Drill press recommendations

[oldgeek]

Ok. Those 2 I posted earlier belong to my ex's uncle. I can still go use his shop. But it's awkward.

I bought this drill press at least 25 years ago. It's not super high quality. But it does most anything I need. Bench-top model. I have it on an old pedestal. I rarely need more height than what I can get with this. I do bog it down and make the belts slip at times when running bigger than maybe 3/4" drills.

In this picture, you can see one of my table vices clamped to the table.
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This is the 3 pulley, 2 belt setup someone mentioned earlier. The center set of pulleys are on a cam and are used for tensioning the belts.
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Another small table vice. Both of these can be adjusted to hold the workpiece at an angle.
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Close-up view showing one way to clamp the vice or a large workpiece to the table. I learned how to use t-slot clamp sets many years ago. It is a very versatile system.
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Here is the rack with the rest of my step blocks, t-nuts, clamp bars, etc.
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The chuck mounted on the quill is 3/4" capacity. But it won't clamp down on anything much smaller than 5/32". So I have another smaller chuck to use. These chucks and some drills mount to the quill shaft by friction using a finely ground taper. The most common is a "Morse" taper. This is the #2 size Morse taper.
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Here's another example if clamping a workpiece to the table. Notice it is on spacers so that I don't drill into the table underneath.
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Some nice machines there.

 

[sgtsandman]

Like to see what you guys have for drill presses

I have a table top Harbor Freight press. It does the job I need it to do but it does have a bit of movement to the drill head. If you are looking for precision work, it is not the drill for you.

 

[Roert42]

I have a cheap made in Tiwan craftsmen, same as that one you posted earlier. It's ok for something quick, just need to do one or two holes and I don't want to do them by had.

I also have a lathe and mill in the shop that I use for anything bigger.

 

[Will]

The drill bits are more important. Chicago-Latrobe #57850 is the set I use.

Any cheap drill press is good enough-it's not a milling machine.

The thing is heat. The bits I suggest are much harder at drilling temp than the steel we drill through. Sometimes we harden the steel as we try to drill through it. These bits don't care about that.

I have a big drill press and it will snap off drill bits sometimes. Or stall. It's not better than the smaller machine I had before. The bits are more important. The ones I suggested are a beautiful set. They cost more than a cheap drill press.

 

[oldgeek]

The drill bits are more important. Chicago-Latrobe #57850 is the set I use.

Any cheap drill press is good enough-it's not a milling machine.

The thing is heat. The bits I suggest are much harder at drilling temp than the steel we drill through. Sometimes we harden the steel as we try to drill through it. These bits don't care about that.

I have a big drill press and it will snap off drill bits sometimes. Or stall. It's not better than the smaller machine I had before. The bits are more important. The ones I suggested are a beautiful set. They cost more than a cheap drill press.

I liked the Chinesium bit I got once. The rake angle went up from the cutting edge. I thought that maybe if I ran it backwards and threw chips at it, the hole would get filled in.

 

[Shran]

My high school welding shop had a gigantic drill press that I bet weighed a ton or more. It was at least 8 feet tall and was one big solid piece of cast iron. Supposedly it was donated after WWII by a company that built airplanes. Really cool machine.

Hard to find used quality machines out west where I am. Was never a ton of manufacturing so surplus equipment is slim pickings. You guys out east are lucky in that regard.

 

[James Morse]

Chuck is important, depending what you're doing, some stock chucks have a "lot" of play in them, but you can upgrade that where appropriate.

 

[Angie]

i need to chime in here..... mine is some old creature, table top drill press with about 12 inches of travel down on it. it was a hand me down probably 3 times now. from someones grandpa's father twice removed and no one wanted it type of thing. (same as my bench grinder) to this day it runs straight as an arrow. and i will say this is the most important part of any drill press..... can you change the chuck? and is it straight?

Old as dirt, but built like a sherman tank .... I just use it for simple holes and it has never let me down .... I guess it just depends on what you need it for and your budget..... myself, i wouldn't spend more than 50.00 bucks on 1 and seek out something that has weathered the storms of life compared to the cheap metal crap coming off the boat today. (pawn shops, used tool place, CraigsList,) and just run it over the paces... take 3 sizes of bits, test a chunk of steel, and place in a 1/2 inch bit, to see if the chuck runs true with NO side wobbles in the rotation ....

my guess is you can pick up a very decent machine second hand as someones grandfather is dieing somewhere and the kids already have a shop full of stuff that collects dust ...... and here is the next item up for bids ..... how often do they get used?? if i use mine 12 times a year that is plenty .... how often was the one used you are looking at second hand? 9 times out of 10 it sits as someones trophy .....

Or maybe i am just getting old at 55 and thinking more with my wallet and common sense now .... can i justify new prices versus uses per year? when all it is going to do is sit and wait for me to need to drill holes?? as said above .... spend 200 bucks on high quality drill bits and any cheap drill will cut butter......

