drill press confusion

I have been doing woodworking as a hobby for the last couple of months. After a couple of projects, I slowly acquired a tablesaw and other power tools and now in need of a drill press to make those accurate holes. I spent two whole days researching between 10" and 12" drill presses and between delta and ryobi. All my power tools are ryobi and all of them work great so naturally I am biased towards ryobi.

As a matter of fact I bought the ryobi 10" DP at homedepot yesterday for $99. It is the new model with laser crosshairs. It works fine. But I am wondering if I should have got the 12" ryobi new model which had lasers plus variable speeds. I could not find a single review of this new 12" ryobi DP. It has infinite speeds between 500 and 3000rpm. 5A motor.

Will it be worth spending $169 for the 12" one ? please advice. I dont want to outgrow a new DP very soon.

Thanks,

-joy

Reply to
therider
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Joy, believe me when I tell you that you will quickly outgrow that drill press. I am in full agreement that the DP is one of the most used and abused tools in my shop. I have the Delta 16" VS DP and it functions very well, but even with this machine, I sometimes wish I had a larger model.

Take back the 10" and get the largest (variable speed is an absolute must) machine you can find. If you want to save a few bucks, look for a large used one. You will not be sorry.

Dave

Reply to
Teamcasa

Report back in a year and see if you still feel the same.

Yes. I have a 12" and I'd never want to go smaller. It is not often I'd like larger, but 10" it too small long term. In a month you won't be happy with it.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

both are better than a hand operated drill, but..... I have been using a Rockwell 32" radial drill press since the late 70's and have never wanted for more. These typically will cost more than what you are looking at but will probably last you from here on out. Take a look at the Grizzly here,

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Reply to
Leon

Thanks a lot everyone.

It now makes sense to go for a 12" DP. I will probably upgrade it today.

Now I wonder why I dont see a single review of the newer ryobi 12" with laser crosshair and variable speeds (500-3000). I will probably get that one unless someone can tell me good enough reasons to go for delta

12" with 5 speeds (620-3100).

I saw a 12" DP on craigslist for $100 but it is without the laser crosshairs and has fixed speeds. but it is the older ryobi with

280-3000 range.

Here is my woodworking gallery:

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I saw the grizzly radial one, but not sure if I will order it online. I prefer to buy heavy stuff like these locally.

-joy

Edw> >IAll my power tools are ryobi and

Reply to
therider

Joy, If this is going to be a serious hobby, forget about lasers and other gizmos. Buy the biggest, heaviest one you can afford. Used is not a bad option.

Dave

Reply to
Teamcasa

I guess I am really liking woodworking as a hobby.

My other hobby is photography, but I cant do it just anytime I want. Woodworking is independent of time so I am getting more hooked.

I am looking at craigslist now to get a good deal on a 12" of not larger drill press.

thanks for the inputs.

-joy

Reply to
therider

I bought a tiny HF VS DP for $30. Works great. If I outgrow it tomorrow, that's OK. I'll get whatever I need then and be happy that I have a smaller drill press that does what it does. I'd feel the same way if I spent $99 on the Ryobi. Even if all you do is learn a little about DPs (including maybe that you need a bigger one), $30-$100 is dirt cheap for tuition plus materials-- especially considering that you can recover some value by selling, giving away, or repurposing the thing. As long as it works.

The VS on mine works by switching the belts around on stepped pullies, btw.

As for the aspersions some will cast on the Ryobi name: I've had the low-end Ryobi fixed-base router for years, and my father has had the same one for longer, and it's great (in contrast to the low-end Skil plunge router of the day, the 1823, which is unusable). Same goes for their 1/4 sheet palm sander. Their mid-to-upper range bench saws are undoubtedly lots of bang for the buck, and many people absolutely swear by them. They have their own little cult. Ryobi certainly outclasses competing brands of *consumer* grade tools like B&D, Skil, Tradesman, and probably the Delta Shopmaster brand. Ryobi makes *consumer* grade tools the way they should be made: functional and inexpensive.

I emphasize *consumer*. If you're on a budget, it is important to objectively ask yourself what market you're really in. I look at the must-have-the-bestest attitude of some of us weekend warriors and wonder if they're overcompensating for something. Anyway, someone's gonna sneer at your Ryobi tools. Let them have their fun, and you can have yours.

Reply to
boorite

:)

my $99 10" ryobi DP is also VS by switching the belt. the new 12" ryobi has a handle which varies size of pulleys so you can get ANY speed you want.

you are right about the tuition fact. In two days of my my exhaustive research on DPs I learnt a lot of stuff.

