Gloat

[IPD_Mrs]

I told you I was gonna gloat! $179.99 17" with 5/8 keyless chuck and laser sight. How good was the deal? To be totally honest with you the construction is not as good as my 15" Jet. The Jet was $349. The craftsman has some good features but I don't think it should be any more than $399 regular price not $549. So essentially even at what I think the Craftsman should be retail wise, it was still over 57% off. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

Our nosey child Karlee wanted to know why I had the camera and not using it on her. Teak in the background could care less cause it ain't food!

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Holy smoke!! Can you find the off switch on that thing!! []

How does the play feel in the quill on that one? That is the biggest complaint I have had with thier drill presses. Although, to be honest, most all of the major ones had some play in them. (Which is totaly un-called for in any drill press IMHO)

Nice deal just the same. Oh, and don't put all too much effort into adjusting the laser, most never use it more than a week!! I found it harder to catch my "X" with the laser on than off.

 

[cowchaser]

Originally posted by Firefyter-emt
<br />Holy smoke!! Can you find the off switch on that thing!! []

LOL that is exactly what I was thinking. Sure looks like a nice machine though. Congrats on the steal.

 

[IPD_Mrs]

Lee,
When I put it together one of the things I was looking for was how much wobble was in the quill as the Cal Hawk it replaced had too much and the Jet we have has a minor amount. In that department I was very please. Tomorrow I will run a few tests to see how much runout there is on in. With 4-7/8" drilling depth there is bound to be some.

As for the off button as an EMT you should recognize what agreat safty feature that is. One little head butt and it is off! [B)] I played around with the lazer some tonight but already just setting it up seems to be a lost cause. The theory is good if it will work.

 

[Woodlvr]

Mike,
The Delta laser and the kits you can buy to add a laser are hard to set up but once you get it set it is awesome, so I was told by WC customers after their purchases. Don't give up you got a great deal today and it will be well worth it as you know. I am jealous.

Mike

 

[Firefyter-emt]

FWIW, I found the laser's main problem was a fuzzy line, not dead on pin pointing. When I flipped it on it was hard to line it up with my "X" mark I use. It took a bit to adjust, but even when it was adjusted it was more of a gimmick and I never use mine.

To be honest though, 99% of my drilling is done with my big Walker Turner press and the Craftsman is demoted to being used as a buffer and any drilling that I need to do if the big one is held up with a jig or set up. One thing I did when I built the table for the W/T press was to match the T-track width so I can use my jigs on either drill.

I am still not sure that if something happened at the drill, that my first line would be to stick my face in closer though! It's a good idea, I just would worry that it would be easy to break off due to the leverage on it.

 

[hughbie]

mike, i'm glad you got to get one of those..........in the same breath, i'm envious as hell.

the bastards!

dayum good gloat!