Adequate Hobbyist Drill Press?

[Ultradog MN]

I checked the local HF today and they have both the display unit and the next model up right next to each other and for the extra $200 there are some major differences.

The spindle case column casting is just over an inch taller. All the castings are larger and heavier. The stroke is shown as the same but when I compared them side to side the $399 unit had at least 1/2" longer stroke. Column is a larger diameter as well. Motor is 1 hp. Specs say the sale $209 unit is about 130lb. The bigger press is 182 lb.
I grabbed both chucks and really couldn't feel any difference or discernable play in either. My old HF desk top even with the adjustment pushed to the limit has obvious play. before even chucking up some drill stock.

update
I checked to see if i could buy the demo answer still NO and none can be ordered either... so I took the tag from the larger 16 speed $399 drill press and asked if I would get a discount using the inside track club.
They said no extra discount and then made the comment that the larger press also has been "changed" to a close out as well. So I asked what would happen if I were to pay and order in the larger press and it were to be discounted like the smaller floor unit and they said they would match the sales price for a few weeks after it arrives.

I figured hard to go to wrong so payed for it and will await an email. I did compare specs and even at $400 it seems to be a better unit than what is available locally on CL plus it has a warranty or return if it is a dud.

17 in. 16 Speed Drill Press

Amazing deals on this 17In 16 Speed Drill Press at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

What says it all for me is the low end speed.
200 rpm is adequate for many metal applications.
I think you did okay.

 

[MaverickNH]

I think you made a very wise choice. Even if the discount doesn't pan out I think you will not find yourself wishing you had a larger DP down the road. Like I said at the top of this thread somewhere I have had the ancestor of this 17" 16 speed drill press for about 30 years now and it has never let me down. I think some people get way too hung up in runout, etc. It drills holes. It drills the hole where you put the dimple with the center punch. Mine does its job very well even though I have never measured the runout on the quill.

Speaking of which, as a newbie asking, how do you get that dimple just where the scribe lines cross? I seem to get it +/- a tiny bit with my automatic punch, but that seems to magnify the error when I drill holes.

Also, I try to level the workpiece but realize maybe I should be aligning the drill to the spindle instead. I shimmed my bench top unit to bubble vertical in the column. Twisting the table column lock handle tight always alters the front/back alignment a bit. My table has adjustable rotation in the other axis too.

It seems an alignment tool that looked like a chisel would be useful - a straight rod with a squared end section to align with a workpiece face.

How does one get the best holes (located and trued) drilled on a drill press?

 

[matthewsx]

Speaking of which, as a newbie asking, how do you get that dimple just where the scribe lines cross? I seem to get it +/- a tiny bit with my automatic punch, but that seems to magnify the error when I drill holes.

Also, I try to level the workpiece but realize maybe I should be aligning the drill to the spindle instead. I shimmed my bench top unit to bubble vertical in the column. Twisting the table column lock handle tight always alters the front/back alignment a bit. My table has adjustable rotation in the other axis too.

It seems an alignment tool that looked like a chisel would be useful - a straight rod with a squared end section to align with a workpiece face.

How does one get the best holes (located and trued) drilled on a drill press?

That’s a bit like asking how do you get to Carnegie Hall.

Practice, practice, practice.

I prefer a standard center punch for marking critical holes. If your scribed lines are deep enough you can follow one till it intersects with the other and punch more accurately. Also, I have a little shorty ball peen I like for this kind of stuff. Just a little more control.

John

 

[projectnut]

Like matthewsx I use a manual center punch and ball peen hammer. Also as mentioned if you have a sharp point, it should center itself. I then start the hole with a center drill. The smaller point and stiff body allow it to center on the punch mark and not wander off to the side. I prefer either Keo or MA Ford center drills. I've tried some cheapie offshore ones and had poor results. They are often available on eBay for reasonable prices. However, this doesn't seem to be the time to buy them. It looks like everyone has more than doubled their prices for the Christmas season.

 

[Larry$]

These ideas may help you. Use a small center punch with a small hammer. Just barely tap it, you can then see if you hit the mark and if not make the dimple move with the hammer and heavier center punch to move the dimple sideways. I use a center drill if I'm going for better accuracy. Typical jobber bits have fairly wide chisel ends that don't locate well in a small punch mark. Split point drills help with that. Screw machine bits don't flex as much and help. 135º bits don't try to walk as much. If you get a good location center punch mark but had trouble getting the bit dead center, try using a wiggler. If the bit doesn't have a good grind it will walk. For bigger holes drill a pilot hole slightly wider than the chisel tip on the big bit. That reduces the chisel tip on the bigger bit wanting to walk. Clamp the work. If your drill press has spindle clearance to the head casting it will allow the bit to seek its' own location. Spindle not perpendicular to the work. Sloppy bearings. Add all this up and you are lucky to hit the work at all.

 

[rwdenney]

Run out on a 1/2" precision rod (+/- 0.002/ft) was a bit high on this benchtop drill press 3in from the chuck at +/- 0.005 (the unit has a 3-1/2" plunge maximum). The manual describes a process to "adjust the angular play of the spindle" - that sounds like it's worth a try.

