Thread: What Drill Press

This is what I have:

A generic Chinese 16 speed.
Bench mounted as I don't have room for a pedastal. It has a 1/2 hp motor.
It is very solid and does everything that I need a drill press to do, which basically is to drill holes in wood.

Cost about $300 from Total Tools. You can probably get them cheaper than this now though as the $A was worth less than $0.60 U.S when I bought it.

Hope that's some help.

Craig

Macca,

I've got a Chinese drill from Timbecon. It's 14 speed, with a 3/4Hp motor. Pedestal.

The only real advantage of the pedestal over the bench mount is that you can drill holes in longer/taller objects. If you have the space for a pedestal drill, get one. The price difference isn't that great.

For all the 14 speeds of my drill, I rarely change the speed.

I had a look at my drill press motor last night and it's actually 3/4 Hp. So I guess that this is the typical motor size for the Chinese clones.

Craig

I was in the market recently and really didnt know what to get at the time - I posted a few times under "Shepparch drill press" if you care to look it up.

I ended up getting the Delta heavy duty 12 speed floor model instead of the shepparch or a chinese clone. reasons were that the shepparch only had 5 speeds and the radial arm function whilst looked ok on paper really didnt impress me in the showroom - it was quite noisy too - i think due to the long fan belts needed. the Delta heavy duty unit and has oodles of power, heavy duty construciton, solid motor, winders and table, morse taper 2 chuck, well machined, the shaft (cant think of the correct name for the shaft) was thicker than the avg chinese clone so stronger and better suited to say a mortising attachment. the other thing that I liked was the general heavy build - eg the handles are nice and heavy /thick / well machined - the knobs dont unscrew and the chroming etc is well detailed.

I took a big bit of hardwood and a number of drills and bits to the showroom and drilled with the Carba tech light and heavy duty models, the shepparch, the Delta and the carba tech radial arm unit too... the delta was the best by far!!! when I "touched" the carba tech heavy duty the chuck fell out of the morse taper!!!!

the way I see it is the drill press is gunna be around for a long time in my workshop so an extra $100 now is not a big deal - if I buy crap I cant resell it and may have to buy another unit after I break it!
cheers

the way I see it is the drill press is gunna be around for a long time in my workshop so an extra $100 now is not a big deal

I agree entirely with Dr Zed.

HOWEVER, I have a $100.00 Ryobi bench special ($150.00 when I bought it about 6 years ago, and it is still in good nick. It really works hard with the hole saw in it, but it's amazing what a light machine can do if it is treated gently and the operator has some patience.

It is now relegated to small or fine work, and I have a smaller chuck which I clamp in it's chuck for bits smaller than 1/16".

Last year I bought a new 1/2 HP Jet floor unit (fortunately a substantial discount on retail), and it is a revelation in terms of quality and grunt. I have recently been cutting 180 dia holes in 18mm MDF with a wing cutter and at 170 RPM it just does it so easily.

The only thing I would like is a greater depth of cut but it was several hundred dollars for the extra 30mm and since that need is very rare, I can make do.

I was going to sell/give away the small one, but it is quite handy having both, so now I am a drill press collector as well.

Cheers,

P

The Delta was probably made in China anyway. Apparently there's about 3 factories in China and Taiwan that make 95% of the drill presses on the market. Mine looks a lot like the Delta but it's orange :eek:

BTW the morse taper is designed to be a friction fit and they do fall out ocassionally but you just tap them back in. The good thing about that is that it will also fit your lathe's tailstock, so you can use it for horizontal drilling when you need to.

Originally Posted by silentC

The good thing about that is that it will also fit your lathe's tailstock, so you can use it for horizontal drilling when you need to.

That's what I like about this board, I nearly always learn something new everyday.

Now I don't have a lathe, but if I ever get one I'll know that I can use my drill press chuck in it.

Cheers
Craig

The Delta was probably made in China anyway. Apparently there's about 3 factories in China and Taiwan that make 95% of the drill presses on the market.

No disrespect Silent, but we are in urban myth territory here.

China is a bloody big place, and there are a bloody lot of factories there. Same goes for Taiwan.

I have variously been told that Delta, Jet and Carbatec products are all made in the same factory, and any other variety of product mix that you care to name. In fact I've been told that Jet products are IDENTICAL to the Carbatec brand, and they are sprayed white when they arrive in Oz. Anyone know where the Jet spray booths are located?

While all the products look the same, (have you ever seen a Rolex copy-watch?) this is not necessarily a sign that they came from the same factory nor have the same quality components or assembly. Neither is the fact that they have similar or in some cases identical serial numbers. (Handy though, my generic Chinese thicknesser has Hafco and Carbatec bearings in a couple of spots, but they did take a very slight modification.)

In China, a new product from a top-line manufacturer is often treated as a plug for a new mould for a lesser brand.

Watch as more 14" bandsaws change to dust extraction through the casting a-la Jet, if they were made in the same factory from the same moulds, you would think the hole would be cast in all of them!

It's a bit like saying zucchinis and tomatoes are grown on the same farm, so they are the same.

Can anyone cast any light at all on what goods are made where EXACTLY?
P

BM,

I lifted that quote from a review I was reading on drill presses. I personally don't know and guess what? The answer probably changes all the time.

I've heard that Delta 'owns' premises in China and Taiwan. If this is the case, then they probably utilise their investment and actually assemble their own machines. I wonder if they also manufacture all the component parts? I'll bet that suppliers change from time to time, for various reasons - maybe due to cost or quality issues.

The issue is not so much where it was made, but what quality controls were in place and which components were chosen.

I really just wanted to point out that people tend to think less of a machine because it was made in China, yet a lot of the name brands source their machines from China too. Saying that a Chinese machine is bad because it came from China is misguided. It may be bad because it was made cheaply but that's not because it came from China.

I picked up my BS 1400 Bandsaw from Carba-tec on the weekend. A number of threads have stated that it is the same as the BS 1400 that Ridgid markets in the US.

I usually take this info with a grain of salt as the chinese are enthusiastic copiers, however in this case i believe it to be fact. The reason being that despite having carba-tec stuck all over it the foam packaging inside the box has "RIDGID" moulded into it.

Do all the drill presses discussed above only have a drilling depth of around about 85mm?

the delta has a travel of 85mm. this is about avg.

Saying that a Chinese machine is bad because it came from China is misguided.

Agree totally....

There is a famous story after WW2 when Japan had that reputation that they started precinct called "USA" so they could sell stuff in North America marked Made in USA.

Closer to this time, I have spent a bit of time working a little inland from Shanghai in an area developed as "Singapore Industrial City"...guess why? It was no small venture either!

My bike is a "Giant", made in Taiwan for the US market, but with "Italian" componentry, some of it made in "Singapore PRC".

Although way off track, I have bought a new tie for the recent father of the bride bit, so donated my favourite tie to someone more deserving. It was my favourite because on the label it had three lines that read

Country Road Australia

Made in Italy

Pure Chinese Silk

So to bring it back on track "That's the drill on country of manufacture!.

Cheers,

P

The high end Jet, JDP-17MF & JDP-20MF, have a travel of about 110mm