Oscillating Drill Press

[Jim Finn]

Anyone here have experience with an oscillating drill press? I have seen them offered and was wondering if there are any weaknesses in this tool to be aware of.

[Ben Rivel]

I had no idea something like that even existed. So it moves up and down as you pull it down? What would that be useful for? Using your drill press as an oscillating spindle sander?

EDIT: Oh i see: LINK

Id definitely rather have separate tools, but I guess if you are limited in space and funds that might be a only option.

[Joe Spear]

I have a Shop Fox drill press that does that, intended to be used with sanding sleeves. I got it over 10 years ago, so I don't know if they're still available. There is an extra small belt that operates special pulleys to give the up-and-down motion. A long time ago that belt broke, and I never got another one because I got the Ridgid belt-drum sander and didn't need the Shop Fox to do that. Now it is strictly a drill press.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I had a Craftsman a long time ago, and a second belt, which you have to remove/replace to turn the oscillator off/on is a hassle. Similar to the Shop Fox I believe. The major weakness in that is the belt drives a cam device (I forget exactly how that works) which drives the quill down. SPRING pressure returns the quill, so you cannot sand on the up stroke. Well, I guess you could sand, but the quill will stay down...... The belt was a PITA to find when it was new. Probably about impossible now. It's a big o-ring, so you may be able to find a substitute. It's not a very good drill press. Not a lot of stroke. Lots of power for it's size though.

[Jim German]

Seems pretty gimmicky to me. I wonder if they changed the design of the drill press bearings to be able to handle the sideloads of sanding.

[Jim Finn]

Thanks for the input folks.

It confirms my suspicions concerning this. I was considering one to use when sanding the inside of my band saw boxes but I can do it in my existing drill press with a pneumatic drum and just move the wood up and down myself as I sand.

I have used a spindle sander and found that it is tricky to avoid "waves" in the sanded surface. The pneumatic drum in my drill press avoids this.