Thread: Looking to purchase a Pedstal Drill (Not Bench) Need some assistance

Hitachi 16mm might be worth a look, abt $600 from Syndney tools via ebay, or through the shop front. Laser sight, solid unit, no play in spindle/castings etc in the 4 I have seen.

Next in line the big 32mm? Carbatech, about $700+, have seen/played with a few and the seem to be the only unit they offer with decent spindle support.

Thx Malb

I did look at that one online, but without actually seeing was not sure of the quality

Will head down to Sydney tools in the next few weeks to take a look at it

It appears to be quite solid for its price

I did look at the CT 2HP machine as you mentioned but where does one stop with price. I needed to draw a line in the sand and $600 was it. The CT 1HP version for $469 seemed ok but I have heard many horrow stories with it. Anyway how is a 650 Watt motor deemed as 1HP, in my conversion method 1HP equals approx 745watts. stretching the truth perhaps

Plenty of things to look for, tables that tilt front to back or side to side when loaded etc but the biggest one is poor spindle support.

Grasp the chuck body, and feed the spindle down and try to move the chuck front to back/ side to side. It should be rock solid but most chinese units will move around, the worst I have seen on a showroom floor was about 1mm either way (2mm total). Check at various degrees of extension. Problem doesn't show when fully extended or fully retracted as the quill is in contact with stops which effectively jamb the system and eliminate freedom. Problem is caused by poor machining of the quill bore in the head, leaving the bore not parallel.

Hi Jas I have just been going through this pedestal Drill scenario.
I shall explain further…. I am involved a local men’s shed on the Central Coast over the last four years they have bought at least three Chinese pedestal Drills all meeting with the same problems of becoming inaccurate by way of flex on the table and quill movement which cannot be adjusted out.
So far this is what I have come up with..... the best way is to get the same pedestal drill that is used by the Tafe and Schools. H&F have them as well as Major woodworking I believe that they are Taiwanese but are rather costly as compared to the Chinese pedestal drills which are half the price of the Taiwanese machines.
At this stage I must explain that we would have up to thirty different men of all experience levels using this machine and it would get a lot more work on day to day bases than other machines that we have at the shed.
I know there would be an argument on the points of using the machine in a men’s shed and by one person in his shed.
I hope there may be more feedback from other forums member on the pedestal drill I for one would like to hear more because at the end of the day there may well be a better answer than mine to this problem.
Here is a link to the pedestal drill I spoke of D162 | PD-35 Pedestal Drill | machineryhouse.com.au
Colbra

Sorry to re-visit again but I am slowly narrowing down my choices.

Has anyone bought or played with the K & K Industrial Drill Press, It is actually Taiwanese made.

The Hafco (Chinese) appears to be cheaply made, the CT slightly better, the Hitachi looks to be ok, but before I let loose with the wallet, just wanting info on the K & K

Very hard for me to suggest a brand as I only ever had and have one. What I will mention is to have a square table not round as the square table gives a little more room. You can always a piece of ply to the table to make it square. The lock for the table needs to be easily lockable.

If you have the money the Parken drills are far away the best. But they are not cheap...but they are very accurate..no spindle play what so ever.
The drills we have at work are great but so very hard to find second hand..they are Harveys. And you will pay more than a Chinese drill. but really there is no comparison
The 2 brands i'm talking about are comparable in size to floor mount Chinese whatever copy you like. Then of course you can go as big as you like.
Whenever i have looked at some of the Drill presses..record or whatever i just can't believe they are as bad as they are. When you talk to the sales guy..they will say something like its only wood
not metal..just how accurate do you need.