Thread: Drill Press Recommendations

What will be the majority type of work you will be doing with it, what degree of accuracy do you want and how much room do you have for it?

Originally Posted by Hangfire

Hi all,

I came to use my little bench drill press from aldi at the weekend and it had carked it - wouldnt even turn on.

its a shame as i had it on one of those benches which rotate etc (but it was pretty naff to be honest as an accurate press).

Do people have recommendations regarding a fairly basic drill press? i would like somethine other than the toy that i was using, but dont want to spend big money if i can help it.

i checked the usual outlets and came up with these options:

https://www.timbecon.com.au/sherwood...or-drill-press - $649
D596 - PD-360 Heavy-Duty Pedestal Drill - Belt Drive | Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse - $649
Carbatec 16 Speed Pedestal Drill Press | Carbatec - $699
Carbatec 1/2 HP 5 Speed Radial Arm Drill Press | Carbatec - $629

better than these is a jump to over a grand, then another jump to 2 grand etc....

I had the bench mount BD325 from H&F which was great

I built a new workshop and thought it wouldn't be suitable, so I sold it to my neighbour and bought the same pedestal mounted model(PD325) that bolts to the floor

I really wasn't happy with the amount of flex with this one when putting a bit of weight on it whilst drilling

my neighbour preferred this model and we swapped back and I made a new bench for the bench mount version - much better

I think all the floor mount ones you mentioned would have a bit of flex

I made a bracket with a Ubolt and some rods etc to brace it off the wall which improved it a lot, but the bench mount is a lot better if you have a strong bench

cheers
Hodgo

so the issue is that they have flex in the uprights?

i previously have a baby of a press, but it has been useful at times, particularly when i needed to use forstners etc

wondered if it having more capacity would mean it was more useful etc

Originally Posted by Hangfire

so the issue is that they have flex in the uprights?

i previously have a baby of a press, but it has been useful at times, particularly when i needed to use forstners etc

wondered if it having more capacity would mean it was more useful etc

I think its an issue,not a great feeling having the whole assy moving around when you put a bit of pressure on

both of mine had 16mm chucks,which probably would make them cheaper than the 20mm ones you are looking at but there could be other features as well on the dearer models

I've never had an issue with the chuck not being big enough, I dont think I have anything with a shank larger than 16mm anyway

correction: they all have 16mm chucks the dearer one has a 20mm morse taper, possibly a feature you may never use

Originally Posted by rwbuild

What will be the majority type of work you will be doing with it, what degree of accuracy do you want and how much room do you have for it?

Hi Ray, the previous one got used whenever I wanted to drill through metal like angle iron etc, as well as using forstner bits etc.
It was underutilised, so not aiming to spend big on one if I can help it. But when it's needed it was damn handy.
My thinking here is to replace the crappy one which had a fair amount of slop in the chuck with something better which I won't subsequently need to replace for a long time.
Slowly outfitting my garage shop.
I had tried the previous one with pen blanks etc but they didn't come out very well.

The issue of floor standing versus bench standing and DP flex can be confusing.
If you are drilling work placed on the table mounted to the column, and the columns for the floor standing and the bench DP are the same diameter/Xsection, then they should have the same flex.
The door standing DP may appear like its moving more but that is most likely a stability problem but that is a separate issue. You can choose to bolt a floor standing DP to the floor but my solution was to make a wide footprint platform out of wood and bolt the DP base to the platform. This made my DP much more stable and at a pinch can still be moved around.

Originally Posted by BobL

The issue of floor standing versus bench standing and DP flex can be confusing.
If you are drilling work placed on the table mounted to the column, and the columns for the floor standing and the bench DP are the same diameter/Xsection, then they should have the same flex.
The door standing DP may appear like its moving more but that is most likely a stability problem but that is a separate issue. You can choose to bolt a floor standing DP to the floor but my solution was to make a wide footprint platform out of wood and bolt the DP base to the platform. This made my DP much more stable and at a pinch can still be moved around.

So what kind of minimum specs should I be looking at? Am I on the right or wrong track with the options that I listed....

Originally Posted by Hangfire

So what kind of minimum specs should I be looking at? Am I on the right or wrong track with the options that I listed....

A simple guide to stiffness for budget end machinery is weight - the heavier it is the more metal there is in it and the stiffer it should be.
I had quick look at the links you provided to those floor standing machines and they range from 57 to 67 kg.
For reference the Timbecon HD DP (no longer sold by them) I purchase 15 years ago is 90kgs.

A useful spec to know is run out at the chuck which determines bit wobble. Unfortunately none of the budget end machines specify this. And vendors are unlikely to permit you to unpack a DP and test it.

Long quill travel or stroke is a valuable asset. On budget end machines this is usually limited to 75-85 mm to get to the next level (eg 120mm) will blow your budget.

I would also recommend a keyless chuck but you can usual buy this from a third party for less than the DP supplier can.

For versatility, the radial press is the best. One can have the drill bit further out or angled to a set angle. It really is very good for use with timber; reasonably good with metal. My Men's Shed has one and it gets used a helluva lot because of those features. This unit is a bit fiddly to set-up and if you have things stretched right out then it isn't the most rigid unit, but it is pretty damned nice to use because of its versatility.

Timbecon actually specify run out on all of their drill presses, including the one you gave reference too.

Of the ones you referenced, the Timbecon one is the one I would purchase. I was in their Melbourne store last week and went over their drill press range with a mate; he was buying.

If I was on the market for one, this is the unit I would get. A bit more than what you are talking about, but you are at the bottom end of heavier duty stuff and it is a hefty unit.

https://www.timbecon.com.au/sherwood...or-drill-press

Mick.

forgive my ignorance - but what is a radial press?

Old drill presses are hard to beat unless you want to spend big bucks. I got a 'Kira' brand japanese made floor standing drill press cheap as, think I paid $125, cleaned it up, new bearings. It's bloody excellent.

i do understand that - but those things are as rare as unicorn poo - and i just never see them anyplace - maybe i am looking in the wrong locations???

have a carbatec tablesaw - pretty happy with it - but i am sure it is not top of the line (made a cross cut sled to replace my old one last weekend - got the 5 cut accuracy out at about o.5 mm across the 5 cuts which i thought was pretty good for my needs).
a sherwood lathe and bandsaw - i am sure both of these are inferior to old models which would have a lot more cast iron in their construction - but they seem adequate to my needs (now i have a bandsaw that is halfway reasonable i can see me wanting to upgrade it to a really good one in the end - its just so much fun!!!)

are there good places to look? i have been on gumtree and marketplace etc...

Originally Posted by Hangfire

forgive my ignorance - but what is a radial press?

The last drill press you gave a link too, in your opening post, is a radial drill press.

A radial drill press is able to do compound drilling, with the drill press head itself able to roll from side to side and also to able to be extended or retracted. If you look at the additional pictures supplied by Carbatech, you can see examples of the drill press at different angles.

This is quite a good feature if you have a long piece of material and require angled holes. Also quite handy if you have something quite heavy where tilting the table isn't going to be an option.

The table on that unit can also be turned from horizontal, which is standard, but it also has an extension that allows it to be swung in a horizontal arc.

A radial drill press is quite a versatile unit, it isn't the most accurate, but can be quite accurate if care is taken.

Mick.

hi mick

carbatec have 15% off for fathers day..

i am struggling to justify a grand for the top of the line sherwood - given to this point i havent used it much...

but i dont want to buy something that will not really last

is the carby up to scratch or am i looking in the wrong spot?

table looks kinda small and it is only 65kg