How much does one really need to spend on a new drill press?

[Dennis Aspö]

If you want a press to rule all other drill presses then the Arboga drill press from sweden is a definite contender, floor standing, weighs a ton, 3-phase power. Definite overkill for woodworking only, but used ones go for about what you have as a budget.

Myself I bought a used GERN drill press (made in taiwan) for 100 euros and it's served me well. Eventually I'll see about finding something older and made in europe, but no hurry at all.

[Mike Cutler]

Let me push out another comparison. Lets say the choice was between an expensive drill press and cheap drill press with high end accessories. Which of the following would you say is the better choice for an overall more positive experience?

Cheaper drill press, with the money put into the table and accessories.

I have a bench top model Delta 10". I think it cost about $75.00, 15-20 years ago. It has an Incra Drill press table, cost twice as much as I spent on the drill press itself at the time, and fence mounted at all times. I have machinist vises, and an X-Y vise for it. Other than low end speed for metal and large Forstner bits. This drill press has done everything I've needed. I can drill a hole as accurately as I can mark it.
The next step for me is a Milling Machine, However, I can't recommend a Milling Machine, or Mill Drill, to someone living in an apartment type environment. They're heavy.

As an aside;
I have only seen one Drill press designed for woodworking, and Grizzly discontinued it some time ago. Every drill press I've seen is setup to work with metal. No matter what you buy, you will need to adapt it for wood working to some degree.

[Erik Manchester]

I have only seen one Drill press designed for woodworking, and Grizzly discontinued it some time ago.

Mike, aren't you forgetting Radial Drill Presses? I have an old Rockwell Radial DP and it is great for getting out into the center of the work for larger items.

They are still made.

[Tom Giles]

A lot of hate for Delta but I have a 25 or 30 year old Delta 18"something I bought use for $150 at an auction that has worked flawlessly. Can't speak for the new Deltas.

[Jim German]

+1 on the LV HSS Brad point bits, they're fantastic.

I'd love a good high quality drill press too. The Powermatic one doesn't seem worth the premium price. I've got a craftsman benchtop one, which as people say, will drill a hole, but the chuck sucks, its underpowered and it has a tiny throw. How come none of the higher end European manufactures make drill presses?

[ian maybury]

Hi Erik. Off topic, but I spent many weeks over a few years in PEI back in the mid 80s installing and upgrading large scale potato (french fry) peeling and de-skinning equipment in Summerside (?). Memories include it being ferociously cold in winter, very friendly and hospitable people, and then the sudden transition to Summer with cars, motorcycles and T shirts everywhere. Lobster so cheap after the start of the season when the ice thawed that it was unbelievable - radio stations advertising Mother's day dinners in various restaurants. Getting pulled by a cop for running about 100mph back into the airport to collect parts in a rental car on what i thought was an empty road - and being sent on my way after a chat when he discovered i was Irish.

The flight from Halifax was interesting - an old WW2 era vintage aircraft (DC 3?) at low altitude. Took the car ferry over a few times to explore some of New Brunswick with a vague plan to check out Nova Scotia , but always understimated the (huge) distances. Pretty empty country up there compared to what we are used to. Flew up once to Halifax from another customer's food plant in London Ontario - it seemed to go on for ever....

[Phil Hansen]

I am not sure if it a feature on any of the machines under consideration, but for me an absolute requirement is a quill lock. - snip - Only thing missing is a table elevation crankl.

I have an old Delta 11-280 radial press. The quill lock is a winner but the table elevation is a total pain. Fitted with a VFD it is a joy to use. No belt changes.
Also have a modern floor model in the metal shop. Only advantage is more power.
Old and solid works for me.
Phil

[Derek Arita]

Well, here's my $.02...for me, a drill press is one of the most used machines in a shop. I know I use my drill press more than any other machine in my small shop. I use it for both wood and metal working, so those who say you don't need anything with tight tolerances may be right if you only use the dp for wood, but if you drill into metal, you'll appreciate a rock solid quill and one with little or no perceivable runout at the chuck. I feel so strongly about this that for my little garage shop, I got a Jet JDP-20 EVS, which is a 20", electronic variable speed drill press/mill. I always tell others that this is the most important machine in my shop as I use it for drilling into everything.
My advice is to get the most drill press that you can afford and then some...you'll appreciate it later. Stay with a respected brand and hope for a machine with little or no runout at the quill. Also, get a good chuck and use a known true bit and dial indicator to adjust for the least runout at the bit, that you can. I've had several drill presses and all but the last Jet frustrated me to no end. Like they say, buy once.

