Drill Press

[bkharman]

Hey everyone,

I got a lot of good responses about my thickness planer Q the other week so thought I would press my luck on a bench top drill press.  I have been looking at them for several days over the long weekend, but am no better off than when I started.  I have never had a drill press, but lately the measures I have been taking on the drill + levels/blocking/etc. have not been desirable. 

I know posing this Q will most likely give me various opinions, but they can't be worse then the conflicting reviews I have been reading.  What am I looking for?
-Low maintenance
-Don't want to mess with moving belts across pulleys
-Woodworking only at this stage, no need for metal work
-very low runout, want accurate/repeatable holes

Sounds like i need a Festool DP!  [wink]  I did like the Powermatic 2800, but I don't need anything that big and beefy.  Too bad they don't have a bench top version.

Welcoming all advice here mates...

 

[leakyroof]

Bench top or floor model. Sounds like your comments ruled out a floor model, which means you run into a lot of fairly similar sized machines and specs.
Variable speed is nice, but the newer belt designs on non- variable speed machines which still require moving the belt around different pulleys are now using small/narrow Serpentine type belts instead of the classic V-Belt. They are generally proving much easier and faster to adjust than the V-Belts.
Runout, good luck. Seems to be all over the place, and not the same when the quill is fully extended versus up in the head.
Quill travel, usually the longer the better for woodworking since many bits are short in length when bought in standard form.
Longer bits and extensions are available , but add cost to your bit purchases.
6" is about the max, with something in the 3-4" travel as a general norm.
Tables that are biased to woodworking versus metalworking are nice too since the approach to how you will be clamping the work with common woodworking clamps is taken in account by design and not a head scratching after thought.
  Delta was offering an interesting DP in the last year or two, but I think it's a floor model like the Powermatic. 

 

[leer]

I've got an older Delta 12" benchtop drill press, and it has served me well.  I'd love a floor model with more capacity, such as the big Powermatic, but it has not gotten high enough on the tool priority list!

The one thing you'll find on most drill presses is that the standard table is almost useless for woodworking.  Whether round or square, their target market is typically not woodworking, and they tend to have all kinds of ridges on the bottom.  The tables may handle a C-clamp, but not any of my woodworking clamps, except in places that won't reach to right spot on the piece of wood I need to drill.   [smile]

I bought a Woodpecker's DP Table a few years ago, and I rarely remove it unless I need a bit more vertical capacity.  I added some blocks made up of several layers of baltic birch plywood, with embedded t-bolts and 5-star knobs to allow easy removal.  I added the plywood blocks to lift mine high enough to clear the crank handle as it is rotated.  I bought a model that was probably best suited to a large drill press, and hence the need to raise it up.  Probably most of the  benchtop drill press-sized tables likely would fit just fine, and not need any riser blocks. Having the T-tracks with scales makes using the fence a breeze, and having stop blocks and clamps that use the T-tracks gives a lot of flexibility in positioning and clamping.

 

[rmwarren]

I bought a new Delta benchtop DP years ago and hated it. It was the model with the variable speed pulleys like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/DELTA-DP350-Shopmaster-12-Inch-Bench/dp/B00006K00I/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

The bearings, castings and overall tolerances were awful on the Delta. The VS pulley's only exacerbated the wobble in the spindle.

The better ones (new) can be pretty expensive. I ended up haunting Craigslist and found a 1950's Rockwell Homecraft that was in nearly new condition for $100. Gave the Delta to my brother-in-law (snicker) and never looked back.

Seriously check out CL, you can often find Rockwell or Buffalo Forge tools cheap, they will give you much better service if you can find one that is not too rusty or beat up.

RMW

 

[leer]

That Delta VS model was a POS and pulled from the market.  Interestingly, the big Delta drill press that I used to see side by side with the Powermatic a couple years ago at Woodcraft has been discontinued as well.  Not sure what is going on with Delta and variable speed drill presses, but their old stuff is pretty decent.  Mine is at least 15 years old, and maybe more like 20.

I've also got an old Craftsman radial arm saw I bought new in 1975.  They were built like tanks then, but quickly degenerated into junk. With an occasional alignment, it still cuts incredibly true.

 

[leakyroof]

That Delta VS model was a POS and pulled from the market.  Interestingly, the big Delta drill press that I used to see side by side with the Powermatic a couple years ago at Woodcraft has been discontinued as well.  Not sure what is going on with Delta and variable speed drill presses, but their old stuff is pretty decent.  Mine is at least 15 years old, and maybe more like 20.

I've also got an old Craftsman radial arm saw I bought new in 1975.  They were built like tanks then, but quickly degenerated into junk. With an occasional alignment, it still cuts incredibly true.

. I hear you. I bought the Delta 950 20" drill press with the Reeves type variable speed drive. It's probably that model you saw that disappeared. Was not around long, glad I got mine when I did.  6" travel on the quill, a nice large table that is biased to woodworking. Works well with carbon bits that need very slow speeds or large Forestner type bits. It's too flimsy for precision metalworking and doesn't like drilling metal near it's rated bit size capacity , but I love it all the same.  It is however, not as tight as the '50s bench top Delta model that is right next to it, my old DP220.  Very tight, and runout is nil at any quill position

 

[Slappy]

I got Craftsman standing drill press & I was surprised on well made it is , I got a really good chuck for it & virtually no run-out  issues , no wobble
the table sucks but don't they all ? I got it on  a really really deep discount day after Xmas sale  & it was their best model .
I got that WoodPecker DP table & it's great

 

[Sparktrician]

I bought a Delta DP300 on Craig's List some time back.  Like one reviewer noted, it will easily bog down when using a 3-1/2" hole saw like I was using yesterday.  I really don't need a floor-standing drill press, but haven't found a bench-top model that does a great job.  I did add the Woodpeckers drill press table, but found that when mounted correctly, the riser crank hit the back of the table, so I had to raise the table on blocks to get sufficient clearance for the riser crank, thereby turning it into a 9" drill press.  Quill travel also sucks at under 3".  I'll keep it until I find something better, but it's yet another disappointment made in China. 

 

[tiralie]

I don't own a drill press, but I really like the reviews and comments for the Jet JDP 15
Tim

 

[Slappy]

anyone have a opinion on a good inexpensive drill press vise ?
the one that bolt to a standard drill press table ?
i'm going to be drilling in AL flat stocks , AL blocks & AL angles for my MFT table build & then  maybe some mild steel down the road

 

[promark747]

Another option that may be more in line with Festool philosophy (portable, high quality) would be one of the Bridge City Drilling Jigs:

http://www.bridgecitytools.com/default/dj-1-drilling-jig.html

http://www.bridgecitytools.com/default/dj-2-drilling-jig.html

 

[leakyroof]

anyone have a opinion on a good inexpensive drill press vise ?
the one that bolt to a standard drill press table ?
i'm going to be drilling in AL flat stocks , AL blocks & AL angles for my MFT table build & then  maybe some mild steel down the road

  Palmgren isn't that bad, and you can get them from several places. J & L Industrial[which merged with someone] and Mc-Master Carr.  I own a 6" DP vise and a small version for little pieces. They are available with outside ears for bolting down, or recessed versions too that have a shoulder or slot milled down the length of the vise.