pillar drills

[Dave Liquorice]

I don't think I've had anything to big for the vice yet... B-)

I'd reach for the sheet metal punch. B-)

[dennis]

You can usually turn them around on the base so they overhang the bench. It may help.

[Andy Dingley]

Morse or Jacobs taper?

Morse should be inserted clean and slightly oily (just to prevent rust), with the top of the taper chamfered or rebated so that driving it out with a drift doesn't raise a burr. They never (if in reasonable condition) give trouble,

Jacobs need nailing, welding or at least Loctite. Pain in the arse.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Your hobby watchmaking? ;-)

Even with ply?

[Bert Coules]

How do I tell the difference?

Well, mine hasn't been that: it's come loose no more than a few times over several years. So maybe it's a Morse.

Thanks.

Bert

[Nightjar]

A Morse taper hole will be inside the drill press quill. A Jacobs taper hole will be inside the back of the chuck.

Morse tapers are also longer - about three inches for the No 2 that is commonly used on drill presses.

Colin Bignell

[robgraham]

I wish OP's, such as this gentleman, would give more information as to what they want the requested tool for, what branch of DIY is their enthusiasm, and what their skill and activity level is.

The points given by all the contributors - some regular names there - are all absolutely valid and are as the result of experience with such a drill.

The OP's request makes me think that he is unfamiliar with pillar drills and thinks it might be worth his while getting one. On that basis my comment, based on experience, is to go for a simple bench drill at the low end of the market to find out what the tool can do and what he is really going to use it for.

I had a cheap Red Devil for quite a number of years which performed adequately - I successfully sold it on to a friend who is delighted with it and got an old Fobco off Ebay; I was fortunate enough to get a cheap 3ph inverter from the same source and very rarely have to move the belt. The difference in build is very apparant, but for general workshop drilling of wood, plastic and medium metal the cheap drill was sufficient.

Rob

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That's generally good advice for many power tools. Using them for your own purposes should show up where they are lacking, if indeed at all.

[Jules Richardson]

I had actually wondered about that with mine - but it all seems like a bit of a faff. I'm not sure if there's a good way of making the process more easy without compromising rigidity, though.

The need to sometimes drill taller objects makes me think that having the bench drill for the majority of tasks, but also having a floor-standing one around for the rest would be the best route.

Yes, I do have a vice too, but I seem to find that for most - but by no means all - jobs clamping to the table is quicker and doesn't present any problems, other than the fiddle of aligning clamps so that the table braces aren't in the way.

cheers

Jules

[John Rumm]

My cheapy Ferm drill press has a Jacobs taper with the female part in the chuck. Alas its rather too easy to pull the chuck off the quill if not careful - even too much vibration can do it. So drilling anything where the bit chatters in the hole, or using it to turn small wood items can cause the chuck to fall off, and don't even bother trying a mortice chisel in it!

(last time I reattached it I used locktite - and it has stayed put since)

[John Rumm]

While I agree in principle, I have found in reality that you are often just better skipping forward to the decent one in the first place (even if that means a s/h one). Since in most cases when you buy the cheap one, you work out that a) yes it is quite handy, and b) the cheap one does have limitations you would rather it did not. The result being you end up buying it twice.

[The Night Tripper]

I have one of the Aldi Powermax ones, and this is indeed how you can do it. You just loosen the grub screw holding the body of the drill onto the column, rotate it through 180 degrees and retighten.

As you say you then have to work out how to support both the drill, and the work. But it's doable at a pinch.

As others have said, it would be great to have a pillar drill with a larger 'throat'; these cheap Chinese drills only go up to 50mm or so. But it's absolutely been one of my best buys in recent years.

J^n

[NT]

I thnik the issue is that first time buyers have no real knowledge of what to look for, beyond 'a pillar drill.'

One point not mentioned regarding power. A couple of hundred watts is enough for drilling all sizes of hole. More power has its uses, but might not be something the OP actually needs.

NT

[Bob Minchin]

More and more often I think this poster has many of the features of a troll. He asks a lot of questions but rarely replies in the resulting thread. I wonder if he fires these naive questions off then sits back to watch the responses come in.

Bob

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Remember we're talking induction motors here. A couple of hundred watt one will struggle with the larger drill sizes into a hard material - even on the slowest speed. That's one reason I changed my old B&Q one. The present one is 500 watts and that's been fine on anything I've used it for.

FWIW I'm not sure why they spend the money providing all those speeds. I leave mine on the slowest.

[John Rumm]

Hence the question I presume...

For woodwork I would suggest about 3/4 hp (500W ish) is about right. That will cope with hole saws, sanding drums, and even a small amount of wood turning if you can cope with your lathe being rotated 90 degrees!

[John Rumm]

Hardly matters. The thread is now there with useful information waiting for anyone to google.

(might be worth collating into the wiki as another entry in the power tools FAQ)

[Andrew Gabriel]

Instructions for mine say lower and press the chuck face (jaws retracted) into a piece of scrap timber on the workpiece table.

I was rather surprised that was all, but mine has never fallen out.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That agrees with my findings in practice. My current one is 500 watts and has never stalled. Unlike my eerier one which was IIRC 250 watt.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It was an eerie shade of green...