Delta DP250 Drill Press

[Charley]

I have a Delta DP250 variable speed 10" drill press (made in China) that I purchased in December 2003. After very little use (

[bridger]

"delta" will likely be around for a long time. consider that black and decker, once a quality toolmaker, coasted for decades on their long trashed reputation....

[Paul O.]

I had the same problem with mine. Called Delta and they sent me another. The new one is drilled and tapped for a set screw to hold everything together. I fixed my original one in this way to use it till the new one got here. Now I have an extra.

[Charley]

I knew they had to have done the same thing to somebody else out there.

I used 5 minute epoxy on my pulley to be able to finish my project without having to move everything to the other drill press (floor model). This type of thing always seems to happen to me when I've got a complex and perfectly aligned fixture set up and ready to use, hence my reason for using the epoxy to finish the job. My new pulley should be here today or Monday. Like you I'm going to fix the old one with a set screw and keep it for a spare, after I get the new one installed.

Thanks for the reply.

[Mike at American Sycamore]

I had the same problem with mine as well, I returned two units to my dealer. Perhaps I was wrong in buying them for my school, but they did get only lite use. I am also saddened by the fact that they are made in China, but I did buy them because they were cheap. You do get what you pay for. I learned my lesson. Perhaps as consumers we need to take some of the blame, we all want to buy at the cheapest price but expect high quality, it just is not going to happen. Delta tries to meet our needs and not loss market share to other low end manufatures and this is getting them in trouble. I am hoping who ever buys Delta will take the lead and bring back to Delta it's number 1 quality and customer service I have known for years.

Mike from American Sycamore

[Charley]

UPDATE -

My new pulley arrived from Delta Parts on Friday via UPS. The new one has hole drilled through the aluminum hub into the steel insert and a roll pin driven into it. I think this is a better fix than a set screw because it can't distort the steel insert from over tightening. I've already made an identical fix to the old pulley and it's now a spare sitting on my shelf. Thank you Delta.

In my opinion this type of problem can happen wherever a machine is manufactured. It isn't something that we should condemn China for. We make the same types of manufacturing mistakes, or worse, here in this country. I'm pleased that Delta is quick to provide good customer service like this whenever I need them, no matter where they had the tool manufactured. So long as Delta continues to provide tools and customer service to meet my needs I'll continue to buy from them without hesitation. I'm just a little bit worried about the possibility that the new owner of Delta might decide to cut Delta's costs and customer service to try to make a fast buck for a few years. I've seen this happen too often with other companies. They get bought out and then their quality and service falls off. They ride out their good reputation until it's gone and then the parent company sells what's left or closes the doors. I'm especially worried about the rumor of Ryobi buying Delta because I've bought Ryobi tools and tried their customer service. Now I don't buy anything from Ryobi any more.

Other than being a customer I have no connection with either of these companies and my opinions are entirely my own, gathered the hard way over the past 40 years from experience and lessons learned.

Charley

All outgoing e-mail is scanned for viruses by Norton Anti Virus 2004

has

[Mike at American Sycamore]

Dear Charley:

Thank-you for your post. I appreciate your opinion and the way that you look at things. I really like your attitude and words of encouragement. I pray that whoever buys Delta, they will continue to improve the company that I respect. I talked with Craig Walls this morning from Delta and he reports that Delta will grow and become better. I asked Craig about "broken trunnions" on the Delta Unisaw and he reports that they have had very few problems. I know as a dealer I had very few problems as well. I believe that the "broken trunnion" reports are perhaps blown out of porportion and when you ask someone: Has this happened to you? NO!! BUT I know of a friend of a friend of a cousin of mine did have a problem. One has to realize what a problem this would be to Delta and they would do everything in their power to advoid this problem. Unisaw boxes now come with a shock indicator and I know as a dealer of many brands of tools, Delta packageing is one of the best. Good luck, Happy woodworking, Mike from American Sycamore