drill press

[poorboy]

I see a drill press in the future. I can see that this welding class I took is going to keep me busy fabricating on the farm. It so does change the way you look at problems. I tried coping with a grinder some 2in pieces of pipe and that went alright but slow. What does a fellow look at when buying a drill press for occasional use. It may seldom get used but it sure would be nice when I needed it?

Patrick

[AndyF]

Two things I consider are: how big are the pieces I'll be working on and what size holes will I be drilling into different materials.

Answers to these questions will tell you what size drill press you need, specifically the distance from the chuck to the column. What size table you should have on the press, the size of the motor which will be required and the minimum and maximum speeds you'll need.

A 15" floor mounted drill press with at least 5" of quill travel and a 1/2 hp motor will probably do fine for most uses. This is the size press I have in my wood shop and it does a good job. Too many of the Taiwan and China drill presses only have 3 - 3 1/2" of quill travel and you'll find that this isn't enough way too often. If you live near an industrial area check for a used machinery dealer. Prices on used equipment can be more than fair. I recently picked up a 17" drill press with a 1 hp motor for $225 from a used equipment dealer. This machine was in very good condition, will probably last me the rest of my life and was cheaper than a new entry level Taiwan machine.

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Andy has it nailed down for you........there is nothing more important than quill TRAVEL. My el cheapo Asian-built bench model drill press is fine for the homeowner-grade hobbyist, but once I began doing some serious drilling, it was inadequate. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

[poorboy]

Thanks for the heads up guys, I never thought about the travel distance.

Patrick

[kemartin3]

If you decide to look at used presses, there are some things to watch for.
- Runout and/or vibration. It could be a hardened drive belt (cheap to fix) or bad bearings, or a bent quill.
- A bent quill (make sure it travels smoothly).
- Worn out quill bearings (see if you can wiggle the chuck from side to side).
- A worn chuck. This isn't a big deal in itself, unless the press you are looking at has a non-standard Morse taper.

And even if you are looking at new equipment, these things are worth checking. I bought a Delta press (15" floor model) back in the early 80s. It turned out to have a vibration that I never have been able to get rid of. Some day I'll replace it, but for the time being there are tractor implements that are winning the race to my disposable income (hmmm...disposable income...now if ever there was an oxymoron....).

I'm sure others can add to this list.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

[poorboy]

Kevin, I never thought about checking that out on a new press. It seems that that this house were building and fixing everything else broken during the first cutting of hay this year has eaten into all income here lately. Thanks again to everyone for the advice I will probably have to search for this thread again by the time I can afford it. But in the mean time I am keeping my eyes open.

Patrick

[fivestring]

"A 15" floor mounted drill press with at least 5" of quill travel and a 1/2 hp motor will probably do fine for most uses. This is the size press I have in my wood shop and it does a good job. "

Andy, I looked at several Jets, Deltas, etc. and not one of them had over 4" of travel. These were $300-$500 drill presses, too. Jet had a nice 16 speed (my favorite one) but it only had 4" and it was $375.00. I don't have more than about $375.oo to put into one. How much does one with at least 5" of travel cost?

[AndyF]

>> Andy, I looked at several Jets, Deltas, etc. and not one of them had over 4" of travel. These were $300-$500 drill presses, too. Jet had a nice 16 speed (my favorite one) but it only had 4" and it was $375.00. I don't have more than about $375.oo to put into one. How much does one with at least 5" of travel cost?

I'm not sure how much a new one would be. On e-Bay the used Delta and equivalent machines are usually $150 - $300. At auction, a 15" floor mounted press will often go for less than $100. Sometimes you'll see them go for more, but they are usually new machines that were lost in a warehouse for a long time.

If you check Grainger, J&L or MSC you'll probably find a drill press that has longer spindle travel.

In the end it comes down to how you'll use the machine. If all of the work you'll do will be relatively shallow holes or drilling into flat pieces you don't need additional travel. However, if you'll be working on odd shaped pieces there will be times when you need the extra travel to get the drill into position.

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I recently purchased a floor model drill press at auction for 95 dollars. It has a 3/4hp motor, five inches of travel and is Morse taper with a 5/8" chuck as well. This press is a Duracraft.....the Import that we used to get from Taiwan before they got the really chintzy chinese stuff in here. It is a sixteen speed, and like most of these models, the jackshaft is toast. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] For what we paid, however, we can afford to repair the jackshaft. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[DirtPoor]

Everyone else has pretty much covered the size and HP, etc.

However, for metal working a very low speed is most important. Most home shop drill press models are using a high speed motor and a single belt reduction and the result os a speed range that is far to fast for hole saws and large drill bits.

My Harbor Frieght floor mount model has a double belt reduction, offers 16 speeds and the lowest is 185 rpm.. There are times I wish it would go slower when using my pipe notcher/hole saw set up.

I have recently noticed a few models that are now offered with a lower speed (1725 rpm) motor. But I suspect that they only have the single speed reduction.

I also like a rotary table and have a XY adjustable vise bolted to this most of the time. I use the column mount pivet to do the Z axes.

A good set of Vee blocks are a cheap and useful addition to your drill press 'bag of tricks'. Or even an angle iron trough is great for centering round objects.

Most of the import (chineese) machines have a problem with the chuck not seating tightly in the taper and the chuck or taper shank bit will fall out between strokes. The sollution here is to put chauk line chaulk on/in the taper and they seat tight.

Steve