't bother until I have a task that demands that level of precision... which in my case may be never.

    To each his own I guess. Some guys probably need it (Pat is an obvious example). I just must not make furniture or do the type of joinery that requires it.

  2. #32
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    It does not matter to your work methods, therefore, it does not matter to your work

    All good, Peter........... Cannot argue that point at all.

    But - for me - it is groovy..............

    Regards

    Kent
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

  3. #33
    Here's my bottomline on close order drilling.
    (Has little to do with making furniture.)
    *********************************************
    Drilling is an important part of woodworking. Fine woodworking requires jigs & fixtures. And, unlike the metal working industry, woodworking jigs & fixtures are rarely excavated (shouldered, morticed e.g.) to accommodate the location of their components. Consequently, they are screwed together. And if you can't drill, you can't make jigs & fixtures (accurately) and your woodworking will be compromised.

  4. #34
    Man. Fantastic responses. Can't thank you all enough for the information. gonna try and respond to the questions most relevant to what my uses for the do is and see if that narrows the field at all.

    1. I don't know shit about drill presses. All I've used are my grand uncle's 1000 yr old ShopSmith and a cheap bench top model with zero precision. I'd like to buy a new one, instead of an older used model, for the sole reason that I would have no idea how to shop for an old one, know if I was getting a good deal, or know how to clean and tune the machine to get it up to speed. Some guy on Craigslist would probably unload a heap of scrap on me for a couple hundred bucks. At least with a new drill I'd have some kind of warranty and customer service.

    If if someone knows a reputable source for used/refurbished dps, that's another story, but otherwise I'm out of my depth.

    2. I don't do a lot of complex joinery, but I do occasionally need to drill long, accurate holes for SS pins to hold speargun mechanisms in place in 4" plus thick hardwoods. Also, I build unorthodox furniture and sculptures and occasionally need the longer stroke, up to 5-6 inches for various purposes. However. Anything will be an upgrade, and I don't need (and can't afford, the precision of a $3000 dp.

    3. I no longer care much about the table, thanks to the advice here, as long as it is flat, sturdy, and stable. I'll use aftermarket tables when I need one.

    4. Thanks for the advice about speed range, didn't even realize that was an issue. The Rikon I am leaning towards has a minimum speed of 550. How big of drill bits, for hardwoods, could I use with this as the low end limit? How low of a speed do I need to use 2" to 3" Forster bits?

    5. Has anyone used the new Rikon, besides the high low end speed, it is my leading contender with the $650 price tag, 6" stroke, and 1 1/5 HP. The only drill I've seen with similar specs, below $1500, is the $1400 Powermatic, which is a lot more, with the only better features being a wider speed range, bigger table, heavier machine, and yellow paint job. Granted those are all nice, but I don't know if it's worth $750, given my relatively basic needs and skill level.


    Again, can't thank you enough for the info, making the jump from hand tools and hand me downs to a nice little garage shop and its a huge help for all the background info before skipping a student loan payment and buying a tool.

    John

  5. #35
    Shit. Just looked at a drill press recommended speed chart. A minimum speed of 550 negates a lot of options. It's hard to believe none of these manufacturers could make a drill press w/ 6" quill travel, variable speed (250-3000), and minimal runout. If anyone bothered they'd corner the market!

  6. #36
    I own that 20" Grizzly... I haven't measured the run out with a dial indicator but it's very small. I've used everything from 2" Forstners down to about 3/16" twist bits and it handles them all just fine. The built in light is nice... the table is a huge chunk of iron that means it doesn't move when you crank on something. In fact, the whole thing is a beast of a machine. The belts are just like all the rest - not fun to mess with but changing speeds takes about 3-4 mins, no biggie. Getting the table back to perpendicular to the quill is kind of a hassle when you have to move the table for something but not a deal breaker. I really only got one this big because I got a good deal on a new "used" model someone bought then never used. I've read other people say that Jet 17" is a no-go, just generally bad quality. Don't know anything about the Rikon.

  7. #37
    Quote Originally Posted by John Akerblom View Post
    Shit. Just looked at a drill press recommended speed chart. A minimum speed of 550 negates a lot of options. It's hard to believe none of these manufacturers could make a drill press w/ 6" quill travel, variable speed (250-3000), and minimal runout. If anyone bothered they'd corner the market!
    Delta does. http://www.deltamachinery.com/produc...s/item/18-900l
    Earl

  8. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Earl Rumans View Post
    You didn't get the memo? Delta is all but dead. It looks like a great DP on paper and I know a few people have them but I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

  9. #39
    Some things I wish I'd considered when purchasing:

    - Easy to adjust and align table
    - Easy to adjust quill stroke
    - Easy to adjust belts

    These things are hard to get aftermarket.

    IMHO, hp isn't a big deal for boring. Proper bit and speed is more important.

  10. #40
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    For 2000.00 you could buy a good used Bridgeport vertical milling machine. The best most versatile drill press out there.

