I am interested in purchasing a Drill press. Right now I have a bench top model, and I would like to go with a floor model. Are there any recommendations out there? I was looking at the Steel City 17 inch model, but it is quite a drive to pick it up. How do the Delta’s do (I have a dealer in town and the price seems fairly similar to the Steel City)?
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Replies
I had the distinct pleasure of having Sarge walk me through the Steel City drill presses at the IWF.
SC had a variable speed model which will ship shortly. I, too, hope to replace my bench model with a floor model. After listening to Sarge's eloquent discourse, I have added the SC to my wish list and I suggest you do too. There are lot's of reasons why it's better than its peers, but I cannot remember them all!
Hastings
One the drawback of the less expensive drill presses is limited quill travel. If you want to install a mortising bit on these drills you cannot drill very deep. I have a "between the wars" drill press with a 6 inch quill travel. Really beats the 4 1/2 inch travel imports.
BJGardening, cooking and woodworking in South'n Murlyn'
BeeJay:I thought the SC had 6" of travel?I have no direct experience of the mortiser attachment beyond the comments on here. It is my understanding that they don't really work and that a drill press is not designed for the forces involved with an hollow-chisel mortiser.It sounds as if you have made it work.Regards,Hastings
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the SC was an infrerior tool. I asumed that the quill had a 6 inch travel when Sarge gave it his good housekeeping seal of approval.
You are right on all accounts of using a drill press to drill square holes (nortising bit). But it has come in handy on occasion.
BJ
Gardening, cooking and woodworking in South'n Murlyn'
Edited 9/12/2008 11:41 pm ET by BeeJay
I own the SC non-variable speed drill press and have not regretted the purchase one bit. The 6" stroke is very handy. Though you may not drill 6" deep holes everyday, it saves a lot of raising and lowering of the table. Belt changes are easy, the depth stop is easy and precise to adjust, and the chuck runout is very good. To rotate the table, you need a 15/16" socket which was much larger than I had on hand, so I had to buy one. The large socket required a 1/2" ratchet, which I did not have either. I was in a hurry so I didn't shop around for the best price. I paid 10.95 for the socket and 24.95 for the ratchet. I e-mailed SC about having to pay $35 to tilt the table and they said they'd look into supplying a wrench with the drill press. If you aren't doing any work requiring the bit to be super tight in the chuck, I'd recommend a keyless chuck - a great timesaver.
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
For $35 I'd say you did OK. You will never get that quality of tool from a machine manufacturer and if not the socket the ratchet will surely be useable for other things in the future. It does not pay to go cheap on sockets, you will pay more in the long run in wasted time tracking down the rounded off fastener. If you have to save money next time look into a breaker bar to save a few bucks, but I'd say you did good.
................................................
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES...THEY ARE NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING, BUT...THEY STILL BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN YOU PUSH THEM DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS
Chris ,
When you say you recommend the keyless chuck if you aren't doing any work you need the bit to be super tight , do you mean for like very small 1/8" or other small size bits ?
I always want my bits tight in all my drill presses , imo it is a real hassle when the bit comes out and is drilled into a piece of stock , then you have to get it out and re chuck and set back up again to drill .
Besides safety is also an issue , unless just certain size bits will be used when not super tight .
dusty
Dusty,
You can get a bit pretty darn tight in that chuck. But probably not tight enough for some metalworking applications. If you had a really large bit with a round shank, you may have slippage. Think about your keyless chuck on your cordless drill. Except the 1/2" chucks for drill presses are much larger in diameter and are easier to grip and therefore possible to secure tighter.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Shazam! you pressed my button.
I have the Delta 16 1/2" floor model 17-965
I run hot and cold with Delta. Some of their stuff is good and some is crap.
For the price (I paid $379 about this time in 2005 free delivery to my garage shop door) I am ecstatic. Good chuck, thicker than most chuck spindle, bigger diameter than most main column. The switch is a bit cheep and hangs once in a while. Always goes off when I tell it though that is the main safety thing. Nice crank mechanism for the table. Take the time to put the handle on right to get the slop out of it. Leave the long "rack" for it a bit loose in the colars so the table can travel around the column. Other people I know have not and it seems bad when it can be made to be quite nice. The alignment of the table and quill and column on mine is quite good. I bought from amazon.com and it came in perfect condition, box in good shape etc.
I used to buy locally but have been screwed enough times they have lost my loyalty.
Yes I would like the easier speed change and power down feed, precision digital travel gauge with zero setting at any point and all that cool guy stuff of a twelve hundred dollar or three thousand dollar drill press. And I always said I would never buy a big drill press and would just buy a metal working mill. But.
This drill press costs the same as the vice for a metal working mill !
I use it for serious metal work and woodworking.
Using a long bit extension, I turned, I drilled holes the hard way (across the width) through the table top to install the long all thread for the shoulder vise of my purple heart Frank Klausz design cabinet makers bench. The drill press had plenty of power and worked great as long as I cleared the chips and fed the bit some wax.