[John Coloccia]

so those who say you don't need anything with tight tolerances may be right if you only use the dp for wood

When you drill a 1/4" hole in wood for a 1/4" alignment pin for example (or shelf pin, perhaps), and the pin wobbles, they'll be lamenting the concept of "woodworking precision". Just because wood is more susceptible to movement than metal doesn't mean it's a good idea to compound the problem with sloppy machining. Sloppy quills cause chatter, excessive tearout, wandering bits, and will make it much harder to use something like a sanding drum. The excess play will also lead to accelerated wear, making the problem even worse.

My Delta drill press from about 10 years ago had gotten so bad that it became, more or less, useless. I had to modify it to allow me to tighten the quill in order to be usable again. If someone made a proper woodworking drill press, I'd buy it, but it doesn't exist. The closest I can find is a Clausing.

[Mike Cutler]

Mike, aren't you forgetting Radial Drill Presses? I have an old Rockwell Radial DP and it is great for getting out into the center of the work for larger items.

They are still made.

Erik

The only radials I've seen, and used, were in industrial (metal) applications. A decade or so back one of the guys here on the board bought a perfectly functional Delta for the price of scrap from Pratt & Whitney here in CT. Unbelievable score. The thing is a beast. Massive table!! They're great for woodworking though. I don't have the room for one though. Wish I did.

For me a milling machine, or Mill/Drill is the next step. I use my drill press for a lot of different things, but the low end RPM speed is very limiting when I need to drill metal. I have a friend with a small backyard machine shop, so if I really need too, I head over there with some beer and pizza, and do what I can't at home.

[John Coloccia]

Ja ja...radials are GREAT for woodworking. The 90 degree stop is often inadequate to get back to 90 degrees...at least the cheaper ones are, but it's so easy to realign 90 that it's not even a concern. Much easier, actually, than a lot of the tilting table 90 degree adjustment...loosen the nut, the table sags, make a guess...tighten the nut....loosen the nut, table sags and moves again, take a guess...table twists when you tighten it, etc. Yet another instance of poorly thought out design.

There are still a lot of Walker Turner/Atlas/etc radial presses kicking around out there that work quite well.

[Kent A Bathurst]

If someone made a proper woodworking drill press, I'd buy it, but it doesn't exist. The closest I can find is a Clausing.

John -

If I had it to do over, rather than the old-arn [early 80s'] PM1150VS, I would get the non-VS. Reeves drives can sometimes be problematic at very low RPM. But - get up the dial a bit, it is a great DP. Monstrous heavy-duty; I have the production table - massive. Only annoyance is the double-ring depth stop lock - takes 2 pliers to tighten/loosen. Nit-picking, though.

instead I'd get a pullet/belt version with a 3ph, and slap a VFD in front - control the speed that way. Or - maybe the "dial-a-speed" feature is not that important to you... but it sure is nice to cover the range from std bits thru large dia forstners to the occasional hole saws. And - I occasionally dripp metal - alum & brass.

The DP I bought was in very good, refurb condition, with an after-market 1ph. I got hte seller to toss in the OEM 3ph for nothing.......so maybe someday.

[Erik Manchester]

Ian,

PEI is much the same, but there is a bridge now as well as a ferry. Yes indeed, Canada is a big country compared to Europe. You can drive for two full days and still be in Ontario, I have done it many times.

Do come again.

[Erik Manchester]

Mike,

My folks are from CT, every third guy is either a machinist or a retired tool and die maker. The volume of used machine tools available from home shops is staggering.

[Lee Reep]

Jared,

You mentioned that your wife will need to use the DP for drilling pen blanks. I gave up on that years ago, primarily because my benchtop DP only has about 2-3/4" of quill travel. But I also had issues with alignment, it was just too much of a pain to verify each blank was clamped correctly. I use my lathe to do all pen blank boring. I bought a set of pen drilling jaws for my Nova chuck. If a blank is oddly shaped, I jsut turn it between centers until round, and then bore the hole. But I cut most of the blanks I use, so I can size them to go right into the chuck on the lathe. And, as an added bonus, there is massive amount of quill travel on a lathe ...

One other thought -- why must you have a floor model? (If you covered this and I somehow missed it, sorry ...) Is it just to get the long quill travel you see on several of them? One thing that would make life easier for you is to get a benchtop model, and put it on a rolling cabinet that would make moving it in and out much simpler. I have a cabinet under mine with drawers, so I get extra storage in my relatively small basement shop.

I'll be following this thread closely. I mentioned in previous post that the Powermatic was at top of list, but I'm holding off for awhile until I'm convinced I'll not find an alternative, at least for a new DP. I've struck out finding anything I'd consider, so far, on Craigslist.