I am a firm believer in buy it once without regrets, so I'm jumping into my first drill press with that in mind. I fully expect that I will want to upgrade it one day, but if I can get 5 years before wanting to upgrade.... nice!

Anyway, I'm looking to drill wood and maybe some soft metal on very rare occasions. The main push for the drill press is better accuracy. Running a hand drill for the last few years has gotten me by, but now it is time to do better. I build cabinets, desks, and do way more home DIY than I care to admit. Most of my drilling is done with Forstner bits.

Here are my thoughts on drill presses so far...


  1. Powermatic 2800 is the current leader. I have a range of Powermatic tools already and am not only happy with the brand, but the dealer too. The dealer also sells Jet, Nova and Rikon. The 2800 has the features I want with the addition of not needing to mess with belts.
  2. Nova Voyager is in second. It is pretty mindless. I prefer to spend the small mental capacity I have on project ideas instead of tooling.
  3. Jet JDP-17 is third. Honestly, it looks cool and saves a little money. We're planning to get into providing customers video of the builds, so I'm "sprucing" the shop up. Functionally, I think this one lacks compared to the other two.
  4. Delta 18-900L is in the running, but this one would probably be a Home Depot purchase. I'm okay with paying tax to make sure I have a neck I can choke nearby if things don't go well.


Important features (I think)...


  • 5" or more Quill travel
  • RPMs that can handle a spindle sander
  • Laser
  • Not messing with belts
  • Decent-sized sturdy table
  • FOF (Fresh out the Factory) & FOB (Fresh off the Boat is fine)


Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm open to all suggestions.