New drill press?

[Gary Markham]

I am working on a project with a lot of holes up to 1” dia that have to match up for connectors. I have a 30+ year old craftsman 15” drill press and have had trouble with hole alignment. I replaced the chuck and belts which helped, and have a laser coming tomorrow. I have wanted a larger drill several times so if I did upgrade which is the better option. A bigger standard drill like a 17”-20” jet, grizzly or similar or a nova Viking or voyager. I know the Viking is not much bigger at 16” but that’s really all I need. I want to upgrade for quality accuracy more than throat or travel. I was thinking bigger table, stable weight and bigger Morse taper would improve accuracy. Although the nova MT is the same as I have now. Thoughts?
thanks
Gary

[Derek Cohen]

Gary, if you can afford the Voyager, then I would recommend it. I’ve had one for about 3 years now and it has not skipped a beat. I will likely never use all its features, but the variable speed on tap, the powerful motor, its ability to dial in the ideal speed for a wide range of drill bit types into different media, and long throw, all make for a more productive experience.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[andy bessette]

Almost anything will be a step up from a Craftsman. But it sounds like it is not your drill press which is limiting you, but rather your lack of proper layout, setup and fixturing. A laser would be entirely useless to me.

If you have room for only 1 machine, and really want to upgrade, I would look for a quality, used, heavy duty, 3-phase machine and run it off a VFD.

[Greg Parrish]

I had the Voyager floor press in my prior shop and it was really nice. I now have the Viking bench press and I’ve already had numerous times that it didn’t have enough column height. Quill travel was good but with a long bit and a tall piece, there just wasn’t enough column height. Power wise, and feature wise, I haven’t noticed much difference. From a quality stand point, I had run out issues with both but it was the nova chuck and taper. If you have issues you can always replace the taper/chuck and I think it would be much truer running. Commons features include the extreme ease of changing speed by spinning a knob, large table, both direct drive, etc. They do make a Viking floor model as well, I think.

[Cary Falk]

I'm no expert on drill presses but I have had several over the years. I now have an old Powermatic 1200 VS. My 3 favorite things on a DP are quill travel, not having to change belts, and a crank to change table height. Most people make or buy an aux table that is geared towards woodworking so to me table size doesn't mean much. I had a laser come with my Steel City drill press and it was worthless for aligning things because the lines were so wide. A floor model takes up only slightly more room than a benchtop so you might as well get a floor model and build a cabinet below the table. I only slightly pay attention to drill presses on the market, but if I was in the market, I think the Voyager would be pretty close to top on my list. The only downsides are the price and if the electronics crap out the drill is toast if parts ever become obsolete. I don't know if that is true though. If you can swing the cost of the Voyager, then that is probably what I would do.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Voyager plus Llambrich keyless chuck

Unreal quality and engineering all around

Ultimate “cry once “

[Bill Dufour]

If you have room for only 1 machine, and really want to upgrade, I would look for a quality, used, heavy duty, 3-phase machine and run it off a VFD.[/QUOTE]
I will say again that pretty much any tool designed for factory three phase is better made and designed.
Also normally cheaper to buy used. A VFD gives variable speed, quick reverse and power brakes.
Bill D

[John Ziebron]

Years ago I upgraded and bought the PM2800B. And had issues with it from the start including the Reeves drive. Plus I didn't like the fact that the display was always on and you had to unplug it to really turn off power. I had it for less than a year when the Voyager came out. I bought one of the first ones.

And I've never regretted it. The 6 inch quill travel is great and being able to dial down to 50 RPMs with a powerful motor I've used it to tap metal. As Kent inherently points out the chucks that come with any drill press are not very good. I went middle of the road in cost and bought the Jacobs super ball bearing keyed one. Almost immeasurable runout and I can chuck my smallest drill in it -.022".

[Jonathan Jung]

Almost anything will be a step up from a Craftsman. But it sounds like it is not your drill press which is limiting you, but rather your lack of proper layout, setup and fixturing. A laser would be entirely useless to me.

If you have room for only 1 machine, and really want to upgrade, I would look for a quality, used, heavy duty, 3-phase machine and run it off a VFD.

+1 agree, a 3 phase drill press with a VFD is a fantastic choice. I have 2 1940s-1950s Walker-Turner units and enjoy them a lot.

[Steven Cooper2]

Anther vote in old machine with vfd.

I've got an old early 40s delta 19 inch dp i got for free from someone cleaning their garage, and the a vfd on it and it is fantastic. Hopefully the solid bits last another 80 years.

Of course a nova would be nice too.

[Dave Sabo]

I see a lot of guys recommending an old 3ph machine with a VFD, and just shake my head.

It's not so simple as deciding "I want that" and placing the order. Around my orbit (SE USA) they don't appear for sale every month and a year or more may go by before I see one. Machines w/o a vfd are a bit more common, but not by much. And then I've got to source, install, and program the vfd instead of making holes. Now, I'm certain I can get a 3ph press from one of the industrial equip. brokers in the area, but their prices are pretty close to a NOVA - and I've still got the VFD hassle. So what's the point of that ??? All of this also assumes that said press doesn't need new bearings, spring, chuck, ect..ect...

I agree with the notion that an old 3ph w/VFD is a good option if one is available to you. If it's not, I think waiting around for one to materialize carries too high an opportunity cost.

[andy bessette]

...waiting around for one to materialize carries too high an opportunity cost.

It may not be the best option for lazy shoppers or for those only willing to buy a used machine if it already comes with a VFD.

[David M Peters]

I think it would be worthwhile talking about your process for locating holes. I doubt that there's enough runout or play in the machine to cause them to be mis-located.

I have a nice 17" Jet drill press but still make mistakes with it!

[Gary Markham]

Thanks for all the input. I do agree a lot of my issue is my process. These parts are riser boxes and treads for a stacked stair assembly for a sea ray yacht. I am attaching the 4 step unit together with zip connectors once all 8 pieces are in the cabin because the assembly won’t fit through the door. Anyway I have to holes in the riser edge to match the hole in the tread. I am working with the drill press over my bench and the table rotated to the back. This is because the biggest riser is u shaped and about 30x25” and 9” tall. I discovered the drill was pushing off the work piece and rotating the column backwards. Also the column was not as square to the bench top as could be. I squared the dill to the bench top with a 1/2” aircraft dill (straight and long) chucked up and also weighted the base with cement blocks to keep it from pushing off. Holes are much better now. Thanks for pushing me to check the whole process
gary

[Dave Sabo]

It may not be the best option for lazy shoppers or for those only willing to buy a used machine if it already comes with a VFD.

or for those needing a press in the short term to do a job, laziness has nothing to do with it.

Do you buy your food? Clothes ? Lumber?

Why, because you’re lazy ?