Thread: drill press decisions..

I had the same dilemma but was only looking at the bench type. Went out to H&F and had a good look at both machines side by side.

The D144 (Pedestal equivalent D147) has a larger column diameter therefore more robust. The quill diameter is also larger. Gave the chuck assembly the old shake around to detect any sideways movement. On the D144 there was none at top of travel, bottom of travel or at the midway point but the D138 (Pedastal equivalent D140) had heaps.

When looking at both of them the D144(D147) even looks more robust that the D138(D140).

Thats my 2c worth.

BTW, ended up buying the D144 and loving it.

A lot will depend on what you will be doing with the drill press.

I have the equivalent to the CT radial drill press.

Great throat depth, as that is important to what I do. Haven't found the 1/2hp a limiting factor so far.

Love the way the drill can be angled, again use that regularly.

Points against are low speed (450) too high, spindle travel (80mm) too short.

I have a VFD and a 1hp 3ph motor that one day I will install and it will fix my speed problems, as a bonus no more belt changes.

Not much I can do about the spindle travel, but now have a lathe with a tailstock travel of 110mm, so that partly solves that problem.

Big Shed:
I agree decisions will depend on what one wants to do with the equipment, but I suspect like many you suddenly find you need more options with each piece you purchase. One of the reasons I looked at the radial arm drill. Big issue is you can not always tilt the table due to the size of the piece being drilled or its shape.

The Radial arm drill does have a travel of 85 mm bigger than the other options so that is a mild plus.
As you indicate the slowest speed is high something I noticed but did not put it down as a big negative.

The Bleeder:
I agree that physically looking at the machine is the best way but the H&F place in Adelaide is only a distributor and there is no guarantee that they will have what you want to look at in the store. In most cases you have to make an order first.
Thanks for the comments re the D140 vs D147. I had a suspicion the D140 was a lighter drill and hence possibly open to a few issues.

I agree it is very hard even just looking at photos. In the flesh the difference is immediately noticable. The D144/D147 are a heavier duty type of machine allround.

Had a SPD 25 in the factory for a few years, basiclly the same as the 25A but with a hub and bar feed arm instead of the cast allow one. Observations were.

1. The light is not worth the effort, a light bulb set fairly high up in the head casting throwing very little light to the table in the area immediately below the chuck but creating a glare hot spot on the table a couple of inches behind. Bulb life was fairly short as bulbs run hot because there is no flow through ventilation.

2. Considerable belt slip at lower speeds with original belts, improved with non chinese belts, but not eliminated.

3. Table supports and column prone to flexxing if heavy material is being worked, particularly if not placed symmetrically , ie drilling numerous holes through long pieces, they tended to slope toward the end, becoming more pronounced as they got nearer the end and the table brackets flexed more.

No operational comments re the other machines as I have not used them, but looking at demo machines in store and at shows the CT machines seem prone to having slop in the quill machining in the head on the examples I have seen.

The work light is not a deciding issue. I doubted it would be useful outside a very short range.
Thanks for the warning on it usefulness and bulb life.

The column flex sounds like a bit of a problem, unless they have changed the specs for the 25A it since the one you used.

Haven't noticed any column flex but then it is the bench model I have.

Yes the light is useless as the bulbs don't last that long. Looking at modifying it to have the light externally mounted on a flexible shaft.

Haven't had a problem with belt slip though. But then I use it for drilling wood and plastics. Might have to try at some 1/2 inch plate i've got laying around as see what happens.

Looks like I am stuck with a decision between these three:

H&F Model SPD-25A Pedestal Drilling Machine - D147
Craba-Tec 1HP 12 Speed Pedestal Drill Press - DP-4119F
Carba-Tec 1/2 HP 5 Speed Radial Arm Drill Press - RDP-116

After adding transport costs the D147 and DP-4119F are about the same price.
The RDP-116 has the disadvantage of the low end speed being rather high and also lower motor power. Also it only as a 13 mm chuck. The chuck then has limitations in using some Mortise Chisel drill sizes.

