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Thread: Review: Rikon 17" variable speed drill press

  1. #1
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    Review: Rikon 17" variable speed drill press

    Good day all:

    Myself and a few others have asked here about which drill press to get, and I wanted to let you know that I landed on the 17" Rikon Variable Speed Drill Press. I am so happy for that choice. Is it better than the Delta? I can't tell you, but it has 1.5 horsepower, and today I had to drill a bunch of holes in 1" steel, and it went through it like butter.

    The variable speed is such a great thing to have, especially when I use a lot of forstner bits. In fact, I use them probably the most. It's great to slow it down for those without having to do a belt change. I did have an issue with the main drive belt squeaking, and I found that it was simply that the drive belt wasn't seated on the larger pulley properly, and I loosened it and moved it down. This was very easy to do, because there is a locking knob that you loosen, and a lever that you turn which moves the motor so the belt slacks. By the way, something not pointed out in the reviews I saw before buying this drill press- although it is variable speed with a lever to control the speed, there is still a belt adjustment you can make to swap to a different main drive pulley for speeds below around 750 RPM. Moving the main drive pulley changes the gear ratio to the adjustable pulley and so with that setup you get speeds from 200-700, and with the other pulley setting, you get speeds from 750 to 2400. Actually, I think max speed I got was 2450. I love the readout. LOVE it!!! It's very simple to look at your speed, and push a lever back and forth to get it to the precise speed you want.

    This thing is a beast. It's about 6' tall. The main column is around 4" diameter. The head weighs so much that myself and another fairly strong guy had to grunt and groan to get it on top of the column. The table is fairly large, and it's very heavy. It does tilt to 45 deg, and to tilt it you need a wrench, which comes with the drill press. All other adjustments have levers or bolts with lever handles on them.

    I installed the Woodpecker drill press table on it that I already owned. It's only slightly larger than the table that comes with the drill press, but I like the removable sacrificial center piece, and I like having an adjustable guide and hold-downs. In fact, the very first holes I had to drill, I used the hold downs and the guide.

    This drill press has 1.5 horsepower versus most others in this size were 3/4 to 1 hp. It has a 5/8" chuck, which is a nice plus for those larger bits, although I rarely use any that large. It's got the power to back it up.

    Another main deciding factor for me with this drill press over others was the 6" throw. It's not about wanting to drill 6" deep holes- it's more about being able to keep the table set, and to be able to change bits without having to move the table up and down to do so. This is what I ran into when trying to do the step holes for the Lie Nielsen and Benchrafterd vise chops in my smaller drill press. I needed to be able to set the press on center, drill a large hole, change bits, and then drill successive smaller holes on the same center. What I ran into with my smaller press is that there wasn't enough room to change the bit, and I had to lower the table, which ultimately took it off center, and it became hard to get it back on center. THAT is why a 6" throw comes in handy, and I seem to do a lot of stepped holes these days, so that was a big factor for me. I wanted something with as long of a throw as I could get.

    Something I had to control myself with is this thing has a lot of leverage and puts a lot of pressure on the bit. I guess I'm just used to using crappy drill presses. I habitually would crank down on the lever when drilling, and you don't have to do that. It has a long lever that gives a lot of leverage.

    The light is nice- it doesn't put out a whole lot of light, but it helps, and it's on a fairly long gooseneck that lets you move it around to put it right where you want it. It is a spotlight versus a floodlight- it throws a spot of around 10" diameter.

    I have zero regrets with this purchase. It was a lot more than the non-variable speed (i.e. adjust manually with belt changes) drill press of the same size, but boy is it ever worth every penny. This was a very big purchase for me, and I researched a lot. It ultimately came down to this one or the variable speed Delta. I landed on this one, mainly because of the 1.5 horse motor, and I got it on sale a little less than the Delta- win/win. The only thing I gave up is the laser, and it was more of a luxury than a nescessity. My smaller press has a laser, and I find that it makes it easy to get the item set up, but I use the bit itself to actually figure where the hole is going. I do wish this drill press had a better holder for the chuck- and this is really digging for a negative. It feels a little flimsy, but I'm just going to stick a magnet on the head to hold the chuck.

    My reason for posting this review is that I spent a VERY long time looking at every drill press available, and I had one shot to get this while in the US picking up some other things, and I admit I had some anxiety over whether I should spend this much on a drill press. I decided if I was going to go, go big. Better to have too much press than too little! For anyone else on the fence about spending this admittedly large sum for a drill press, I wanted to offer my thoughts. In the end, I have no regrets. I'm so happy I spent the extra.

    Sorry for the iPhone sideways pic. My laptop isn't working for editing them. Keen eyes will see that it's currently plugged in to a plug in the closet that was for a dehumidifier until I can add a plug on this side of the wall this weekend.

    Drill Press.jpg

    Edit: Photo was taken while I was installing the Woodpecker table- the clamps are not a permanent fixture- they were just holding it on until I found the right screws to mount it permanently.
    Last edited by Malcolm Schweizer; 04-02-2019 at 3:48 PM.

  2. #2
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    Thanks for your review. That looks like a great tool!
    Rikon Drill Press.jpg

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    Quote Originally Posted by David Buchhauser View Post
    Thanks for your review. That looks like a great tool!
    Rikon Drill Press.jpg
    ...and thank you for turning me right-side-up.

  4. #4
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    That looks like a very nice drill press, but thanks to your thread, I'm once again in a state of dissatisfaction. I got General Int. several years ago & it is a very solid piece of kit. But it has an awkward to use system for changing the speeds, so it just gets left on a fairly slow one most of the time. And the depth stop adjustment is horrible to the point where very rarely use it. That's gonna get fixed shortly with one that @Greg Bradley did for his drill press. Not much I can do about the variable speed though, short of selling it & getting that Rikon. The 6" stroke is sure nice to have and I wouldn't want to be without it.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Pratt View Post
    That looks like a very nice drill press, but thanks to your thread, I'm once again in a state of dissatisfaction. I got General Int. several years ago & it is a very solid piece of kit. But it has an awkward to use system for changing the speeds, so it just gets left on a fairly slow one most of the time. And the depth stop adjustment is horrible to the point where very rarely use it. That's gonna get fixed shortly with one that @Greg Bradley did for his drill press. Not much I can do about the variable speed though, short of selling it & getting that Rikon. The 6" stroke is sure nice to have and I wouldn't want to be without it.
    I have ruined a few forstner bits because I was too lazy to swap the belts, and it will as one or two holes- how bad can that be? Those days are over- thank goodness.

    I forgot to mention the depth stop. It has a quick release button- slide it up or down, let go, it stays. It’s another real time saver.

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