Best drill press for the $????

[tom kuhlman]

OK, Brand new here to this forum so take it easy on me here.

My question is this, for the money what are people thinking is the better BENCH TOP drill press a person could buy? Not going to be spending big bucks on one either! Just looking for a good drill press for my garage. Am only wanting to spend a max of $200. Have found a few used Grizzly presses in excellent shape for that price or a little less and know several people who own Grizzly presses that swear by them. Anyone's thoughts would be appreciated!!!!

[Garth Almgren]

OK, Brand new here to this forum so take it easy on me here.

My question is this, for the money what are people thinking is the better BENCH TOP drill press a person could buy? Not going to be spending big bucks on one either! Just looking for a good drill press for my garage. Am only wanting to spend a max of $200. Have found a few used Grizzly presses in excellent shape for that price or a little less and know several people who own Grizzly presses that swear by them. Anyone's thoughts would be appreciated!!!!

You don't have your location listed, but around here there are typically many used drill presses available on Craigslist, and for $200 you should be able to get one with a decent motor, number of speeds, and quill travel - likely Taiwanese, but you might be able to find some older American iron if you look hard enough or are willing to do some restoration. Griz has a good reputation (I have a couple old 80s Grizzly tools in my shop that work just fine), probably a step above the Taiwanese no-name brands, but whether you go with Griz or American iron, like with ANY used machines how it has been taken care of will make or break the deal.

If you can, inspect it while running before purchase. Bring a large-ish drill bit and a scrap of 2x4 and drill a few test holes. See if the chuck tightens and loosens easily, no missing/worn teeth on the chuck or key. Check for any runout or wobble in the chuck when it is running, listen for any strange noises, and make sure that both the quill and the table move up and down smoothly. I'd avoid the ones where the table has a smile of shame unless it's a smoking deal - the owner probably paid about as much attention to maintenance as he did to where the table was positioned.

[Adam Herman]

i ended up buying a antique floor model off of craigslist to rebuild. It is currently in pieces with a VFD sitting next to it. I was considering the WEN variable speed off of amazon before that. the WEN would have been the easy choice, but easy is no fun.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-12-in...4214/204994931

[Ben Rivel]

For me and my research it was the Delta 18-900L with an upgraded Jacobs chuck. So far, its been an awesome drill press.

[pat warner]

" Anyone's thoughts would be appreciated!!!!"
************************************************** *******
Used to be, BC, (before China), that a good 1/2 horse 1/2" chuck VS, US made, hand drill was 200$.
Now you may indeed find a press ~ $200.
But if you do, expect nothing but grief.
It's one of those things that can't be compromised.
There's a lot to drilling and if you start with a TA* press you're starting with a handicap. (*throw-away)

[Ben Rivel]

Oh sorry, I missed that $200 max price limit. Scratch my suggestion above, not even in that ball park. Other than used and finding something at an amazingly low price, Im not sure there are many new drill presses I would call good in that price range.

[Robert Parent]

Helped a friend last weekend who picked up one of these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/13-in-1...ess-61483.html

They had it on-sale for $199 if you were a member of their club.... Anyway, it's a pretty nice press for the price.

Robert

[Curt Harms]

Helped a friend last weekend who picked up one of these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/13-in-1...ess-61483.html

They had it on-sale for $199 if you were a member of their club.... Anyway, it's a pretty nice press for the price.

Robert

Even if you're not a member of their club, they have an email 25% off coupon this weekend. That would get the price down to just over $200. I'm pretty sceptical of H.F. machines but I've read elsewhere that their drill press can be pretty decent for occasional none-too-precise use. I guess the thing to do would be to remember you have 30 days to return it if it's too far out of whack.

[Ellen Benkin]

I recently bought the smaller Jet benchtop drill press and I think the price was around $400. Not a lot of bells and whistles but I don't use a drill press that often. I can drill accurate holes in hardwood and that's what I wanted.

[Matt Day]

I recently bought the smaller Jet benchtop drill press and I think the price was around $400. Not a lot of bells and whistles but I don't use a drill press that often. I can drill accurate holes in hardwood and that's what I wanted.

That's double his budget.

[Carroll Courtney]

Well I think that if the drill bit is square to the table then any DP in your budget will work.But then again you may find a need to drill holes at an angle so then you may want one that the table will tilt.After all the bit just needs to rotate,be square to table when you want it to be square.So if you live in Nome Alaska,you make not have alot of choices,but if you live in some of the New England states then you may have lots of good choices in the used market.

[rudy de haas]

I recently bought a King KC-116N 13" drill press on sale at KMS tools in Calgary for about 300 Canabucks (not that much over $200 US). I've only used it a little bit but is has three virtues: it's quite heavy and therefore stable; it has a 7.5 amp (about 1.25 HP) motor; and, the motor is wholly enclosed. Oddly, it has a soviet era engineering feel about it: functional, but crude and rather unsophisticated. It's only real negative (so far) is that the depth stop is harder to use than it should be, but once it's set up, that doesn't matter.