Adequate Hobbyist Drill Press?

[Ultradog MN]

Heh. Wait til the first time a guy tries to pull into a parking garage with his “gear-head, power-driven” four-door, long-bed F350 with the high-clearance off-road suspension and tires. The 7-foot clearance bar will be about eye-height. He’ll then go out and buy a “sensitive” sedan with a precision Albrecht chuck for driving in town.

But when I was winching my jeep over the Rock Pile while driving down Pritchett Canyon Road near Moab I was sure glad it was a Jeep and not an F350 that is 23 feet long.

We either learn our requirements before purchase or after, but only when doing the things we really do, not the things we imagine we do.

But, hey, it’s a hobby.

Rick “needs a mill” Denney

I mentioned before that I'm not the final arbiter of what constitutes "hobby machining".
There are as many different needs in equipment as there are members here and what suits others needs may not suit mine.
Some things are kinda written in stone however. Feeds and speeds for example.
If your needs are occasionally to drill some 1" holes in 1" plate steel a 400+ rpm drill press isn't going to do that job very well.
So plan and buy accordingly.
That is what makes forums like this so valuable. By plugging in a few variables we can help others plan their machinery needs.
On another note, I am NOT one to second guess what others use for a daily driver. That is not my business. If your Camry, Volt, Civic, Impala or Mustang suits your needs and style I wish you well with it.
My daily driver is a 4x4 2500HD Chevy.
I've never taken it rock or hill climbing so I dont know how it would compare there.
But I know it will pull my 11K trailer loaded to the gills with no complaints.
And when there is 16" of fresh snow and all the cars mentioned above are stuck and the drivers are flagging me down for a pull I pretend not to see them and go about my business.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Wow, that is part of why i have been buying some larger tools, the Ford TLB I unloaded the press with.
It has about as much slop as is possible and the price of large backhoe pins is Outrageous- so I am going to make my own out of a 2.5" scrap axle shaft I have held onto from some old piece of equipment.


That looks virtually Identical. to this new to me E 830.
That brings up a question.
I received the Shar's chuck and Really impressed- very smooth and they included a runout spec of .0026 and if I don't side load the drill stock it is right on the number, But this Arboga has had a lot of use and the spindle lower Timkin style tapered roller bearing has both vertical and lateral run out since it needs a little preload. Showing a total of .010" . I need to get the side cover off under the motor to get at the spindle nut to tighten up the vertical play and also can grease the bearings, problem is it is not budging so far.

The manual "4 pages" showed up and says an E 830 has four side bolts . I only see three , plus 3 vertical screws and the 2 small motor screws. I was able to get the motor up a 1/4 " to clear the cast circular rib, but nothing more. A bit stumped at this point but would really like to lube the gears/bearings and also reset the vertical spindle preload. Any ideas on what I am missing or suggestions?

I was going to mention this the other day.
Did you say you have a Ford backhoe?
If so you might recognize the base I put under my grinder.

 

[455dan]

I was going to mention this the other day.
Did you say you have a Ford backhoe?
If so you might recognize the base I put under my grinder.

That is Awesome a quick glance I see the outer rear axle housing with the planetary gear reduction / oil bath brakes.
Definitely a Ford, and Yeah maybe the same as my 550 TLB Ford used those in models from the 4000 series and up I think?

That ought to be plenty stout, and is a really a neat stand

 

[Ultradog MN]

That is Awesome a quick glance I see the outer rear axle housing with the planetary gear reduction / oil bath brakes.
Definitely a Ford, and Yeah maybe the same as my 550 TLB Ford used those in models from the 4000 series and up I think?

That ought to be plenty stout, and is a really a neat stand

Thanks.
I have been playing with Fords for 25 years.
Bought, sold, repaired and parted out a bunch of them.
Still have 3. Two 4000s and a 3000.
Here's the other axle from that tractor - it was a 4400. Yes, same components as your TLB. I repurposed it for use as an outside grinding station.
The little 3000 behind it.

 

[FOMOGO]

Similar to my 755 axles. IH had pretty much the same setup in the late 70's/80's. Definitely makes for a nice grinder stand. Mike

 

[rwdenney]

For the record, my daily driver is a Ford Expedition EL. But there are some parking garages it can’t do. but I need that 1” hole even less often than having to find alternate parking because the Expedition is too tall. I do enjoy the 9000# trailer capacity, too.