Sarge may have the skinny and you should probably listen to him. But. If all you can get is the Delta I have you will not be disappointed it is a good solid drill press at an embarrassingly low price. I wish it were still made in America dammit !
You will love a big drill press ! For making jigs and parts you can just set it up with a fence and stops and get on with turning out a bunch of stuff fast that all lines up and fits together nice. Keep the little press; comes in handy. A guy ought to have at least two of everything !
Edited 9/13/2008 4:14 am by roc
I have a Rigid and it's a good drill press for $300. My next and hopefully final up-grade in my shop will be the Steel City 17" DP as it's a great drill press. With a split head supporting that 6" quill travel.. it will be a great drill press a long way down the road.
I cannot comment on the Delta as I won't buy a Delta drill press. They may be fine but I purchased a Delta bench top years ago that the chuck kept falling off of and I know how to install a chuck. I finally got that problem solved to find it had excessive run-out. I sold it and got a Ryobi 10" drill press which was surprisingly accurate for $99.
Again the Delta may be fine... I am just personally done with purchasing Delta other than table-saws.
Sarge..
Hi Sarge.Done with DeltaYes about every thing I have bought from them has lots of cast iron but that is the best I can say. Makes a good boat anchor. Keeps the garage from blowing away in a high wind etc.To make a good usable tool out of a Delta product takes patience and is sometimes just impossible. Notice I said usable not great.Problems to date: * scroll saw runs way too fast and vibrates allot even when bolted down no possible way to slow speed * One of three table saw motor mounts stipped from factory had to helicoil (got it on good guy bucks off deal)* wet bath tool grinder big white stone has a hard spot that once diamond bit trued the rest of the stone wears away and this hard lump goes bump bump past what you are trying to sharpen.* horizontal cut off bandsaw for metal shook and walked across the floor until I straightened pulley shaft and had to replace belt to a more flexible one that was made more accuratelyI have bought on the low price range though I suppose when one gets into the multiple thousand dollar range they start to shine. Or maybe one of the old tools.I got lucky on my cheep floor model drill press. I had used this DP at work in two metal shops so I had a pretty good idea of what I was in for.
About the same on the low end, Roc. Miter saw with a switch that started sticking the day after warranty expired. Cheap bench-top drill press with a chuck that would fall off. I did buy a factory re-conditioned Uni-saw and it was a good machine other than a weak link in the left rear trunnion piece. But once on the ground set-up that is a non factor. But it is a factor in shipping and that's why there are so many factory re-conditioned ones.
But.. it was sold recently to get my current Steel City 5 HP so about the only Delta that will appear in my shop will be Delta Air Lines related as my BIL is a machine shop foreman with them. ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..
I looked at the new Uni-saw at IWF and it appears to be a good saw. But.. like about everything else I have found with them.. over=priced for the quality that is delivered. Just my opinion of course as I have seen some older Delta jointers... etc. that were excellent. But most of those were made before 1990 or so I believe.
Regards...
Sarge..
Sarge,Steel City 5 HP table saw; now you're talkin' ! That should be a great saw.
Every indicator so far Roc... it is a great TS. I simply love it even though it has not worldly traveled at this point. But... I'm working on putting some miles on it as we speak. I just got up from the shop as I usually work down there till around mid-night.
Here's a picture of my Big Dawg at mealtime.
Sarge..
Sarge,You make it look effortless. You are totally set up. Big ol' saw dust collector hose there in the back and everything. Looks like a useful knee switch, nice quality hand wheels and as much power as you could ever want.Thanks for the pictures.
Thanks Roc... I have to set up properly as I rip quite a quantity over the course of the year as I hire out to surface peoples air dry they have taken to the mill and stickered to dry but... don't have the equipment or time to do it and just prefer to pay me to do so. A good supplement to early retirement.
The Kill Paddle is a piece of scrap hung on a door hinge I drilled 3 small holes for under the rail. Cut out for the start switch and raises on the hinge to twist and release the lock on the Stop button. And of course a can of spray paint. :>)
The collector in the rear is a 6" direct from cyclone. I took my trusty "barrel-grip" Bosch jig-saw and opened the stock 4" port to 6" to avoid a down-size at the machine as I have done on all my big saw-dust producers.
Just put a 6.5 HP Shop Vac under the right wing with PVC piping over-head to drop to the modified Penn State plastic shield on top. I get about 98% dust pick-up using that method which I used on my former Uni-saw. Not bad for a thrifty (cheap) country boy with a degree in "shade-tree" engineering. ha.. ha...
Sarge..
Whatever you decide to go with, variable speed adjust on-the-fly is a must have. I'm on my third drill press and I can't imagine ever having to go back and change the belt again.
If you want a really sturdy drill press try Powermatic´s PM2800, oh yeah, it is more expensive but worth it
(More expensive.) How much is more expensive?
Runs around $950.00, had a Delta before, not even close to the PM
Why not a used Delta or Powermatic?
DJK
Some of the floor model drill presses will do over 5000 rpm-this might help if you plan to do metal work.
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