  11. #41
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    Must say that i think that even in woodworking that reasonable spindle and other accuracies are important. It's not critically important (i struggled by from the late 90s on a cheap eastern press with a wobbly chuck) much of the time, but the day comes when you want to make a fixture, drill a hole accurately centered and to size, or to place a hole accurately between two lines, or to place a hole accurately offset from a line, or to place screws accurately when making a tool as below. i.e. the two stops had to be accurately placed so that it holds blades squarely.

    It's always possible to a degree to work around the issues, but the problem is that it's always on the very piece that matters that they get away from you/the cards fall wrongly and the job goes pear shaped.

    If this doesn't matter to you (and i'd argue that it does, even on basic woodworking - try getting a clean entry to a hole with a Forstner that's wobbling through 1/32in because of 0.015 runout at the chuck) then just scrap this thread right now - because anything goes. Why not use a hand drill?

    I can't speak for the presses available in the US, but the issue on the cheap end tends to be that the quality of eastern clones is hugely unreliable. One example can be very decent indeed, the next an absolute mess. It's just in my experience not possible to buy a drill in that market off a spec sheet/brochure without testing the example you have in mind. Or playing Russian roulette on the matter. Used as Pat (or even an eastern model) can be a very decent bet for this reason.

    Go more upmarket to a more powerful/heavier press and they tend to be set up for engineering needs - to get strong, heavy (more than we need), accurate and expensive, but to still have short spindle travels and the like. There's only a few with decent spindle travel in the US, even less here.

    It wouldn't suit everybody (it does more than just drill holes accurately), but I plumped for a Rong Fu RF 31 mill drill clone from the UK with an XY table - after coming very close to buying a drill very similar to the Rikon mentioned earlier sold under the SIP brand in the UK. It was by then getting into significant money, so I decided to go a bit more to have light milling capability as well. Even then a lot of care is needed to get a good quality example, but i lucked out with one that actually is pretty damn accurate. Almost zero runout at the quill taper, and about 0.003in on a dowel mounted in the chuck, well over 5in of quill travel, a decent sized work envelope and an X/Y positioning table.

    Magic to be able to drill a hole with a good quality brad point that's more or less right on size. Better still to be able to pop a hole in aluminium with a slightly doctored end end mill dead on a centreline that's tight enough to size that a ground dowel pin is a press fit. Even nicer to be able to mill up some T stock for T nuts for the woodworking table that's almost finished for it…..

    finished knife:s shave jig with stops.jpg
    Last edited by ian maybury; 08-31-2015 at 4:48 PM.

  12. #42
    Quote Originally Posted by michael langman View Post
    For 2000.00 you could buy a good used Bridgeport vertical milling machine. The best most versatile drill press out there.
    I was just going to post that. I picked one up a month or two ago for $1500 Not only does it have lots of quill travel, but you can also lift the table for basically any depth you might ever need. I've got a variable speed one, so it will drop down to like 40RPM or something. The table is huge, and can be precisely moved if you want to drill a row of holes. Mine also has a digital read out if you need to drill to a precise depth or precisely space holes.

    Plus it can be used with end mills for cutting slots!

  13. #43
    I've been following this thread because I also want to upgrade my bench-top, bought-for-cheap-on-CL Ryobi. Like John, I know nothing about drill press. Cary Falk said Delta is "dead." What does "dead" mean? I've been looking at the 18-900L. It looks to be a very good DP on paper with a good number of happy users.

  14. #44
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    Just search here W - there's been several threads with quality and support problems to the fore regarding the Delta. There's seemingly good ones, and not very good ones...

  15. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wakahisa Shinta View Post
    I've been following this thread because I also want to upgrade my bench-top, bought-for-cheap-on-CL Ryobi. Like John, I know nothing about drill press. Cary Falk said Delta is "dead." What does "dead" mean? I've been looking at the 18-900L. It looks to be a very good DP on paper with a good number of happy users.
    The 18-900 was certainly the sweet spot for price to features and quality but, I am not sure of the situation now that Delta has gone belly up. Despite some research I have never received a satisfactory answer to just what the heck is going on with the name/brand.

    The "new" Unisaw still seems to be out there with a few other items in the stable of DELTA PEC (the folks driving the "Detla" name at this point in their tragic recent history). I'm sure their hope is to lean on the near century of Delta history but, as to whether they are businessmen or tool-makers remains to be seen.

    If I were them I might have tried to start cold. I'm not sure which battle will be more uphill at this point; fixing the huge black eye that "Delta" has taken by stranding decades of tool owners or trying to win new brand loyalty in this age of 96% sub-optimal offerings.

    I'm a silver lining sort of guy but after watching the promising birth of Orion turn into Steel City and then watching helplessly while the founders exited (business decision or force out depending where you hear it) and the company was raced to the bottom . . . my silver lining search engine is in need of a tune-up.
    Last edited by glenn bradley; 08-31-2015 at 12:45 PM.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

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