Well, I got that $40 drill press (see sig), and it seems to be okay. It's a heavy, solidly-built piece of machinery, runs smoothly, and I didn't have any problems with it -- except for the chuck. The tapered spindle on the press doesn't appear to have any noticeable runout, and the chuck doesn't appear to wobble, but I have to fiddle with any bit that I insert in order to get it to run straight, and the smaller the bit, the harder it is to get it straight. I'm thinking that a decent chuck would make this a pretty good drill press, but I'm not sure what to buy or where to get it.
I've looked at taper chucks in the catalog at MSC, and the specifications are confusing. I'm a bit unsure of the terminology, too, and I don't want to buy the wrong thing, but it looks like a good chuck is going to run $40-$50. That doubles the cost of the drill, but if it makes the unit accurate, then it would still be worthwhile.
The unit has a tapered spindle upon which the chuck mounts (the book that came with the DP says its a Morse taper). That appears to be backwards from the more expensive drill presses (where the spindle has a socket with a taper and a slot), but I have read that that is getting to be the rule for low-end DPs. There is no size marking, so I guess I need to find information that relates the length and diameter of the tape to size designations (like, what does 6JT or 33JT mean, anyway?).
I'm thinking of taking the chuck to a local machinery supply and asking for the requisite education. Am I going to be laughed out of the place?
-- Howard