Thread: Standing vs bench Drill press?

My situation is that I have a 16 speed bench model bolted to an offcut of RSJ which lifts the drill press off the ground so when drilling I am standing at a comfortable height. Yes the restrictions of short distances of the table was a problem at times. What I have done recently is buy a Radial Drill Press, mainly for wood work, that is a floor model. The drilling height straight out of the box was too low for long periods of drilling. I cast a concrete block and bolted the press to it and it lifted it by nearly 200mm. Now with this set up the DP is "moveable" ( but not convenient) if need be and able to be steady enough when I want to drill the 35mm holes for Euro hinges. The table for that process is 2400mm long!. On the "to-do" list is to make a platform for spindle sanding with the DP. And yes I am aware of the side pressure not being ideal for the quill bearings.

In short, to make up your mind as to which one to choose, you will have to weigh up what the DP will be used for in the future and that will dictate your choice

Originally Posted by NathanaelBC

I bought a bench drill press last week, being delivered tomorrow; spent a good half hour at the shop trying to decide between full height and bench model and decided on the bench for three main reasons:
1) I can choose the optimal height for the motor, controls, handle etc by the height of the table I build for it;

When I researched DPs I found only large industrial floor standing drill presses were high enough anyway for me to use without bending over so I had to lift the DP off the floor anyway.
I got around this by building a 450 x 600 mm platform using 100 x 50 mm pine.
The underside has adjustable 1/2" bolt feet to lift it ~150 mm above the floor.
The DP is bolted to the platform, but not the floor.

2) The full-height would require bolting to the floor, not ideal when I require mobility to pack everything away so cars can be parked in the garage; and

I built my platform with being able to bolt it to the floor in mind, but 8 years later it still has not happened and no longer see a need for it.
The platform and the DP base have over the years become storage for pieces of wood and metal and my removable wooden DP table which greatly increases stability
I have drilled holes in 3m long lengths of heavy steel (i.e. 3m long overhang) and it has never felt unstable.

3) It would be easier to move the bench model around with the hoist than the full-height one because pendulum.

If the DP is held at the head it won't tip. If its not being held by the head then it's not being done right.
To increase the stability of a floor standing DP before moving, drop the table to its lowest position (with an easy lift this takes 2 seconds) and add some weight to the table of floor platform.
If a heavy/wide enough platform is used it could even safely be put on wheels and moved around.