should I sell my drill press?

[Jim Becker]

I will add one other thing...a floor standing DP takes up a tiny amount of room and doesn't use any bench space...something to consider.

[Ryan Yeaglin]

I will add one other thing...a floor standing DP takes up a tiny amount of room and doesn't use any bench space...something to consider.

I will add that making a cabinet that goes under the drill press that "hugs" the column adds storage space for all drill related accessories and can roll away when you need to drill something that is tall (lower the table".

[richard poitras]

Curious how you want to sell a faulty drill press for $300 and then replace it with a $400 brand new machine. That's a very optimistic price on a bad drill press.

Plus one ....

[Steve H Graham]

I thought about getting a small drill press, but then I realized they take up exactly the same amount of room as floor presses and they're less convenient. Footprint is all that matters when it comes to space, so a short machine with a big footprint is no better than a tall machine, and in order to use the small machine, you have to make a base for it or clutter your bench with it.

All drill bits make holes bigger than their nominal sizes. This is true even if you use them to drill metal in a rigid milling machine. Drill bits are not for making round precision holes. They make triangular holes which are pretty close to nominal. This is why reamers exist.

Depending on your drill press's design, it may be possible to correct runout. I bought an old Rockwell with a split-head design. If it starts to run out, you just tighten it up. You might be able to get a machinist to make a part for your machine to get it running true again.

[Bob Riefer]

Thanks guys!

Old drill press seems to be moving easily at that price, and I'll pickup something that better suits my needs

Edit.. SOLD last night at $250, so I guess I wasn't too far off with my guesstimate.

[Jim Matthews]

Jim, why did you have to mention the Nova? I just watched an extremely enthusiastic YouTube unboxing of the Nova Viking and will now lose sleep until I buy one.

Jim is an advance agent for SMERSH, turning the avarice of woodworkers into espionage.

[Jim Becker]

Jim is an advance agent for SMERSH, turning the avarice of woodworkers into espionage.

That organization specializes in GAS. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

[Thom Hartnett]

I was so excited to see people telling Bob he was pricing the drill press too high, I'm not that far from him and had visions of it next to my Walker Turner lathe. Alas, it was gone by the time I got to Craigslist. So, the search for a floor model Walker Turner drill press (with belt guard, am I asking too much?) continues. Congrats on sale.

[Tom Bender]

Agree with Jim, floor model is much better use of space. I have 250 sq ft of floor space but only 25 sq ft of bench top. Floor space is much less valuable. And a floor model lets you drill the end of a spindle or lamp etc.

Speed changes are overrated. I drill everything at about 300 rpm. Think I may have changed it last year....no the year before.

[Curt Harms]

Agree with Jim, floor model is much better use of space. I have 250 sq ft of floor space but only 25 sq ft of bench top. Floor space is much less valuable. And a floor model lets you drill the end of a spindle or lamp etc.

Speed changes are overrated. I drill everything at about 300 rpm. Think I may have changed it last year....no the year before.

But a good bench top sitting on a stout mobile cabinet adds a good bit of storage and uses no bench space. If the bench top's head can swivel you can swivel the head to the side of the cabinet and drill tall stuff. That arrangement might use more floor space due to the cabinet but you get storage a floor standing machine will not give you.

One thing no one has mentioned is more quill travel. Some presses have 6" of travel which can be useful for woodworking but probably not for $500.