Normal Drill Press Quill Travel

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Justturnin

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I am looking to but a table top drill press. I have a shopsmith that I can use but it is a pain to setup as a drill because I don't have a lot of room to access it so I figured I could get a bench top to do the bulk of my drilling and use the Shopsmith when I needed a longer quill travel. I am looking online ad and finding some with a +3" travel but I don't have $400 to drop on one. I am seeing the higher end Harbor Freight (oxymoron) for $129 (I will also use a 20% off coupon) with a 2 3/8" travel. Is that pretty much as good as its going to get w/out dropping a few hundred more or is there another affordable drill press with a longer travel?
 
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Carl Fisher said:
Well, it seems to be discontinued, but the DP121L was the model I was thinking of. Maybe track down a reconditioned or used unit.
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I have this drill press, and I agree that its a really decent model for the money if you can find it. I have NO idea why they kept the slightly smaller DP102L.

I'm glad that I got this one before it went away.
 
I like my Delta DP350. It is a variable speed. Sometimes I wish it had a longer stroke, but have found that I can raise the table start again with the bit in the blank. I also discovered the value of quality bits. I have had good luck with Colt bits.
I have an index made by Ryobe that wobble in the drill press.
Precission just isn't available at Harbor Freight.
I felt that my Shopsmith was a great drill press, but a terrible table saw.
 
I was just in lowes and looked at their presses. They had 2, a Skil bench top and the play was scary in the quill fully extended and a Porter Cable that was much better but a bit out of my range. I may have to watch CL for a good old one to come up.
 
Justturnin said:
I am looking to but a table top drill press. I have a shopsmith that I can use but it is a pain to setup as a drill because I don't have a lot of room to access it so I figured I could get a bench top to do the bulk of my drilling and use the Shopsmith when I needed a longer quill travel. I am looking online ad and finding some with a +3" travel but I don't have $400 to drop on one. I am seeing the higher end Harbor Freight (oxymoron) for $129 (I will also use a 20% off coupon) with a 2 3/8" travel. Is that pretty much as good as its going to get w/out dropping a few hundred more or is there another affordable drill press with a longer travel?
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Actually, Harbor Freight has one that is 16-speed, with a 3 1/8" spindle travel. It's on sale right now for $239, and with the 20% off coupon, you'll pay less than the current Inside Track Club coupon of $199.

I have the 12-Speed HF drill press, and it was a much better step up from the smaller 5-speed they sell. It still has limitations, but it will drill through some barrels without adjustment.

It would be better if there was more clearance between the chuck and table, but it's what was there at the time for what I had.
 
Check out the HF drill press #38142. The spindle stroke is 3 1/8". It is priced at $239.99 (before coupon.) This is the model I have been considering for purchase. As to HF quality, I see numerous posts from those who seem to have developed a second hobby--disparaging Harbor Freight products. I own numerous HF products and haven't had any of the problems that people routinely love to post. They have an inexpensive extended warranty, so if you feel the quality might not be perfect, then take the warranty, which is a free replacement warranty, not repair. I hope this helps.
 
OOPS said:
Check out the HF drill press #38142. The spindle stroke is 3 1/8". It is priced at $239.99 (before coupon.) This is the model I have been considering for purchase. As to HF quality, I see numerous posts from those who seem to have developed a second hobby--disparaging Harbor Freight products. I own numerous HF products and haven't had any of the problems that people routinely love to post. They have an inexpensive extended warranty, so if you feel the quality might not be perfect, then take the warranty, which is a free replacement warranty, not repair. I hope this helps.
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That thing is a beast! And heavy at 103lbs. If I were going that big, I'd want something like this:
G7945 5 Speed Bench-Top Radial Drill Press

That will give me the 3 1/4" spindle travel of course I'd have to find a place to put it.
 
Yes, I think you could say the HF is a beast! Currently I am using a Delta bench model. There are no quality problems with the Delta, but its a light weight unit and the performance suffers when drilling items like pen blanks made from dense woods. I spoke with two different dealers about the problem and they both attributed it to flexing of the drill press when placed under duress.

At first I thought this was crazy. After all, look at the size of the shaft on any of the bench style presses. Both salesmen strongly suggested I purchase a floor style drill press, as they said there is no comparison between the two in terms of heft. I used a floor style and found that my problems were eliminated! I decided that if I couldn't find the room for a floor style drill press, I wanted the heaviest bench style I could find.
 
Food for thought

@Justturnin - I just bought a new drill press last month for pretty much the same reasons you mention...quill stroke, capacity, etc. Originally I was looking at some of the longer stroke benchtop models, thinking that I would save workshop space, while looking I realized that these are 80-100lb units and are much taller than their short stroke cousins. This exceeded my "I'll just move this around as I need it" weight threshold. Additionally, once you place them on a normal height workbench you end up needing a step ladder to reach the belts for speed changes. By the time you make a shorter mobile cabinet to set it on you end up losing the same amount of floor space as you would have if you had gotten a full size drill press.

Bottom line: I ended up with a full size floor model and added low profile mobile base so that I can move it around if needed. It really doesn't take up that much space and the bigger motor/chuck/stroke is greatly appreciated.

I'm not trying to sway you one way or the other...just tossing out some ideas you may not have thought of. Good luck with your search.
 
now that is some food for thought and something I never considered. Crud, my cost just doubled.......I may have to put it off for a spell to save a bit more. What kind did you get, if you don't mind me asking, and are you happy with it?
 
