drill press recommendations?

[DJ Delorie]

About 20 years or so ago, I got a cheap $99 drill press from an auto parts store. 20 speeds, floor model, 13" swing, MT2. I've gotten my money out of it, and it's long been on the "replace soon, if not next" list. My current project would benefit from a drill press with a larger swing, so now is the time to seriously consider what I'm going to do about this item.

Problems with the old drill press:

• swing too small

• chuck falls out (yes, I know all the tricks, it still happens)

• some vertical play in the table

• lots of quill runout

• threads on, well, everything are worn - handles won't stay put, set screws stripped, etc.

What I use a drill press for, or would like to:

• drilling (duh) from 1/32" to 3" drill bits

• hollow chisel mortising

• sanding and carving drums

• milling (can't now, chuck always falls out)

So, I'm looking for a bigger swing, less runout, and a drawbar. Getting two out of three is easy, getting all three is harder. I also don't want to spend a lot of money *just* to get yet another drill press that's marginally bigger than what I have.

At the high end of my "drool list" is the Grizzly G9959 but I'm not even sure I could get that into my basement shop, much less justify the cost :-)

[krw]

I'm looking for a real drill press also (have a little HF toy).

Not sure this is a good idea for a drill press. Most don't like lateral pressure. I'm told, anyway, that it's hard on the bearings.

See above.

Sounds like what you have isn't all that good. It shouldn't be hard to go a lot better. ;-)

One thing not on your list is chuck travel. I'd think that 4" would be minimum, with more being a big selling point.

G9959? I'm looking at a Powermatic 2800, but have to make a place to put it{*]. Maybe next summer.

[*] I'll have to be a comfortable place since I may have to sleep with it. ;-)

[DJ Delorie]

Right, this is why the chuck keeps falling out. But, it's what I want to do with it. The alternative is to buy separate machines for those functions, but I'd rather not.

Well, *yeah*. I got my money's worth out of the old one, I just don't want to buy something new and kick myself later for compromising too much.

Mine is only 3" so I don't think I could do much worse anyway.

[DanG]

No Morse taper drill press spindle will work for milling unless it has a physical hold of the spindle in addition to the taper. No one that I know of sells a drill press that the manufacturer says will mill.

More money, but more tool:

Harbor Freight one sounds so good, I might get one.

[Steve Turner]

My drool list doesn't go quite THAT high (where would I put a 1600 pound monster?) and I'd be willing to settle for "just" a Delta 20-950:

one's been on my drool list for quite some time. Someday...

[Steve Turner]

Why is that exactly? I don't know jack about milling, and I'm not really looking to learn (like I need any more slippery-slope hobbies!) but I'm curious nonetheless.

[DJ Delorie]

The oscillating sideways pressure on the morse taper wiggles the taper out, and the chuck falls out. If you're lucky, it doesn't damage the wood or the operator on its way to the floor.

[DGDevin]

I use sanding drums on my DP but with a light touch. I finally got it through my head than whomping down on any kind of power sander is unnecessary and even undesirable. It's better to let the machine do the work and in the case of power-sanding the idea is lateral movement of the sanding material rather than brute-force pressure.

[Lew Hodgett]

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Got a spare fractional HP motor you are not using?

I did and built my own spindle sander using a spare motor, a drum sander, and an adaptor coupling from the hardware store (5/8"x1/4").

Operated at 1750 RPM which was a little fast, but it got the job done.

Installing a couple of sheaves, some pillow blocks, and a v-belt to reduce the spindle RPM was one of those "tuit" projects that never got done.

I don't know if it is worth a hoot, but HD has a Ridgid spindle sander for $199.

Add $100 for Delta.

Lew

[Lew Hodgett]

RE: Subject

What is the budget for this project?

In the under $500 family, take a look at the Delta 17-950L.

It's the only one I found with a 6" quill stroke, which IMHO, is almost non negotiable requirement.

1/2 HP, 16 speed, 6" quill stroke, laser dodads.

The only downside is that it's Delta.

You may find

handy for doing your research.

Lew

[RonB]

Take a look at Grizzly. They have several that cover a wide range of prices and uses. Our son in law has one of their mid-range radial presses and it is a very nice machine. One of their machines has done well in some recent reviews (might be FWW, not sure). Griz is having some good sales now...you might pick up a good price or a no-shipping deal.

[RonB]

This didn't show up here first time so excuse of it repeats...

Might try Grizzly. They have a broad range of models and prices. Our son in law has one of their radial machines and it is very nice. One of the magazines gave one of them a pretty good review recently. Also, they are running some pretty good sales and shipping deals now. Don't know if it includes drill pressses but worth a look

[spaco]

One other reason that drill presses usually don't work for milling is that the chucks are not designed to hold an end mill properly. when milling (steel, anyway) the end mill is pulled down, OUT of the chuck by the cutting forces. By the way, I have a 45 year old Craftsman drill press. The spindle assembly has external threads. when the chuck's taper shank is inserted into the spindle, the chuck itself has a mating threaded ring which pulls the chuck taper tightly into place. It never has come off, under any circumstances. Works fine for drum sanding. I have done some light milling of steel with it, but I must watch for the end mill pull out I discussed, above. I also have an X-Y table that is almost permanently attached to the table. It has a nice 4 inch machinist's vise on it. When I need a flat surface, I clamp an 8" sqaure T-shaped table into the vise. Makes it easy to clamp the work down and still use the dials to locate centers.

Pete Stanaitis

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Steve Turner wrote:

[Nova]

I have a 16" Craftsman drill press purchased, IFRC, in the early '70's. I too has a Jacob's chuck that threads onto the spindle. It's one of the few Craftsman tool I've ever purchases that I've been happy with,

Looking at the drill presses currently offered by Sears I'd take a close look at what they have available. I noticed they have a drill press/milling machine listed on their wes site as a Craftsman but the picture clearly shows the Jet badge.

I also have been led to believe that the quality of the higher end Craftsman tool line has greatly improved in recent years.

[RonB]

I'll ditto that. My old vintage '79 Craftsman has been a good machine. I don't know if Sears has rebounded with any of their 50's -

70's quality, but in my opinion they sell gimmicks at a high price.

RonB

[Dan]

On Wed 25 Nov 2009 07:23:01p, DJ Delorie wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I don't know how it would be for milling, but I'm really happy with the Steel City I bought from Woodcraft when they had their introductory sale.

a 6 inch stroke and the spindle lock, I've done some pretty complicated drilling patterns with it.

But it's got a standard #2MT taper on it so I don't know how it would be for your needs. I found out I needed a new forstner but when it kept falling out of the chuck.

[RonB]

If this is a priority, be aware that not all drill presses will accept the mortising head. I bought a Delta kit years ago and it would not fit my 70's vintage Craftsman drill press.

If you are a casual mortising user, you might look at one of the cheap Harbor Freight machines. I'm not a big HF fan, but when the Delta kit didn't fit I bought a Harbor Freight mortiser on sale for $99. The machine actually had a good set of chisels with it but the table and hold-down fixture kinda sucks. I always said it would do until I got something better. Still have it after 5-6 years and I didn't pay much more for the machine that the Delta kit.

RonB

[Joe]

Have a look at the drill presses and mill/drills at Enco. Real machine shop tools, decent prices. Local machine shop and some friends are very big fans of their offerings and rate them a step above Grizzly. On line catalog at www.use-enco. There has been free shipping on some machines lately.

Joe