Drill stand or cheap pillar drill?

[terry.shitcrumbs]

I'm a bit too tight to buy an expensive pillar drill, but my inability to d rill with accuracy has hampered a few DIY tasks over the years. I'm not gen erally doing stuff at fraction of a millimetre tolerance, but results bette r than my freehand efforts would be useful.

I have seen el cheapo pillar drills at 50 to 100 quid. I have also seen dri ll stands to take a regular hand held drill for similar money. My drill is an old-ish Bosch (650w power, IIRC). On the pillar drill front, lots of the cheap ones get poor reviews, with particular criticism levelled at side to side play in the chucks or the raising/lowering mechanism. At least I know my hand held drill is quite well made.

The question, then, is which approach is better? Perhaps both my options ar e shit and I need to dig deep, or forget it. Suggestions/experience please.

Thanks.

Terry.

[newshound]

I have one of the original B&D stands, also a more recent (25 year old) one which fits to the standard "handle collar" and it is only marginally better than the B&D.

IMO even my bargain basement pillar drill is better than this. There is much more control on the drilling "capstan" which is a proper geared drive, not just a lever. Also the speed control pulleys mean you have more torque at low speed. It's all steel and cast iron so much heavier than an alloy drill stand. And much easier to fit clamps to the "floating" table. Certainly if you are doing precision metalwork, spending more on a better pillar drill is worth it. But if you are basically doing blacksmithing rather than machining a cheap one is OK.

You can have both my old stands if you are anywhere near Stroud!

[meow2222]

drill with accuracy has hampered a few DIY tasks over the years. I'm not g enerally doing stuff at fraction of a millimetre tolerance, but results bet ter than my freehand efforts would be useful.

rill stands to take a regular hand held drill for similar money. My drill i s an old-ish Bosch (650w power, IIRC). On the pillar drill front, lots of t he cheap ones get poor reviews, with particular criticism levelled at side to side play in the chucks or the raising/lowering mechanism. At least I kn ow my hand held drill is quite well made.

are shit and I need to dig deep, or forget it. Suggestions/experience pleas e.

Youtube shows how to make drill stands, cost zero.

NT

[GB]

Can you make them without a drill stand, though?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

And that tends to be the problem with a drill stand. Sideways play. To minimise that, you need a pillar drill where the chuck is concentric with the pillar. Then it's just down to how well it is made.

Other thing is a normal mains drill tends to run far faster than you'd ideally want. And can't be slowed enough with a speed control.

[LumpHammer]

I would go for a cheap pilar drill. I have one, and although the quality isn't great, and it has more play than I'd like, it's always ready for use. If I had a drill-stand, I would probably rarely use it, because of the hassle of fitting a hand-held drill into it before use.

[terry.shitcrumbs]

Thanks for the replies. A cheap pillar drill it is, then. I hadn't given mu ch consideration to plunge control advantage of a "proper" mechanism, versu s the crappy lever that drill stands use. I'll do some searching to try to find something acceptable at the lower end of the price range.

Cheers. Terry.

[Chris J Dixon]

It is probably my lack of imagination, but I can't picture that arrangement.

Chris

[meow2222]

Nod, I've never seen a pillar drill like that.

NT

[Scott M]

IMO the cheap ones all come out of the same factory. I got a Parkside one from AldidLidl for about £40 and, AFAICT, it was basically the same as the Clarke ones from MachineMart. But I got the 16mm chuck instead of the 13mm on the boggo Clarke.

Not going to win any awards, but bloody good for the price and perfectly acceptable if you're not after split-thou tolerence.

[dennis]

You need a mill for that accuracy.

I have the same aldi/lidl drill and it works fine for most things. Swapping the belts around can be a pain though.

[Bill Wright]

I find the wide range of speeds well worth the effort of belt changing. Turn it off before you put your fingers in though!

I find for example that drilling or countersinking aluminium is much better at a very slow speed because the aluminium doesn't go soft and clog up. Drilling ceramic is better at a very high speed with very light pressure.

Bill

[Bill]

In message , [e-mail] writes

I've had a drill stand and wouldn't buy one again.

I use a Fobco Star elderly Midlands-made bench drill. It is excellent, and bought cheaply from the old-age retirement auction of a joinery firm. I had seen one previously at the auction of a local kit-car manufacturer but it only took a quick look at the state of that one to understand why the company had failed.

I also have a cheap one bought in a B & Q sale years ago. It has more speeds and a guard, but is nowhere near as good as the Fobco. It just feels so much more solid and reliable and, judging by ebay prices, has been a brilliant investment.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Sorry - not well described. On a pillar drill the chuck is concentric to the moving pillar - whatever that is called - so any slop restricted to play between that pillar and its housing. They usually have a method of taking up any play too - although on many cheap ones this isn't well made.

On a stand there is a housing to take the drill sliding up and down a pillar and any pivoting on that translates into sideways slop at the drill bit.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I replaced a B&Q one (PP?) with a Lidl which actually had a cheaper purchase price - although quite a few years later. They do look like they came from the same basic design since quite a few bits were interchangeable. The Lidl one has a much more powerful motor, though - I often managed to stall the B&Q one.

[The Natural Philosopher]

So you can only drill the pillar, not any other object?

[Chris J Dixon]

I think I can see what you are trying to say.

On a pillar drill, the motor assembly is supported by the pillar from which the device takes its name. A separate drive shaft carries the chuck, allowing it to be raised and lowered, and it is concentric with this shaft, not the pillar.

Chris

[The Nomad]

Think this is what you are after

Avpx

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Excellent - simply couldn't remember what it was called. Only thing I could think of was torque tube on a car.

It's the essence of any decent drill press - the pillar bit simply being a convenient way of providing an adjustable table.

[GMM]

I bought a drill stand (cheapo jobby from MM), got it home and found it wouldn't fit any of my drills. Went and bought a cheapo drill from somewhere with the right size collar and being in the stand revealed just how much run out it had, so the whole arrangement was a waste of time. Waste of cash - should have just put the money toward a half reasonable pillar drill. Once again, that demonstrated that you hardly ever save any money trying to do things on the cheap when it comes to tools.