A10GAC, that sounds like the best idea of all. The salesmen I spoke with (as mentioned above) strongly recommended a floor press and said that I would really appreciate just how much better they are once I owned one for awhile. I just couldn't figure out a decent place for it, but had not considered a mobile base. One potential problem though....the bases for these are designed to be heavy and large, to keep the unit from swaying during heavy use. Would a mobile base make them less stable?
 
I have an old bench top drill press and hardly use it now. I bought a self centering blank vise and thought I was downtown only to realize that the table didn't crank down low enough to use the blank vise. I then built a box to sit on the drill press base and be the right elevation for the vise. Also for long clickers. I have to shim up the vise to redrill the rest of the way through.
Next Issue: There is too much play in the quill and it is not accurate.
I am drilling on the lathe now. I will save my dough for a better quality floor model drill press.
 
Justturnin,

Here's another option: buy an old Shopsmith on Craigslist for cheap since you're already familiar with them - Mk 5, V, or even an old 10ER. You should be able to find one for under $200. Take off the legs and bench tubes, cut the way tubes down to a size you like, and bolt it to your workbench as a permanent drill press. That way you get the quill travel to drill a long clicker in one shot in a bench top size.

And then you can sell the left over parts on Craigslist or eBay and offset some of your cost. If you find one with good legs and casters, you can easily get half your money back.
 
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Ahhh yes the woe of the drill press saga in today's time is just disturbing at best. Gone are the days of the good quality equipment that was built to last and do actual honest work.

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Good quality stuff now day's is not cheap nor easy to find by no means. I would suggest save up the money and spend it wisely on quality equipment that is built to last and will stand the test of time. The pain and nasty scars of using a sub par tool reeks longer than the time it takes to save up for the quality one. Until then you could drill on the lathe.
 

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@Justturnin - I found a 10ish year old 1HP Craftsman 229250 with a 3 1/8" stroke on Craigslist for well under $200. The tables and post were a little rusty, but the bearings and spindle were perfect. It took right around two hours disassemble/clean/polish/lube the entire unit. The paint on the base and table were in decent shape, but since I already had it apart and degreased I hit them both with some primer & paint. It looks and runs like new. Given what I saved over buying new and that I probably would have spent an hour or so setting up a new unit anyway. I'm extremely happy.


@OOPS - I was concerned about stability with the mobile base. The last thing I wanted was a 130 lb drill press falling on me while I moved it around. A very low, wide base with a pull handle mounted to the base keeps things reasonably stable.

BTW, Maxima Motorcycle Chain wax works great on the drill press rack & pinion setup. It's super smooth and attracts very little dust once dry.
 
I have the above mentioned 38142 HF drill press and for 3 years it's been solid. Very heavy, but a bit tall for a 'table top' unit. I built a 29" stand for it. If you have time definitely watch Craigslist, I missed a like-new 20" Jet for $175 by about 5 minutes the other day, talk about one slipping through your fingers!! But you can get a good used floor standing Craftsman, Rigid, Delta, Shopfox, etc. for the same money, and realistically, a floor model in the corner takes up less space than one sitting on your valuable bench work top IMHO :-)
 
Chris, I bought a Ryobi #DP121L from Depot (may have been Lowes). It has a laser, light, var speed with no belt changes and I think has 3 1/8" quil travel (I think)and a crank table. I think I paid $179 Very solid unit.
 
Culprit said:
Justturnin,

Here's another option: buy an old Shopsmith on Craigslist for cheap since you're already familiar with them - Mk 5, V, or even an old 10ER. You should be able to find one for under $200. Take off the legs and bench tubes, cut the way tubes down to a size you like, and bolt it to your workbench as a permanent drill press. That way you get the quill travel to drill a long clicker in one shot in a bench top size.

And then you can sell the left over parts on Craigslist or eBay and offset some of your cost. If you find one with good legs and casters, you can easily get half your money back.
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That actually sounds like a nifty idea. Any idea about how much it would weigh once all that's done?
 
If you are going to by a bench top drill press I would watch the classifieds, ie Craigslist for one. I picked up a decent delta for $50 used it for two years and sold it for $50.

That said I would save up for a good floor standing one. I had a bench top and it was difficult to drill all the way through longer blanks without raising the table mid hole which resulted in wider and less accurate holes. I saved up and bought the Delta 18-900L and absolutely love it. It was worth every penny. In fact in a couple years I may be moving someplace where I won't be able to have a shop. If that is the case I will sell all of my major tools including my lathe, but I won't sell the drill press, I'll pay to store it.
 
hi
1+ on wait and save and get a ful size one.
I have the HF 12 speed one too and it's the only tool i have i regret getting. the chuck is a little out, but the shafft itself runs pretty true I was getting .0002 on a dial indicator. some day better chuck. the table doesn't easily tilt front to back, side to side it does, but guess which way is just a little out of true? but the quill travel is a pain in the neck, drill, stop, put a block under the pen blank vise drill or raise the blank in the vise.etc.
Sulli
 
I had a cheap drill press that had what I thought was reasonable quill travel until I figured out that it was talking about horizontal and not vertical travel :biggrin: ... glad I upgraded and even happier that I switched to lathe drilling!

Dan
 
I may have a chance at a HF mill with a 8.5" stroke. It has the drill chuck so I may go that route and have a more versatile tool too.
 
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