I just installed an 1140RPM motor on my Delta drill. Slowest speed is now 270, which will provide 50-60 SFM for a 3/4” drill. That’s about as big a hole as even a good 15” drill press has the stiffness to drill. More on that in my thread on that drill. It’s still a compromise, but a reasonable one for most hobbyist needs, I suspect—certainly mine. Not for drilling holes in big ag equipment, though.

Rick “life is a compromise” Denney

 

[matthewsx]

For the record, my daily driver is a Ford Expedition EL. But there are some parking garages it can’t do. but I need that 1” hole even less often than having to find alternate parking because the Expedition is too tall. I do enjoy the 9000# trailer capacity, too.

I just installed an 1140RPM motor on my Delta drill. Slowest speed is now 270, which will provide 50-60 SFM for a 3/4” drill. That’s about as big a hole as even a good 15” drill press has the stiffness to drill. More on that in my thread on that drill. It’s still a compromise, but a reasonable one for most hobbyist needs, I suspect—certainly mine. Not for drilling holes in big ag equipment, though.

Rick “life is a compromise” Denney

We had the Expedition EL, largest car available on the Z-Plan....

Was great when our daughter was captain of her HS volleyball team, wife traded it in on a Subaru when the daughter went off to college. Kept it just long enough to get the accelerated deprecation with our business.

Daily driver for me now is an '04 Cadillac SRX, still have the '97 F250 7.3L when I need to haul something though.

John

 

[matthewsx]

Also, my drill press is the Craftsman my dad bought when he built his airplane. Seems to do the job for most everything I need and have the mill for anything heavier.

John

 

[SouthernChap]

As far as Adequate I am wondering how the actual OP's new WEN benchtop is working out for his uses,- as you said it depends on what your actual projects are.

Yep, that's something I'd like to know.

I have an oldish (90s?) Record Power drill press I got free from a friend, that either could be replaced or have a better motor (I have a 1/2 HP motor from another scrapped drill press spare) installed and more suitable pulleys made/acquired and installed (I think there's space in the head for a larger spindle pulley). The speed only goes down to around 500 RPM.

So far, the Record Power has, with careful and considerate usage, managed okay with drilling and reaming the holes I've needed in mild steel, but I worry I'll run out of capability sooner rather than later. Oh, and the bearings need replacing too.

A mill is out of the question for now as I've just about run out of kit from previous hobbies to sell for funding purposes!

So given the above, this topic is something I have an interest in.

So @MaverickNH , how are you getting on with your WEN drill press?

 

[projectnut]

For the record, my daily driver is a Ford Expedition EL. But there are some parking garages it can’t do. but I need that 1” hole even less often than having to find alternate parking because the Expedition is too tall. I do enjoy the 9000# trailer capacity, too.

I just installed an 1140RPM motor on my Delta drill. Slowest speed is now 270, which will provide 50-60 SFM for a 3/4” drill. That’s about as big a hole as even a good 15” drill press has the stiffness to drill. More on that in my thread on that drill. It’s still a compromise, but a reasonable one for most hobbyist needs, I suspect—certainly mine. Not for drilling holes in big ag equipment, though.

Rick “life is a compromise” Denney

We're on our 3rd Expedition. We upgraded from a 2 door Bronco in 1999. The Expeditions have made it much easier to load everything we want to take with us either on a short jaunt or a 1,000-mile road trip. It doesn't seem to matter where we go the thing is always loaded to the brim. They certainly have gotten more creature comforts, and better performance over the years. The first one only had 260 hp and a 4-speed transmission. The latest has a 375 hp and a 10-speed transmission. It's quicker, more comfortable, quieter, and gets better gas mileage.

I'm a bit surprised as to the mileage in the latest one. It averages 23 mpg on the highway in the summer months when not towing. When towing at capacity (9,200 lbs.) the mileage drops to 14 mpg. The 99 got 14 mpg period. It didn't matter how it was loaded, what it was towing, or what the weather was.

I do think they've gone overboard on the electronics. It has warning lights, beeps, and buzzes for everything from low washer fluid, to changing lanes without signaling. I've shut half of them off. It really gets confused when going through construction zones where lanes change, and the old lane markers are still partially visible.