I took delivery of a new Delta 18-900L drill press recently. I purchased the drill press from Amazon because there isn’t any local retailer carrying this product. Before placing the order, I examined the Powermatic P2800B, Jet 17” drill presses and considered buying USA-made older machines. Locally, the selection of older, USA-made machines is not very good. Regarding the two new DPs, the Jet 17” DP came third due to its inferior specifications, though not adjusted for cost in my evaluation. The Powermatic P2800B was eliminated due to reported problems with the VSD, high minimum RPM, and added options that I don’t need or want. On the other hand, Delta has problem with parts supply, but the drill press itself has received positive online reviews. In my opinion, it a roll of the dice with either brands. I went with the Delta because of the lower minimum RPM, specifications, and subjective taste in the design. It looks industrial! 
The Delta DP arrived well packaged in a large styrofoam box. There are four main sections (head, column, base, and table) along with required hardware and a wrench. There was some signs of shipping damage to the box, but not enough to refuse delivery. Unfortunately, the delivery personnel damaged my car during the delivery. As for the drill press, the damage to the box translated into a cracked plastic head unit cover and bent hinges. This doesn’t affect function of the drill press and, hopefully, is cosmetic. |
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Metal parts at risk of rust are greased and wrapped in plastic. They are easily cleaned with mineral spirit and a few cotton rags. Allen keys of various sizes are provided. Assembly instructions are detailed in the manual. Recommended size for a wooden base is provided in the manual, but I built a custom base that fits my shop space. The DP’s base has four holes that fit ½-diameter bolts for securing to a mobile base or floor.
Once the mobile base is built, assembly of the drill press went per directions in the manual, which looks like other Delta manuals that I have seen. Time was a few hours, despite having to perform two modifications (more on these later). The head unit is heavy. It would be wise to have another person helps with lifting it onto the column. In my case, a worm-drive winch and gantry crane constructed from 2x4 lumber makes placing the head unit onto the column a breeze.
While the fit and finish is very good overall, I had to enlarge two of the three holes in the base of the light fixture in order for them to align with their counterparts on the DP’s body. A Dremmel with a small milling bit made quick work of this. Similar to other accounts online, the plastic connector on the light’s wire came loose. Hot glue secured them back together.
While the two above issues aren’t very bothersome, the alignment of the cast iron stop bracket is disappointing. With the two bolts secured, the stop bracket is tilted. This leaves wedge-shape gaps between it and the two quill-lock and stop nuts below and above, respectively. For now, I removed one bolt and level the stop bracket with only one bolt securing it to the body.
Unlike the P2800B, the pinion shaft handles are only able to be attached on the right of the head. This is not a problem for right-handed individuals, but might not be desirable for those whose left hands are dominant. The Delta DP size is comparable to the P2800B and larger than the Jet. I am of average height, but have no problem reaching into the belt compartment to change speed.
In Use
After assembly, I am most interested in the quill’s runout. I don’t own a precision dowel. Instead, I used a brass router base centering pin for this task. When securing the brass pin, I rotate the pin between the three jaws and then tighten each jaw in small increments until the pin is secured. The quill’s runout measured 0.0015” at full retraction and at 6-inch depth.
To test out the DP, I built a box joint jig. The DP operating noise is a low frequency hum of the motor and the rhythmic turning of the belts, somewhat similar to a cabinet saw. Turning off the machine takes a gentle slap of the red toggle switch on the front. The DP makes a “clack” before a complete stop.
The depth setting mechanism is a nice feature, although the parts aren’t as shiny as the P2800B. It is easy to quickly set the stops by decouple the threaded rod from the threaded nut inside the stop nuts. Fine tuning is by turning the nuts on the threaded rod. While the quill stops at the set depth, the pinion shaft hub has an additional 1/16” rotation before stopping. This gives the feeling of the quill traveling an additional 1/16”. This was also present on the P2800B that I examined. Right now, I don’t know if a solution exists.
Changing speed is easy with the belt tensioning mechanism. The most extreme speed changes take a minute, involving moving a lever to relieve the tension, position the belts according to the diagram glued to the underside of the cover, and returning the lever to its previous position. Time will tell, but this might prove more reliable than the P2800B’s VSD.
The table is flat, square, large (20" x 14") and can be positioned at a variety of angles. Installing and removing it was very easy, involving lifting it up to align two bolts with the holes on the supporting arms and screwing on the tilt knobs. From the factory, it is dead square to the quill. Lowering, raising, and swinging out actions are smooth with the worm gear. A wrench is supplied to lock and unlock the table bolt and is stored away underneath the table. At one end of the wrench is the drift key for removing the arbor. An index pin helps with zero-ing the table. The pin is secured to the table underside with a wire.
The lasers and LED light are bright. Their on-off buttons have just the right tactile feedback. The lasers needed adjusting, requiring some fiddling with a hex key and four screws. They are a nice feature to quickly align the drill point, but so far I have not relied on them without double checking. In order to give an accurate gauge of the LED light brightness, the picture of the lasers with the LED light on has the same exposure settings as the one with only the lasers on. At night and without shop lights on, the LED light is very bright. It can also be positioned almost anywhere within the arm’s range.
The Delta 18-900L is a solid machine. The design is industrial and appears to focus on woodworkers’ needs. For a hobbyist such as myself, it will probably last a very long time. The 6-inch quill travel is very nice. I were able to gang up parts of the jig and drill 5.5-inch-deep holes through them with one rotation of the handle. The table is milled flat and has plenty of attachment points for accessories. It also has almost 360 degrees of positioning. Power buttons are easily accessible and operated. Visual aids are bright, useful, adjustable, and easily positioned. With the exception of a few previously mentioned problems, fit and finish is very good. Operating noise is surprisingly quiet for such a large machine. Changing speed takes about a minute and is very easy. The lowest rpm of 170 will be useful drilling metal. Most importantly, quill runout is more than adequate at 0.0015” for woodworking. It is not perfect, but I think it serves the needs of a hobbyist woodworker.
Additional pictures below. Specifications are here. |
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