Subject: Drill Press/Spend my money...

From: John Hovan <[email-masked]>
Date: 13 Jan 1995 21:17:06 GMT

Hi All,

I am looking to purchase a drill press in the $200-$400 range.  Do you
have any suggestions for me?  I have been looking at the models sold at
Sears and Harbor Freight.  I just called for the Grizzly catalog.  I'll
be mostly drilling steel and aluminum.

Any advice?  

Thanks in advance!

John Hovan
Austin, TX

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From: [email-masked] (Mike Rehmus)
Date: 13 Jan 1995 22:57:58 GMT

>be mostly drilling steel and aluminum.

Try to find an old US made drill press and refurbish it if necessary.  
Contact a machinery sales company, they will have some old but good 
ones.  All the Taiwanese I've tried have been junk.  They rattle, roll, 
are not square, and otherwise are not too satisfactory.  You could look 
in the paper for a used (and old) Delta.

If you must use Taiwanese, be prepared to purchase a new drill chuck to 
replace the piece of junk on your new drill. Taiwanese drill chucks make 
good holders for paint stirring rods, IMHO.

Make certain your try out any taiwanese unit before you take it 
home.

Best,

Mike

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From: [email-masked] (Alan Frisbie)
Date: 15 Jan 95 14:43:21 PST

In article <[email-masked]>, 

> be mostly drilling steel and aluminum.

I bought a Delta 16.5" floor model drill press after comparing
Grizzly, Enco, etc.   In retrospect, I think I would have been
happier with the Sears (not sure of model #) for two reasons:

1) The Sears drill press comes with a built-in light, instead of
   it being an extra-cost option.

2) The belt cover is metal instead of plastic (like on the Delta).

I also do not like the rotary-style quill stop mechanism on the
Delta, but prefer the old-fashioned threaded rod style.

The thing I don't like about the current crop of Sears power 
tools in general is the "gee-whiz" features they add to target 
the general consumer market.   I would prefer a basic machine 
with better accuracy, fit & finish, etc.

--  Alan E. Frisbie               [email-masked]
--  Flying Disk Systems, Inc.
--  4759 Round Top Drive          (213) 256-2575 (voice)
--  Los Angeles, CA 90065         (213) 258-3585 (FAX)

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From: [email-masked] (Stuart Friedberg)
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 00:00:21 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
Mike Rehmus <[email-masked]> wrote:
>All the Taiwanese I've tried have been junk.  They rattle, roll, 

By way of a second opinion, I have been happy with my 21" Jet/Orbit
(taiwanese) drill press.  It's not a $1,500+ drilling/tapping
machine, and it doesn't behave like one.  But it's been a very good
deal for me.  I spent about 500 hours on a project that required
hundreds of step-drilled and reamed holes in clamped stacks of 1/4"
CRS.  The press did just fine through all that.

Stu Friedberg ([email-masked])

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From: [email-masked] (Bob Neidorff)
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 17:43:07 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Mike Rehmus) writes:
|> In <[email-masked]> John Hovan <[email-masked]> writes: 
|> 
|> >I am looking to purchase a drill press in the $200-$400 range. 
|> 
|> Try to find an old US made drill press and refurbish it if necessary.  

Be very careful with used US drill presses.  In my hunt, I found that
the only time people sell a drill press is when it is a hurt puppy.
You want to avoid a bent spindle, for example.  

On the other hand, if the deal is good and the product is good, a
used quality US tool is worth the money!

-- 
Bob Neidorff; Unitrode I. C. Corp.  |  Internet: [email-masked]
7 Continental Blvd.                 |  Voice   : (US) 603-429-8541
Merrimack, NH  03054-0399 USA       |  FAX     : (US) 603-424-3460

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From: [email-masked] (Bob Powell)
Date: 19 Jan 1995 07:40:43 GMT

For what it's worth, this current question explains how I would up with
this new hobby.  All I really wanted was a precision drill press, and
even $500 drill presses had spindle play I could feel nevermind
measure.  I used this as an excuse to get the cheapest Taiwan
mill/drill machine.  It's no Bridgeport, but it will do just about
anything, quite precisely to boot, given enough patience.