Flaturner
Member
My shop is very small since I am currently living in a rented condo with a .95 car garage. To get myself started, I went to Harbor Freight and bought an inexpensive (I hesitate to say cheap) bench-top drill press. One of the guys who helped me get started told me I would live to regret that purchase. So far, I haven't but you never know what the future holds. I have been able to create work-arounds to compensate for the problems it raises. I have also seen others' shops on the forum who also use a bench-top DP. Currently, when I set up to drill blanks I check that the bit is running true to the plane of the blank, drill in about 3/4 of the way, stop the press, add a 2x4 shim under the blank-drilling vise, then complete the hole. It is a pain in the hiney to do it this way, but I am not doing volume work and it doesn't really present many problems. I have, however, ruined a few blanks by being off-plumb with the blank/bit orientation. Any and all suggestions to make my life easier, short of buying a full sized DP, would be greatly appreciated. Thank-you in advance.