Delta 18-900L -- Any reason not to?

Geez Van, sounds complicated :rolleyes:

Personally I'm pretty sold on the belt tensioning system the 18-900L has compared to the older "move the motor" style. It just plain works really well (you do have to be careful to get the belts aligned properly, but that's not a big deal). It sort takes the edge off of not having all of the fancy shmazzle Van's talking about :D

The quill stops are also very nice as is the depth guide on the handle (ok its not 100% accurate, but its handy as heck).

Get the fence, its nice, no need (imho) to add another table on top (at least I haven't seen a reason).

Haven't had the light turning itself on problem (knock wood!)

Mine measured 0.001 runout retracted and 0.003 runout fully extended which - imho - is fantastic.

I managed to assemble it myself without a shop crane (but I'm really stubborn - that head is HEAVY, not recommended).

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Originally Posted by Van Huskey

This is what you do:

Buy Delta 18-900L
Buy 3ph 1hp motor to fit
Buy Hitachi VFD
Buy Lee Valley or similar table
Buy high precision keyless chuck
Buy $10 Chinese non-contact tach to set up your speed table for the VFD

Now for ~$1250 you have the best new DP you can buy for the money, all the bells and whistles that the PM has with the heavier build of the Delta. Thats my plan anyway.

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Very clever use of VFD - hadn't thought of that. Not sure it is necessary as others have said, but nice all the same.
Paul

I found it easy to assemble by my self by installing the head to the horizon column, then lifting

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Van Huskey

This is what you do:

Buy Delta 18-900L
Buy 3ph 1hp motor to fit
Buy Hitachi VFD
Buy Lee Valley or similar table
Buy high precision keyless chuck
Buy $10 Chinese non-contact tach to set up your speed table for the VFD

Now for ~$1250 you have the best new DP you can buy for the money, all the bells and whistles that the PM has with the heavier build of the Delta. Thats my plan anyway.

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Or Van, you could buy a used Millrite for $1250 and I'll give you an Albrecht to go with it. Dave

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Originally Posted by David Kumm

Or Van, you could buy a used Millrite for $1250 and I'll give you an Albrecht to go with it. Dave

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For those that think the 3phase motor and VFD are overkill, I kinda agree but once you have used a VS DP it is hard to go back to belt changing even if they are easy.

I like the LV table of the "Delta" fence mainly because of its dust collection and it isn't much more than the fence alone.

David, I have lots of used options that are open, but if my shop is finished and no used DP the Delta plan will be a go. I looked at a couple of PM 1200 VS DPs earlier this week when I TRIED to buy a Northfield jointer (heartbreak thread to come when I can get over watching the smoke pour out of a DD motor!). They were cherry but somewhat overpriced, not really but more than I need to spend on a DP. The Millrite is on my radar but will need a plan to make it 100% wood working compliant.

Crazy, but if I was low-price shopping, I could actually get the best deal at....GRAINGER! Their price is very good to start and I get 10% off across the board as a Michigan Farm Bureau member. I think I stick with Woodwerks though just in case I get a dud. I trust they'll take care of me.

A couple of weeks ago, my local Rockler were clearing out their stock of 18-900Ls for $749. Add in the rebate and the deal was too good to pass up, especially since I was in the market. Regardless if you install the head horizontally or vertically, the thing is a beast. I managed to get it together and on a mobile base by myself, but I wouldn't want to do it again. No complaints so far, but it hasn't seen much use yet.

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Originally Posted by david paul miller

I found it easy to assemble by my self by installing the head to the horizon column, then lifting

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That was my approach... I got some odd looks from the wife (though this, in and of itself, is nothing new) when I asked her to hold the mobile base from shifting while I tilted the DP up onto the base. It's heavy but not outrageously so.

How stable is this thing on a mobile base? I've always viewed a DP mobile base as an iffy proposition but this does seem to have a bigger than normal footprint. What base are you using?

There's nothing in normal operation that will tip that thing over. I used a standard-duty Jet mobile base for the rolling aspect. The DP's metal base is attached to a 3/4" piece of play cut a couple of inches larger than the metal. I used some shorts screws and fender washers to attach the DP to the board, with the screw heads under the board. That way I could cut thick screws to the length I wanted without having unused threads sticking up. Since the screw heads and washers stuck out the bottom of the ply about 1/4", I used a second piece of 3/4" and drilled some shallow divots using a Forstner bit. So technically, it's two layers of 3/4" ply as the base, but the two pieces aren't connected in any way.

Edit: I take most of that back... I did the double ply thing with my bandsaw since the screw heads would have been too close to the corners of the rolling base. The DP used a single layer of 3/4" ply, and the screws were far enough away form the corners as to not cause a problem.

For a mobile base, the manuel suggests a piece of 3/4 inch plywood that is at least 3 inches larger than the base on each side (it gives the dimensions, but I forget what they are right now). The piece I had was a little narrow, but I used it anyways with Rockler's mobile base. The press is bolted to the plywood and the plywood bolted to the base. In use, I don't think that it's any less stable than it would be on the floor. There is a little bit of give in the plywood, but nothing that makes me concerned that it might tip over. I am a little more careful moving it about since it is so top heavy, but I haven't felt like it was on the verge of tipping.

It would be nice to have it on a base. Its not real often that I need to move it, but the more stuff I make mobile in my shop the easier it is to keep clean. I'll make a base like the one I recently made for my shaper if I do.

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Originally Posted by Matt Meiser

Who bought the Biesemeyer fence? Made your own for the stock table? Using an aftermarket table like the Woodpecker I already have?

The VFD would be sweet but maybe down the road.

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I bought the Biesemeyer from a fellow 'creeker. For what I paid I don't think i could have purchased a better fence. It's not what I would call perfect, the adjustments seem a little crude, but this is a drill press. I think for any task I'm likely to need it for it will do fine. If I need super fine control, i have an x-y cross vise I can bolt on...

I must have read my manual wrong, I thought it meant you should add that plywood if you were not going to bolt it to the floor. That's what I did and it doesn't seem to have had any negative effect and I guess it does give it a bigger base. Doing this for the mobile stand makes more sense, I wondered about weakening the plywood at the mount points by having to countersink so far to clear the head and washer...

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Originally Posted by Daniel Smith

For a mobile base, the manuel suggests a piece of 3/4 inch plywood that is at least 3 inches larger than the base on each side (it gives the dimensions, but I forget what they are right now). The piece I had was a little narrow, but I used it anyways with Rockler's mobile base. The press is bolted to the plywood and the plywood bolted to the base. In use, I don't think that it's any less stable than it would be on the floor. There is a little bit of give in the plywood, but nothing that makes me concerned that it might tip over. I am a little more careful moving it about since it is so top heavy, but I haven't felt like it was on the verge of tipping.

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Matt, giving your ability to fabricate you should be looking for a Bridgeport instead. ;)