Thread: Pedestal drill - yay or nay?

Thanks for the continuing input all, it definitely continues to be food for thought.

A bit of pondering last night took me on a short journey via Google which gave me more to consider - To maybe downgrade to a smaller press, and put that saving towards a mill.
Sometimes, I really hate it when more thinking appears, it can become somewhat confusing

I also came across this very handy looking article on drill press tuning, which I hope comes in handy to some:
http://vintagemachinery.org/files/PD...ss_tune-up.pdf

Originally Posted by LordBug

Thanks for the continuing input all, it definitely continues to be food for thought.

A bit of pondering last night took me on a short journey via Google which gave me more to consider - To maybe downgrade to a smaller press, and put that saving towards a mill.
Sometimes, I really hate it when more thinking appears, it can become somewhat confusing

I also came across this very handy looking article on drill press tuning, which I hope comes in handy to some:
http://vintagemachinery.org/files/PD...ss_tune-up.pdf

Lord Bug
Thanks for the link on tuning the drill press.
I have a 35yr old Taiwanese drill press (owned since new) similiar to the one shown in the link.
It had about 15 thou slack in the Quill which was very annoying.
Then I read on the forum, about a screw & locknut on the left hand side of the drill head that engages with a keyway in the quill, to stop rotation & reduce manufacturing clearance/tolerances. This particular adjustment was not mentioned in the link.
A simple adjustment & presto its now only got a few thou play.
Sometimes you live with these problems for a long time not realising there often is a simple answer.
regards
Bruce

Just a thought have you considered buying a radial arm drill press as it would give you much bigger range when it comes to using a drill press. Have a look at Carba-tec's drill press Model RDP-116.
A few years ago I had a good look around at the drill presses on offer and bought the bench version of the radial arm drill press from Gasweld. As a guitar maker or luthier I found it to be ideal as the standard drill press does not give you the distance away from the column that you need when working on guitars or other large items. With a standard drill press you only get 160mm from the column to the drill centre; as the radial arm drill press Model RDP-116 you get up to 420mm fromthe column to the drill centre.
From the day that I purchased the radial arm drill press it has proved to be invaluable when working on all of the items I have made.
Cheers Alby

Originally Posted by Michael G

Dave, are you sure it's not J Blackwood and Sons? I always thought that JBS was their home brand.

Michael

Hi Michael,
If it's a symbol like below I am 150% sure as I see it nearly everyday.
I bought this gear off Newcastle Saw Service which have since closed down. They where the importers of this brand at the time.

Sorry for the picture quality, I tried a few times

Pedestal Drill






Table saw


Dave

I've also got an old version of that drill (same as Bruce's). They must have made 10,000's of them. I've never measured the runout, but the quill seems pretty tight despite its age.
Chris

If you are spending that sort of money why not spend a little extra and get something like this. Autofeed/Coolant Industiral Pedestal Drilling Machine | eBay

LordBug, you need to be careful in selecting the proper drill table. You could reasonably expect to fit a drill press table eventually, and you want to make sure there is a good way of bolting it to the existing table, and to make sure that the winding handle of the drill press clears the drill press table.

With the H&F, there doesn't appear to be any way of bolting a drill press table to the existing drill table

Originally Posted by JillB

... and to make sure that the winding handle of the drill press clears the drill press table.

Yeah, my fingers clobber my drill press table when I'm winding the handle if I'm not careful.

Originally Posted by Com_VC

If you are spending that sort of money why not spend a little extra and get something like this. Autofeed/Coolant Industiral Pedestal Drilling Machine | eBay

That looks like a nice drill.

Dave

I have looked at the Ozme drill before and thought it was a little fast on the lowest speed. I use a drill press for tapping and prefer a lower bottom speed for that. Otherwise it is good value with the coolant and auto feed.