 

[James Morse]

agree. I have a newer/gen/Chinese Sears which is a piece of crap basically but if you want a quick hole, it works.
Almost always though I use a Grizzly Radial. chuck is pretty darn good, not saying I wouldn't upgrade sometime, but it's been working for me.
In the clavichord building I have to drill holes for the tuning pins, hitch pins, and drill pins (minimum). That's almost 400 holes right there, per instrument, and they have to be exactly in the right place because strings are like 2mm apart and they are small holes like 1.6 or 1.2 mm, mostly. Then holes for the balance pins, other things. Some people say building them is mostly drilling holes and it feels like it sometimes. And I have to drill tiny holes in the tuning pins themselves (steel) but I use a jig for that because you are drilling on the curve so I don't think I need to explain how dicey that is with a tiny drill to keep it centered and in fact they make guides specifically for that, which I use in my jig.

The jointer, table saw, radial saw, 36" lathe, and cutoff/miter saw are all older Craftsman probably 70's, 80's and they get a ton of use and keep on working. Probably can't get all parts for them, but I think most things like bearings are just standard stuff. Usually what happens with me is motors or capacitors burn out. I try to blow them out with Hurricane the best I can because I had a jointer motor that caught fire (extinguishers work!) it was full of oily sawdust what a mess. The rebuild guy said "don't be bringin' me no motors that were on fire". And the last one I had them work on, had zero wrong with it it was just full you with sawdust, they cleaned it and it's fine.

a bit off topic... just saying, I swear by the old stuff and I think it all came from local C-list posts, bought back around '05 era. but you have to look at them, there is junk out there (even if old). any of the older stuff, you can look up the serial/model and know things like, who actually made it, and they are all US companies (many gone now).

we (u.s.) were naive enough to think, if we invest in China and show them how great capitalism is, they'll become a democracy. ha! All we did is finance our own demise.
when will we start making stuff here again? With AI and robotics and all that, seems like a piece of cake. You don't need highly skilled machinists; you need people expert in computers and robotics, the latter do the actual making.

QC on Chinese stuff is sometimes non-existent. Screws made of pot metal. Parts that don't fit. You've probably been there. The only thing I get from China is silk, and even that, I have my doubts about it.

 

[James Morse]

Just in case anyone does use drills on wood, there's actually a US company that will round out the spurs on hardwood drills so they work better on softwood. those are the spurs that stop tear-out when you start the hole (in wood). it's a special use drill, just interesting because there's actually people doing this stuff here still, just, few and far between. You want these kind of drills to get a totally clean cut hole in wood surface.
I realize drilling in wood isn't something you do much in working on trucks.

 

[mikkelstuff]

I found a 1940's Walker-Turner bench top drill press

on Craigslist for about $150. A truly marvelous sturdy machine. Furthermore, Walker-Turner service still sells parts, like ball bearings, for these machines. I did alter mine with a 3/4 hp, 3-phase motor ($110 new from ebay), and a variable speed controller ($130 TECO FM50). More cost than I had planned but so pleased with the result.

 

[Curious Hound]

I realize drilling in wood isn't something you do much in working on trucks.

Never

 

[oldgeek]

If 1/2" mild steel is the most difficult material cutting, HSS drill bits will suffice. Cobalt is a good investment if material with a higher tinsel strength will be worked. Work hardening is usually not an issue low carbon steel. Correct RPM and good feed are important. Chicago-Latrobe and Precision Twist drill are good. However, Hertel from MSC are good and cheaper. If one needs a specific drill, McMaster probably has it. They supply quality tools. For a price. And next day shipping...for a price.

 

[James Morse]

I'd have to look up my sources for drills maybe post later.
Wood truck! Wow!
There is also the angle at the tip of the bit on the drills for metal, I recall I use a low-angle drill, I think for drilling the tuning pins. The material for the pins is whatever is used for nails 13D and 10D. ISO nails will have fewer problems, to wit, they can be out of round, out of true (not totally straight), or have diameter variation. Non-ISO will have a higher reject rate. You can muck up the straightness in the cutting or hammering out of them, that's a different problem. What I've done is make the stock (cut off the heads) on an 8" Grizzly shear, then roll them on glass, that tells you right off if they are true. I round off the sharp end, don't have to cut it since I want basically a bullet-shape there. Then I flatten the tops on an anvil (cold) with a large hammer, and trim the tops on a sander so they are straight across. Finally I drill the hole using the jig, if there's any flash I clean that off. Sometimes I lightly polish them but good nails don't need much if any. Blah! And I have like 900 to make (142 per instrument). Anyway, I do actually do some metal work, even if it's small.
Here's some pins before drilling, and the little jig that lets me drill the hole in the center of the pin. The jig has a guide for the drill and also it has screw adjustments so I can use test stock to adjust it perfectly to the center then I get consistent results. I think I may have been throwing a drop of oil in there too. Anyway, it works.

the jig below, the pins go in the horizontal hole and that puts the hole at the right place and centered.

below are the pins in use. you can see at the holes not yet strung here what a nice job the softwood no-tearout drill does making a clean hole. the 3mm softwood doesn't hold the pins, there is thick white oak underneath.

as I was posting this I asked myself how did I use the jig on 2 different diameters. I believe I must have two of the jigs then I change over the part with the drill guide.
it's a pain all the different kinds of jigs and templates I use but I don't know any other way to get stuff done consistently and reasonably fast.