Drill Press- On the floor or on the bench

[danh]

Hey all,

I am very torn. I built a garage last year, then outfitted my shop. I have all the tools I need, but I get cramped on space. When I was looking for a drill press last year I got an awesome deal on a floor standing 16" drill press. It is great, but it is a monster that is always in the way.

I was considering selling it for a benchtop model. But they seem so small and kinda worthless in comparison. So I was just looking for some opinions. Live with the bid press in the way. Or a small sometimes less useful one that can be tucked out of the when when not in use?

danh

[Roy Smith]

I've got both kinds. A new Jet floor model and an old Walker Turner benchtop model. The benchtop one weighs a ton! I've never weighed it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was 200 lbs. Tucked out of the way when not in use? Not likely without a forklift!

[Bay Area Dave]

how about putting it on a Delta mobile stand (around $50). I used to have mine on one until I realized that I never move it, so I used the mobile stand under a new band saw.

dave

danh wrote:

[danh]

Actually I do have it on a mobile stand. I just get tired of the mobile tool shuffle somtimes. Plus it is my fault that I built a nice big table with fence for the DP so it is even more in the way (always catching the corner of the table in the back)

danh

[Phisherman]

I have only used a floor model. It really does not take up much space, and there have been numerous times that I appreciate the long distance to the floor. A drill press works fine (most of the time) in a shop corner. I encourage you to keep the beast and learn to appreciate the animal for what it is.

[Bob S.]

I have a benchtop and I'd much rather have a one like yours even in my crowded shop. Its more versatile, heavier duty and you can drill long shafts etc. by moving the table or tilting it 90 to use as a holder.

Unless you don't need all the advantages of a larger drill press....

Bob S.

[Preston Andreas]

Just last week I had to drill holes in the ends of 29" legs for some stools I was building. The legs attached to the seat with dowels. I couldn't have done it with a bench top.

[Roy Smith]

I've done long work with my benchtop. The head rotates on the column, so I can clamp the base to the benchtop (to keep it from tipping), and flip the head around so the chuck is hanging out over the edge of the bench. Not quite as convenient as a floor model, but works in a pinch.

[Matt]

I'd suggest learning to live with it. There is so much more that can be done with a 'real size' drill press over a small bench top.

Several years ago, I lucked into a 16" Radial arm drill press, bench top model. Most of my work is small enough to use over the bench, but occasionally I need more height and can swing it out over the edge of the bench. I can tilt the motor head as well as the table. The only inconvience I endure is periodic alignment after rotating the motor head.

Matt

[Andy Dingley]

I like floor-mounted drill presses, because I'm always short of floorspace, but I'm even more short of benchspace.

If you do go to a benchtop, and you make chairs, then go for a radial where you can tilt the head.

?_dyncharset=UTF-8&q=radial+drill+press&n=&pn=1&pd=1&pi=1&cn=1&cd=1&x=9&y=7It's a good compromise for still being able to fit large awkward items under (sic) the drill.

-- What ? Me ? Evil Dictator of Iraq ? Nah mate, I'm just a Hobbit, honest

[Larry Blanchard]

I went with a benchtop and mounted it on a wheeled cabinet I built with 8 drawers. There's no such thing as too much storage :-).

BTW, mine is not one of those that you can pick up and carry around. It's got a 5/8" chuck and 12 speeds and is heavy cast iron.

It's a Taiwan cheapie but it's served me well for years.

[Mark Jerde]

Turn yours into a benchtop model.

1. Cut the pipe.
2. Find a piece of pipe the right size so you could go back to floor if/when you get the space.

When I was considering the reverse, making a floor DP from my benchtop, I cut a thin strip of paper, wrapped it around the pipe, and marked a pencil line across the paper. (This was a can't-screw-up way to get the circumference). Then I walked around the Borg checking pipe with the strip of paper. I found some steel gas pipe that was close enough.

Since your pipe is larger you may have to go somewhere they sell real pipe to find the right size.

-- Mark

[Mark Jerde]

Heresy! ;-)

Another option just occured to me.

1. Fake it. Build a cabinet aroud the lower part.

-- Mark

[Silvan]

Personally, all my benchtop tools end up getting put on dedicated stands that always get in the way anyway. My workbench, after all, is a workbench, not a tool stand.

I recently traded my benchtop/stand for a 15" floor model, and I'm much happier with the bigger machine all around. Nothing not to like, and plenty to love. In my case, the footprint is about the same, so space saving wasn't a consideration either way.

[Brian Henderson]

Even easier solution is to get a mobile stand and move it out of the way when you don't need it. There are a lot of floor DPs that are threaded quite a way down the leg for the table, it would be a shame to lose that.

[Upscale]

How about dissembling it enough to sink the shaft in a hole in a bench or table and then reassemble it over/under the bench? When/if time comes for more space, reverse the process.

[Bill McNutt]

Heretic. If you have "enough tools," your work isn't diverse enough. Take up timber framing or lute making. Then your tool-shui will be repaired. You should always persue a state of needing more tools.

When I was looking

Dear God no. A benchtop drill press is something you buy when you have to "make do" because your shop is in the living room of your manhattan apartment. The sound they make when you turn 'em on is "wusssssss" and the noise they make when you try to work a medium-sized workpiece is "can't."

Can you move the dust-collector outside the garage to save space?

Bill