Originally Posted by cultana

The RDP-116 has the disadvantage of the low end speed being rather high and also lower motor power. Also it only as a 13 mm chuck. The chuck then has limitations in using some Mortise Chisel drill sizes.

I would be rather hesitant using a Chisel Mortiser adaptor on that one.

That's the reason I bought the D144 as I was going to use it with a Chisel Mortiser attachment (after I bought it I was then given a Chisel Mortiser with a dead motor). It looked a more solid build than the Carba-Tec one. Mind you I had to drive 30 minutes to view the other one. (Carba-Tec to H&F) So it may be only a perception that I had and seeing the two H&F models side by side.

CT have been a bit confusing in their signals with all this. One said its OK with the radial arm drill, another said it was really not suited and I should go for the standard pedestal.

I might only have 45 mins between H&f and CT but I have a 400k trip just to get to the big smoke to do that 45 min travel. So a round trip of some 11 hours is not something i wish to do to look at a drill. I can not even assume either will have the drill in stock.

I have thought of buying local but I am still in the same boat, buy unseen and then add the big transport cost and the local markup on a city price.

Luckily it is not something I need in a huge hurry. I have managed so far with out one. I only recently got a small bench drill, and only because it was cheap, second hand. Its Ok but in some cases more of a hindrance than benefit.

This seems to work surprisingly well for some things:
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f155/c...3/#post1143389
even with its limitations.
At least its easily extendable

Hi cultana

I was weighing up various drill press models a while back and ended up with the SBD-25A (the bench press version of the one you are considering) You can see a thread regarding a similar question to yours here

Bottom line - IMHO the H&F was way better than the Carbatec equivalent in build quality, robustness & accuracy.

I have not regretted the purchase. If I had the space, I might have gone for the PD-26

Unless you really need the reach of the radial arm machine, go for the H&F.

Looks like I have to wait till I need to make a trip to Adelaide and hope H&F and CT have a drill for me to actually see and put my hands on to check.

Cost is and interesting issue as well:

H&F's ... D147 ....... $396.00 ( Actual $446.00 - $466.00)
CT's .... DP-4119F ... $439.00
CT's .... RDP-116 .... $339.00


Thanks for the ref to that poll but I did notice 3 for CT's machine but no comment. 6 H&F vs 3 CT.
The accuracy/runout is an issue so it is not going to be a quick jump in the purchase process.

Cultana,

My sympathies, 400k round trip to see something that might not be there. I see why you want as much info as you can get before you decide.

Maybe you should ring them up to see if they have one on the floor and if not when. Then when you're ready to go have a look, ring them up to make sure it's still there on the floor. get both of them to pander to you....

Originally Posted by The Bleeder

Cultana,

My sympathies, 400k round trip to see something that might not be there. I see why you want as much info as you can get before you decide.

Maybe you should ring them up to see if they have one on the floor and if not when. Then when you're ready to go have a look, ring them up to make sure it's still there on the floor. get both of them to pander to you....

The trip is a pain. And that is a 800Km round trip. Add to that I will be under 'surveillance' by SWMBO and that also means going to the city and shopping. Not something that gets me highly excited.

One problem is H&F in Adelaide is only a distributor and hence usually has on the floor what has been ordered. There may be some in demand gear so things like drill presses are not exactly a general item. Though Ct is a CT store again if there is no big demand they would not have one on the floor. It all comes down to cost on their part, more so if it is a very slow moving item.
There are times it makes sense to be close to places such as Sydney, Melbourne etc. But I have a serious allergy to traffic, traffic lights, taking 45 mins to travel short distances and al the other lovely issues living in the big city and suburbs.

I was going to by the SPD-25A locally but the quoted total price of $625.00 was a bit much to swallow. hence the look to find something a bit more realistic price wise and any reasonable options to the SPD-25A as well.
At present the SPD-25A and CT's DP-4119F are about the same end cost and that is using the Adelaide prices.