I wouldn't expect to use one very often, but the need/desire has arisen again, and I would like to drill some fairly accurate and perpendicular holes in 2mm metal.
Could anyone recommend a reasonably priced pillar drill, up to say £100? There's a fair selection here:
Thanks, Rob
I have one of the ultra-cheapie Clarke ones (Clarke CDP5DD 44.95+vat) which I use for drilling the wooden bases for my stained-glass table-lamps, also for diamond-drilling in glass.
It's cheap & cheerful - but effective - and a whole lot better than my previous set-up which was a mains Black&Decker drill in one of those 'adaptor' drill-stands.
Motor start capacitor failed after about 18months of ownership (rather than 18 months of use ) and CPC were no help at all, but Clarke themselves in the UK shipped me a new capacitor for free! - so kudos to Clarke.
It's probably nowhere near 'pro' standards - but it works well for me - and given the ridiculously low shipping cost (to Ireland) from CPC it was an absolute bargain. Just don;t ask them to ship you a dozen CFL lamps on the same order!
Adrian
I've got one the basic Clarke model from that page. It's adequate for rough 'n ready work, but not for anything which needs to be accurate. The motor isn't very powerful and bogs down easily when spinning bigger bits, the chuck doesn't hold small bits very well (2mm or less), and the head vibrates a lot (despite the base being securely bolted to my bench). The first I had failed after a few days but Clarke replaced it and the second has been okay. You are better off spending more to get something decent.
dan.
I have an ancient PPower bought from B&Q for the then cheap price of 40 quid. And it's been a good workhorse for the things I do. Check any sideways movement on the sliding part or bearings, though. I had to have some work done on it to make this better.
It looks the same as the Clarke at the top of your list.
What metal? Summat soft, medium, impossible to drill? (lead thru' to stainless steel). Size of object, will the throat(*) be large enough on a pillar drill.
I've got another =A340 Performance Power jobbie. Does well enough for me, you may have to spend a bit of time fettling it out of the box, free play in the quill, lubrication etc and each time you use it checking that it's set up for the task by measurement and possibly test drills, rather than relying on any scales it might have.
(*) I think thats the right term for the distance from the center of the quill to the closest edge of the pillar.
on 13/07/2010, Rob supposed :
I bought a cheap Aldi/Lidl one about five years ago - about £30/£40. It has been fine, apart from the vice rest thingummy plate (?) has a tendency to bend down when pressure is applied. I tend to have to use a car scissor jack to give more support.
If you need quality and accuracy you need to spend much more than £100, or look at a second hand commercial one.
I have a floor standing Clarke one. Main reason was my metalwork workbench usually has no spare space, and not a lot of clearance under the cupboards above, but there was spare floor space.
I've been very happy with it except for just one gripe - the idler pully on the belt doesn't have the bearing hole quite in the middle, and this generates vibration. I kept meaning to contact Clarke, but after some years, I never got around to it.
It has a nice chuck, but minimum grip is 4mm. For smaller bits, I grip a chuck from a failed B&D drill in it, and put the bits in that.
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Whatever drill you buy and use you will get greater accuracy by centre punching before drilling. This isn't always done when drilling on bench/ pillar drills because of the expectation that these drills will be more accurate than hand drills. They are more accurate but they're not perfect unless you buy a top rated model.
Cic.
Top tip - thanks for that. And everyone else, appreciated. I think I may go for the cheaper Clarke, Dent's comments on limitations noted.
Rob
The cheaper clarke ones look similar to the cheap Ferm one I have. All in all its "adequate", but the table is too flexible. There is also more play in the quill that I would like as the extension increases. However compared to not having a drill - its very worth having! (I would also recommend getting the slightly bigger motor)
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