I always find that buying a little more than the cheapest item on the market is usually better. I am happy I bought the ryobi portable table saw bts20r for $220 instead of the cheapest $99 one. So I guess same could happen to this case too.

happy woodworking,

-joy

Reply to
therider

Reply to
Troy

One important thing that nobody has yet mentioned is "Spindle stroke". This is the length of downward movement that the drill press will go without changing the table position. In my case since I'm frequently drilling through pieces of wood 3-3½" it was important to me to have that spindle stroke capacity. Size of DP does NOT guarantee longer stroke. This specification will be clearly marked on the box and in my opinion is more important then variable speed changing methods. VS is important but it really doesn't matter much whether its belt or electronic. Almost ALL drill press's will offset the table for taller pieces if need be as far as I know. So think about what your going to be making and get something that has a spindle stroke to match OR BETTER.

Troy

boorite wrote:

Reply to
Troy

Reply to
therider

I would take a look at the older one if I were you. Every drill press on the market goes faster than what you need but few go slow enough. 500 is to fast for a lot of things. A variable speed drive on a drill press is nothing to pay extra for. You don't need it and will find that you don't change speeds much.

Reply to
CW

Yeah, the $99 one is not very attractive to me either. I've been looking at the bts20r as a very low-cost alternative to the Ridgid and Bosch jobsite saws. I need something compact that will fold up and roll but can still rip a full sheet in half. I'll be stuck indoors in a

7x11' "shop" during the winter, and my current bench saw (Shopmaster TS220LS) only has a 20" rip capacity and no spiffy folding cart, and the throat insert blows.

The Ryobi does what the Ridgid or Bosch will do, but at less than half the price. And the editors of FWW give it high praise. I might get one.

That said, the Ridgid portable does *feel* better. Heftier, less cheesy, like a Buick vs. a 4-banger Chevy J car. Anyway, I'd be interested to hear how you like the bts20r.

Reply to
boorite

Yeah, what Troy said. Variable speed by belt & pulley changing is no big deal, the laser pointers don't matter either. But there's a big difference between 2 3/8" and 3 1/4" stroke. Consider that the smaller is not adequate to go through 2 2X's clamped together, or for that matter, may not even go through a 2X plus a 1X total thickness. I've got an old Rockwell radial also, so I never lack for swing distance, but I've often wished it's slowest speed was a little slower.

Reply to
lwasserm

You can use other techniques instead of a laser built into a drill. Machinists have been solving this problem for 100 years....

  1. Use a small drill to find the exact spot.
  2. Get a laser center finder.

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Get a wiggler.

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Reply to
Bruce Barnett

ok, so it looks like I got to try hard to get the older ryobi 12" DP with 280-3000 range or get it new from HD. i can make do without laser and continuous variable speeds. I wish the new ryobi had 280 rpm as slowest speed. what a pity they made a new model with bells and whistles and LED rpm readout but without a critical feature.

-joy

Reply to
therider

snipped-for-privacy@fellspt.charm.net () wrote in news:9d6dnTo6TLbK2rnYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@charm.net:

*sniPp*

This has been one of the first things I look at. The HF models have about 2", but the better ones at Menards are closer to (if not at) 3". I think 3" will be deep enough for my purposes, but I might need to drill a hole through 2 2x's.

Needless to say I'm still looking. The ONLY thing I miss about my high school was the shop.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote: > ok, so it looks like I got to try hard to get the older ryobi 12" DP > with 280-3000 range or get it new from HD. i can make do without laser > and continuous variable speeds. I wish the new ryobi had 280 rpm as > slowest speed. what a pity they made a new model with bells and > whistles and LED rpm readout but without a critical feature.

SFWIW, the last thing you need on a drill press is "ginger bread".

What you do need is low end RPM, long spindle travel, good bearing assembly.

At this point, continuous variable speed might be nice, but a 16 speed unit will let you do a lot of work.

If you have the floor space, consider a 16 speed, floor mount unit obtained in the used equipment market.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

just back from home depot. returned the 10" ryobi DP without hassle. now I find that both the older 12" and new 12" DP are at the same price of $169. I would really love to have the new one, but will be patient to search for a used one.

floor model could be nice, but right now my worksh> snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote: > ok, so it looks like I got to try hard to get the

olderryobi12" DP

Reply to
therider

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