Thread: Thinking of buying a drill press

Hi Lou,
These are the sorts of questions that are tough to answer because it all depends on what you expect of a drill press. If you're into precision metal work, the 'economy' line may fall short in matters like the main bearings, slop in the quill as you bring it down, etc. For woodworking type tolerances, most drills sold now are pretty reasonable. Since most drills are copied from designs made primarily for metalworking applications, they suffer from a couple of 'faults' in woodworking situations. These are - not enough clearance from the drill axis to the post; not enough clearance from drill point to the lowest point of travel of the support platform, and not enough quill travel.

Having said all that, even a cheap, inadequate drill press lets you do things quicker, safer and more accurately than you could ever achieve with hand-held drills, plus it can be pressed into service as a drum-sander, etc. etc. As long as the model you're looking at is well-enough put-together to last, it will serve you well, and you can always trade up in a year or two, if you find you desperately need something better.

I had a bench model for about 12 yrs that was too small, and had too short a travel, and not enough speeds, but I was able to work around the deficencies much of the time, and it did a lot of good work. I now have a floor model, (Delta) which didn't cost a lot more than the one you're looking at, and am very happy with it for my needs.
Cheers,

At the recent Newcastle show I checked out the Toolies drill Presses with a view to a future purchase. Now being the tight a**e that I am I have been shopping around a bit, and I found that the Toolies drill presses are the only reasonably priced ones that don't have any vertical slop in the quill, which is important when using a rosette cutter, so they will be my choice very soon.

I started a thread a while back about this subject - it may be worth digging that out... I ended up with the 12 speed floor press by Delta - I did quite a bit of homework on it too . Excellent machine for $600 odd from carbatech - I highly recommend it over any other i've seen besides the milling machines that you get for metal work. its very sturdy, well made, has a slow start, and the quill is of a larger than average bore and travel with no side track (No2 morse taper). a serious machine - MUCH!!! better than either any of the other chinese or taiwanese models or even the shepparch that sells as a shepparch or has been cloned for carbatech or sherwood (the radial arm drill only has 5 speeds and runs quite rough I found).

cheers

Cant argue with the quality of the Delta drill, but it's twice the price.

My 2 cents. If you want to drill holes in wood, a $300 Chinese drill press will do the job. Mine has 16 speeds and I think I've used two of them. Buy the $300 job and spend the other $300 on a router or something.

I've had the Total Tools press for a couple of years now.

It does everything I want it to do, which is drill holes in bits of wood and occasionally work as a drum sander.

Like silentC, I rarely change the speed. Mostly because it a hassle to bugger around with the belts and pulleys.

Thx for that fellas

Looks like I'm on the right track. As I only plan to use the press for my woody projects I just can't justify the cost of spending more money on something like the Delta! For $300 bucks can't see how I can go wrong with the Total Tools Model! Anyone got a fovourate speed setting they keep there drill press on! My most recent project involves drilling Dog holes in some really dense 45mm blackbutt Any advise on your favourite speed settings etc would be appreiated. As always I find the feedback from the Aussie Woodwork forums FANTASTIC!

Now ............... which router )

Lou - again, depends what you're drilling (soft/hard), what sort of feed-rate you can apply (if you are feeding too slowly, or the drill is choking, it will heat up very quickly - same as with router bits), and what you're drilling with (you can use higher speeds for smaller diameter drills, and spade bits don't heat up like Forstners, which are really designed for softer woods, though I 'pursuade' mine to hog out all kinds of tough stuff).
Being a lazy sod myself, mine's been on about the second-slowest speed for so long I can't remember when I last changed it. Can't tell you what the actual revs are, just that it's a suitable speed that I can use with my Forstners up to about 1 2/2" diameter without making smoke - all other factors being equal, as per above. As someone else said before, fiddling about with belts (2 of the damn things) is a PITA. You'll probably try a lot of different speeds for different jobs when you first get it, and are keen, but after a while you'll notice you've left it on a speed that does most jobs ok, just like the rest of us! The message is that it's not that critical for most applications, and if you hit one that is critical, you'll know enough about it by then to find the right speed......
Avagoodone,

I've had a drill press from Total Tools for a couple of years as well. Not a scrap of trouble with it. I have the one with the single-piece cast wheel rather than the usual 3 x thin bits of steel - much nicer to use.

They are good value for money and definitely recommended.

Originally Posted by NewLou

Thx for that fellas

Looks like I'm on the right track. As I only plan to use the press for my woody projects I just can't justify the cost of spending more money on something like the Delta! For $300 bucks can't see how I can go wrong with the Total Tools Model! Anyone got a fovourate speed setting they keep there drill press on! My most recent project involves drilling Dog holes in some really dense 45mm blackbutt Any advise on your favourite speed settings etc would be appreiated. As always I find the feedback from the Aussie Woodwork forums FANTASTIC!

Now ............... which router )

I think I have mine set at 500 rpm.

Which router? Well, check the polls forum, but for mine, if you intend to use it in a table then go for the Triton. For hand held use there a several contenders.

Here she is!!!!

I'm now the prowd owner of a 16 speed drill press on special from total tools for $300 (Thats the site foreman in the pic looking after quality control) took me bout 45mins to slap her together and another 3omins to work out how ta change belts for the speed I wanted. I settled on 500 rpm. Anyway thanks for the feedback everyone .............. muchley appreciated. Now I can get on with the job of drilling dog holes for my workbench

Regards Happy Camper )

Our dogs dig their own holes , and, how do you manage to look so youthful?
Settle on a drill speed and you will soon discover as to whether or not it is adequate, it just feels wrong.
I use the slowest possible speed for forstner bits, the little pulley at the back to the biggest at the front whatever speed that is.
Also make sure that the morse taper is seated well as it is most embarassing when the chuck falls out, it's happened to me once many moons ago.

Don't be lazy like 95% of woodworkers & tradesmen I've seen!!!! Change the speed to suite the job @ hand. It only takes me 20 seconds to change speeds & you get a MUCH better result It also is more economical on the drill bitz you use.

Well after a good days work mucking around my work bench is slowly coming along. Only had one drama throughout the day. After thinking I had checked and tightened everything the Locknut on the main chuck drive belt came loose........................luckily no major dramas (Whew).

Anyone got some rules of thumb guides they use for setting their drill speeds? I got no Idea on what speeds suit what particular jobs and so fourth. I'm presently drilling some blackbutt I got from bunnies. Noticed from time to time the wood tended to burn a bit whilst drilling what does this indicate and do I need to make any adjustments? thought I'd ask you guys while I go so I can learn the fine art of the drill press as I go..............

Anyfeedback truely appreciated
Regards Lou )