Grizzly Drill Press?

[Mark Kelly]

Anyone have the Grizzly G7944 12 Speed Heavy-Duty 14" Floor Drill Press? Actually, anyone with any Grizzly drill press? I am looking into acquiring a drill press soon and looking my options. I have a Grizzly bandsaw and am very happy with the results, but I know some companies excel in some areas of production vs. cost.

[Paul Downes]

Mark, I have the G7948 DP. It has been an ok machine so far. I had a problem with the motor starter and adjusted it myself but later in the winter had more problems. Grizzly replaced the motor on it and it has been problem free since. It is not the most precision machine I've worked with, but it has been adequate for my needs. There is a little missallignment with the pullies and a little runout on the chuck that came with it. I generaly use a jacobs chuck I preveiously had. I really like the #4 morse taper of the spindle. I have a lot of morse taper shank drills and other tools and this has come in real handy. The big table was the other thing I like about it.

[Mark Kelly]

How do you like the depth stop on the unit?

[Keith Outten]

Mark,

I have the Grizzly G9969 Radial Drill Press. There were a couple of issues I disliked at first and resolved, the chuck wasn't the best quality and I added a XY table. For woodworking the 45" swing is sweet.

[Kent Cori]

Keith,

Does the radial drill press give you the accuracy you need for woodworking after you replaced the chuck? I've been looking at these and believe they must have some flex due to the sliding tube arrangement. However, I suspect the flex is minimal and given the accuracy we really need quite acceptable. What are your thoughts?

[Keith Outten]

Kent,

The radial drill is fine for woodworking, at over 590 pounds it is much heavier than it looks in the catalog pictures. I originally had planned to scrap the base and install the drill press on a steel shop table but when the drill arrived it was clear that my plan did not take into consideration the huge base plate. There is some flex but it is minimal. The column is also very large and overall the drill press is a beast.

It is nice to be able to drill a hole almost anywhere in a full sheet of plywood and to have the 45 degree head swing as well. I often place large sheets on my roll around work bench and slide it under the drill and over the existing base plate.

I don't use it for metal work as I have a small bench mill, but for woodworking the Grizzly radial has lots of capability and plenty of reach. With my XY table installed I do quite a bit of keyhole routing on the radial and it has been handy for drilling lots of pen blanks...accurately.

The down side is that the radial is BIG! It's footprint is much larger than a standard floor model dril press but I guess that is to be expected.

[Perry Schmidt]

I've got the 7943, which is the 'benchtop' version of this. I've had it for a few years. I like it very much. It's got a nice chuck, the pullys are aligned just fine, run-out was minimal (don't remember exactly what it was, but I did measure it when I first got it and it was in the 'OK for a drillpress' range quoted by Badger Pond folks.) Motor and starter all are very good.

Overall it's been a good heavy duty machine. Would it take the abuse of a 8hour/day in a pro shop? Not sure. But it performs very well for the hobbiest like myself. I use it quite a bit, mostly for wood working projects and it works very well.

My only complaints - the table is for metal working, not woodworking. The slots are not drilled through so mounting 2ndary tables and jigs is a bit of a pain. At the time they didn't have an option for table choice. I'd be surprised if they do now, but they might. If you use it more for metal drilling though a nice table.

Other complaint is the depth stop is useless. It worked for a while, but it was never strong enough to actually 'stop' the spindle. I have to watch when I hit the 'zero' mark. If I'm not watching, I feel it resisting a little - like drilling through a knot - and you're beyond the stopping point. I've never tried to fix it, so it might be an easy fix. But in general I think it's a poor depth stop.

Everything else though I think it's a fine drill press.

My 2 cents.

Perry

[Chris Padilla]

Keith,

Strange, Grizzly claims 400 lbs. for the shipping weight on one page (http://www.grizzly.com/products/item...emnumber=G9969) and 525 lbs. on their "catalog" page (http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2004/085.cfm?). I see this item is on sale, too.

[Perry Schmidt]

Chris - re: shipping weight...

My 7943 is heavy - it's by no means a 'benchtop' in that where you put it is where it's going to stay. The floor model will have a longer back post. But unless that extra post is 300+ lbs there's no way it will reach 525lbs. I'm guessing the 7943 is around 150lbs...this from actual lifting it, not from a spec sheet. I'd guess to add at most 50lbs for the extra post. I'd guess more like 20-30lbs.

FYI -

Perry

[Mike Linne]

I have the G7944 and like it. Motor went bad on my first unit and Griz replaced the whole thing. Run out is <.003". Belts are cheap and a source of vibration - be prepared to replace. Center idler pulley mounting hole is drilled slightly off kilter: pulley moves vertically when it rotates causing misalignment with motor & quill pulley - which magnifies belt vibration - verify hole is straight on unit you buy. Things I did and would do again: replaced chuck with keyless version; built large table with holddowns, dust collection and fence. For home shop use I'd recommend this unit.

[Paul Downes]

The depth stop could be better. It has a rather flimsy right angle bracket that bends too easy. I haven't tried to replace it.....yet, And don't anticipate that it would be that difficult. I think a quick release depth stop would be great. I have a diemakers card so take that into consideration on my criticism, we tend to be a precision oriented lot.

[Wolf Kiessling]

I have the G7943 and am VERY happy with it. It does not get heavy duty use but I see no reason why it wouldn't hold up if it did. I would have gotten the floor model but have no room for it.

[Keith Outten]

Chris,

The Radial is definately over 500 pounds. Believe me this drill press has a base plate that is heavier then many drill presses. It requires a very heavy steel table, something substantial and with a very large surface. The main column is 5" diameter, you won't see many floor model drill presses with a 5" column.

Honestly I wish the radial was smaller, I have a heavy welded steel workbench with a 1/4" stainless steel top and would have liked to scrap the base plate and bolt the bottom flange to my table. the flange is at least 15" in diameter and it took up too much of my 24" x 48" table top so I used the radial as it was shipped.

As I recall it took two of us to install the upper head and arm on the column when we assembled the press. The radial is about the same weight as my bench milling machine.
Look at the base in the picture again, it is 39.5" long by 17.5" wide. this should give you some scale to judge the size of the machine. The picture is misleading as to the size of the machine.

[scott spencer]

Kent - The 9969 is listed as a radial DP, but it's alot different design than those with a sliding tube. It's much more robust and pivots at a couple of points rather than sliding on a tube. I don't know exactly what it weighs, but can attest that's REALLY heavy. Tom Pritchard who frequents this forum has one, and I'm fairly impressed with it.

[Sam Chambers]

Mark:

I got a G7944 about 2 years ago, and have been generally happy with it. The depth stop works, but it's certainly not a "micro-adjustable" thing. The only problems I've had are: 1.) The belts tend to slip under heavy use, and 2.) The chuck isn't the greatest, and has a little trouble holding my smallest drill bits. The only thing I wish it had is longer spindle travel, but it really hasn't been a limiting factor so far. Also, it has a very slow low end speed (140 RPM), which is useful for larger Forstner bits.

All in all, I think it's a very good value for the price.