Originally Posted by
Bob Boake
I purchased mine about 6 months ago. I only paid 17.50 for it at a return center. I would pass on it if I could do it again. The horizontal arms are not a tight fit in the sleeves. They are secured with a a pc of threaded rod tightened with a plastic handle. Not rickety but you can still move the arms around when it is fully hand tightened.
When you get right down to it a long horizontal reach is not the best way to provide verticle support. I think amazon carries them and they were not reviewed well there either.
Thanks Bob. I guess that, based on what I have heard from you and Carole and from the reviews I read at Amazon (again thanks for the reference), that I will give the Lee Valley and HTC support contraption a miss.
For others that may be interested, here are a couple of quotes from the reviews at Amazon:
"I've been using the HTC PM-128 Drill Press Support for a year or so and I think its a great idea. The problem I have with the PM-128 is its lack of rigidity and strength. I've never been able to use it for accurate drilling simply because it bends quite easily, especially when the arms are near full extension. Its difficult to get the rollers to be coplanar with the drill press table because the steel tubing twists and racks. I know, you are probably saying: for [the price] what do you expect? I agree, I got what I paid for. I wish HTC (whose mobile bases are top notch!) would come out with a PM-428 or something, costing about [ammount of money] or so, using heavier tubing and a more robust clamping device for the drill press column. Conceptually the PM-128 is well thought out, with plenty of adjustments and a convenient storage tray, it just needs to be beefed up a little. If you purchase the PM-128 be advised that it is not suitable for long >5ft. or heavy pieces of material, in my humble opinion."
"This gadget will work fine if you're drilling in something like thin baseboard molding, etc. or other light weight stuff. Any thing heavier than a 2x4 you can forget about decent support. You have to make an allowance on the height of your support to compensate for the swag you are going to get because of the weight. I wish I had bought a floor support stand instead."