Portable drill press for hand drills

[Peter Kuhlman]

This topic has come up several times over the years. Axminster Tools out of England has finally got theirs on the market. Pricey at 160 Euros but looks really well made. No reviews on their site. Anyone have any experience with it? I have ordered stuff from them before and had excellent experience with very reasonable shipping cost to the States.

[Richard Coers]

Those attachments were invented because drill presses were expensive. China made the world of drill presses cheap. Can't imagine what usefulness that type of thing has any longer.

[Jim Becker]

Richard, they are actually pretty useful for a number of operations that wouldn't necessarily be possible or at least practical on a traditional drill press...including portability when working on "timber" based projects. Sometimes chair makers use them for boring accurately at angles. They don't replace a regular DP for many things where super exact precision is required, but since they have an unlimited throat depth, you can use them in the middle of something really big if you nee to bore a clean, accurate hole which isn't always possible with a hand-drill.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

This looks to be very well engineered, much more so than the Chinese plastic junk heretofore offered in the US. All important parts appear to be precisely machined metal. Looks like something that Woodpeckers would produce.

[Brad Shipton]

Looks like a step up from the Lee Valley one I own. The plastic they used in mine was too weak. It works still in a pinch taped up, but definitely not a Mafell quality. https://www.timberwolftools.com/mafe...lling-stations

[Richard Coers]

I guess I'm confused. To me a drill press, as mentioned in the title, has a base/table, and an arm to move the quill or drill. Now a portable drill guide is just a base and a slide. With no link or picture, you can see my confusion.

[Jim Becker]

That makes sense, Richard. Terminology sometimes gets in the way and as you state, no photo doesn't help.

Here's the product I suspect the OP is referring to...inexpensive at about $22US plus shipping, but limited in function and to drill/drivers with a 45mm collar dimension.



UJK (Peter Parfett) also has a nice one also sold by Axminster...much more expensive at about $180 US plus shipping but as you can see, it's pretty much universal fit for any drill/driver and is a bit more versatile.



There are a lot of folks who do woodworking in very modest situations so I suspect there is a need for these kinds of tools in some markets.

[Peter Kuhlman]

That UJK model is what I was referring to. I was going to post a link but didn’t think that was allowed.
Pete

[Bill Dufour]

For the amount I need that a plunge router is good enough. A magnetic drill is what steel workers use. Not sure but similar or identical items are used for concrete with water cooling.
Bil lD.

[Jim Becker]

That UJK model is what I was referring to. I was going to post a link but didn’t think that was allowed.
Pete

UJK stuff is top notch...I just watched his new video last night about the kit of MFT accessories and since I've gone that direction quite a bit (96mm grid of 20mm holes) in various work surfaces, it's very tempting to bite on it at some point. That drill guide is really nicely designed.

And yes, you can link to things like that as long as you don't personally benefit from it and it's not an auction type site like EBay.

[Jim Becker]

For the amount I need that a plunge router is good enough. .

For angles? For drill bits? This is kind of focused on different tasks than one would use a router.

[Mike Cutler]

Peter
You will find that to be an invaluable tool, as long as it is made well.
The ability to drill an accurately placed, perpendicular hole, at a distance in an object that exceeds the throat capacity of normal drill press, will open up possibilities for you. You may never have to drill a hole at an angle to appreciate what that little attachment brings to the table.
I promise you that you will use it, and a drill more often.
As for the router comparison, there really isn't one. Completely different tools.

[johnny means]

I'm pretty fussy about drilling and use a lot jigs and drilling guides. These types of guides are great when you need a precision hole (every hole should be precise) in the center of a gymnasium floor, or any other similarly unwieldy workpiece.

[Derek Cohen]

I can see this being useful for staked furniture.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[ChrisA Edwards]

The UJK unit looks good and TSO Products has it listed for $145 on their site as a 'Notify Me' when it's available for US customers.

I have the UJK Parf Guide System, so I know this Drill Guide will be made with excellent precision, but I ask, is it that much better than the Milescraft 1318 at $33.