High end drill presses... Do they exist?

[Michael Koons]

General question to the group about drill presses. I've got a cheap old bench top model and feel like it's time to upgrade. In researching, I keep coming up with the same types of results. Things like Powermatic, Delta, Grizzly, etc... I also find that there are older machines out there like the Powermatic 1150A or 1200. Lately I've been upgrading my tools and buying the best quality I can find. While on table saws, jointers, planers and bandsaws, the sky seems to be the limit with options like Felder, Minimax, Altendorf, Martin, etc..., the same doesn't seem to be the case for drill presses.

In the past, I have gotten burned with lesser quality machines and when I do, I almost always cease buying anything from those manufacturers.

Am I missing something when it comes to high end, high quality drill presses? What options are out there for people willing to pay for higher quality and longevity? Maybe it's time to jump into the "high quality, used machine" pool.

[Ben Rivel]

From my research, once you get to the Delta 18-900L or Powermatic PM2800B (~$1000-1500) range the next step is up to a mill which is a different beast entirely. I went with the Delta 18-900L and love it. I cant Imagine needing any more precision or quality for the woodworking and limited metal working I do.

[Michael Koons]

Thanks Ben. It seems like there are a lot of happy Delta owners out there. I have had mixed success with Delta in the past and that's why I'm hesitant to pull the trigger. I know many of the brands I mentioned, there are many happy owners. But my understanding is that they are also all made in Taiwan and when I can avoid asian made tools, I generally do. Again, not for everyone for sure, but it is my preference.

[Charles Taylor]

You said high end...

http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/Floor-Bench-Drill-Presses?searchterm=Clausing&navid=12107596+4294874 259

For me, high-quality used is the ticket.

[Ben Rivel]

Thanks Ben. It seems like there are a lot of happy Delta owners out there. I have had mixed success with Delta in the past and that's why I'm hesitant to pull the trigger. I know many of the brands I mentioned, there are many happy owners. But my understanding is that they are also all made in Taiwan and when I can avoid asian made tools, I generally do. Again, not for everyone for sure, but it is my preference.

I hear ya. Avoiding the asian made tools is hard these days if you are buying new. Pretty much everything is made over there. Your gonna have to buy used or really high end to get new and not made in some asian country.

[Carroll Courtney]

Same thoughts as Chuck,would have to check out the metal working DP such as the Clausing,but its only as good as the tooling and the operator.Always wanted a Clausing but that price is way out of my budget.Don't hurt to dream

[paul cottingham]

I had two DP's one a General benchtop, and the other a Delta 220. I sold the General. I cant imagine needing any more of a DP. The only issue i have with it is the mechanism for raising and lowering the table.

bear in mind I am the least anal woodworker I know.

[Tom M King]

https://www.ohiopowertool.com/p-1244...BD2xoC3srw_wcB

these aren't supposed to be too bad either: http://www.penntoolco.com/dake-drill...LIBhoC-Mbw_wcB

[David Malicky]

Clausings are great if you can afford and find one in good condition.
The Delta 18-900 is great as long as you get a good one (I wouldn't want to deal with Delta service, based on recent reports). We got ours from HD-online (on sale for $900 last summer) so we could return it if it was bad. It wasn't.
Actually most machine tools are from mainland China, where quality is variable by factory. Taiwan tools are considerably better and more consistent than China, based on many of each that I've used. Machine tools are a national priority there, and it shows.
Edit: IIRC, the Dake DPs are now Asian, but I would assume high quality. Arboga is staggeringly priced. A Taiwan Rong-Fu is more reasonable for that style machine, but overkill for wood:
http://www.emachinetool.com/new-mach...-press-rf-40hc

[Ryan Mooney]

A couple more in the same basic class range as the drake. No personal experience with either, but they were on the "list" when I was doing the same research a few years back

http://www.palmgren.com/category/Drills-and-Taps

http://www.ellissaw.com/Drill-Presse...ill-press-9400

[Susumu Mori]

Hi Mike,

I was also looking for a high-end drill press but I came to conclusion that such things don't exist in a reasonable price range for hobbyists.
I ended up in buying a milling machine, which is definitely a higher end in terms of price, but it has some limitations as a wood drill press.

For table saws, bandsaws, cordless drills, etc. we always have options to buy Europeans (Festool, Hammer, Minimax, Felder, etc). Their price usually starts where US-brand-Asian-made products ends and where real-US-but-for-industrial (Like Northfields) products start. Choices are always welcome. Oddly, we don't have European offer for DP. I don't understand why.

As I get older, I sort of fed up with low-cost oversea products and it is sad to see less and less US-made products in affordable ranges. It seems, except for non-consumer industrial things, they all went to Asia. While we mourn over it, we are also complaining that US-made products are overpriced (just like the recent thread over Woodpecker products) and don't want to pay premium for that. So, ultimately, I guess we are the reason.....

[CPeter James]

I like the Delta 12-2** series from the 40s & 50s. They are a 17", very heavy with a great spindle bearing design. They came with a number of different options including foot feed, power feed and two different sets of pulleys. I prefer the slow speed pulley set. My present machine has the large table, a 1 hp three phase motor with a VFD and the slow speed pulley set. The large spindle pulley gives great torque on the spindle for large bits and the VFD give infinate speeds. I have Jacobs 14N ball bearing chuck and this machine has the power down feed. My last one had the foot feed option, Handy if you want to hold something with two hands. The one in the photo cost $500. We did replace the bearings, but they were not expensive. This machine was designed to run 24/7 in a production environment and is good for decades in most sops without and additional maintenance. The table tilts and the swivel in on a ball thrust bearing and the raising mechanism is silky smooth.

IMG_0448 (Medium).JPG

[Cary Falk]

I would guess that Clausing is still pretty high end. I was looking for a used 20" or a PM 1200. I found a used PM1200 for slightly more then what the new PM goes for.

[glenn bradley]

They are out there. For me the $500 to $4500 jump to see any real increase in quality (as opposed to just features) isn't realistic. Although I understand the tendency to 86 a brand when you get burned, brand loyalty and consistency doesn't really play in our global market right now. Some folks make a good lathe, some make a good tablesaw.

If I were required to make an under $4000 decision today I would go with the Delta 18-900 even though I have plenty of reasons to be ticked off at Delta. In defense of the current folks running Delta, it is not the same group as those who recently ran it into the ground. If I were the people trying to breathe respectability back into the Delta products I would have changed the name completely. The stigma is pretty severe.

[Michael Koons]

Generally agreed on the "brand loyalty" issue Glenn, but only to a point. There are some brands I will NEVER buy again due to poor service or not standing behind a product. In the case of Delta, I just can't get over the experience I had with a cheaply built jointer and planer I've owned in the past. When I look at Delta's product line (bench jointer, lunch box planer, portable table saws, etc...), I'm hard pressed to believe their targeting the high end hobbyist or professional shop.

But to be honest, that's why I put the question out to this group.