I'd be ecstatic if my drill press only had 0.005" runout 3 inches from the chuck.

Rick "less than 10% of a 1/16 drill probably won't break it" Denney

 

[rwdenney]

I think you made a very wise choice. Even if the discount doesn't pan out I think you will not find yourself wishing you had a larger DP down the road. Like I said at the top of this thread somewhere I have had the ancestor of this 17" 16 speed drill press for about 30 years now and it has never let me down. I think some people get way too hung up in runout, etc. It drills holes. It drills the hole where you put the dimple with the center punch. Mine does its job very well even though I have never measured the runout on the quill.

People get hung up on runout because if there is too much of it, the hole will be oversized and you'll break bits. That gets old!

Rick "ask me how I know" Denney

 

[455dan]

I think you made a very wise choice. Even if the discount doesn't pan out I think you will not find yourself wishing you had a larger DP down the road. Like I said at the top of this thread somewhere I have had the ancestor of this 17" 16 speed drill press for about 30 years now and it has never let me down. I think some people get way too hung up in runout, etc. It drills holes. It drills the hole where you put the dimple with the center punch. Mine does it job very well even though I have never measured the runout on the quill.

Thanks, I hope so. On run out obviously, less would be better.

The plot thickens,
Apparently there are at least 2 HF SKU numbers for the press and from reading reviews they are made in different factories using differing parts. Had this happen with their vices and it was a Big difference in quality.

Positive and negative reviews on both with most that compared both back to back preferring the 43899

43899 has a much higher amp draw motor (almost double) Castings that are described as cleaner, has cast iron pulley sets and very tight spindle and chuck run out numbers reported .
It has a JT 33 taper and an MT2 ,

61487 is what I saw at the local store and is listed on my sales receipt it has an MT 3 taper and Jacobs style JT 3 listed
a 7.5 amp motor, Aluminum pulley sets, and described by reviews as coarser castings.

Given a choice I (think) would like to have the MT 3 and the JT3, but... ? It would seem the larger MT 3 is usually heavier duty I did read a review quote that the JT3 is preferred ( Would welcome comments)

Typical HF...hard to nail down.


Guess it will be a mystery until it is delivered.
Either way I will assemble and check the run out and whatever else is obvious ( Good or Bad) and update.

 

[Jake M]

The plot thickens,
Apparently there are at least 2 HF SKU numbers...

You've really, really got to pay careful attention to the harbor freight review, comparison, and modification stuff that's out there. It's kind of a thing that's taken on a life of it's own, to the point that I don't really trust them. Not fully "staged", but still set up to get the results that are popular. Some stuff you can see what you want to know, other times not so much
My experience is that yes, they're different products, but not as different as it seems. They consider them interchangeable for a reason.
My experience is also that unless you're in a very select area where Harbor Freight drew a line in the sand to distribute their multi-numbered products, you don't have a lot of choice. If they get model A at your store, that's all you're ever gonna get from that store. If you're close enough to the "boundry" where you can drive to another store and get model "B", then that's how you'd have to do it. But you can't even call 'em. Unless you can find a person willing to go look at the box... If you ask for one number, the computer, the inventory, it's going to lump all the numbers together.

Some things, like the spindle taper- Yeah, if you've already got tooling that fits one or the other, it's a big deal to you. They ARE different. If you're going to do as MOST drill press owners do, and mount a chuck on it that's going to live there for the rest of eternity... You don't care. You can take ANY taper and break it down by all kinds of metrics, and find one superior to the other. Some just are more rugged than others. But any of these are plenty good to hold back what ANY of these drill press motors.

And the motors... Sounds like you're looking at a 1/3hp motor. That's not that big. My drill press that I've had at home, that I love to bash on when I'm talking about it, with it's crooked table, cracked base, bent column, a headstock that's bored poorly so the post bore isn't parallel to the spindle bore, has exceptional play in the quill... That drill press has a 1/3hp motor rated at 7 amps. I've got a 5/8 chuck on that never run out of motor. Sure, it's be nice to have a half horse (or three, or five horse) motor on it, but it's not going to be any more effective. It's enough.

Spindle runout? My little drill press could give ANY drill press from Harbor Freight a lesson on how to swing a drill bit. It won't hit a home run, but it'll sure keep the shortshop busy. But it still drills good holes. The whole reason we have to punch for holes on a drill press is that drills tend to bugger off and do whatever they want anyhow. As long as the punch is deep enough to accept the web of the starter drill, it WILL find the center of the punch. And a subsequent drill will follow that hole. It doesn't even make a drill bit drill tangibly oversized. I mean, sure, it technically does. But you're not going to own two drill bits in a row that reproduce holes close enough to identical to be able to pick out that difference, fromt the difference in how hard you're feeding it on any given day. So long as the runout is managable, as in, you can put a 3/16 inch or less pilot bit's web inside of the punch mark it's a non-issue. It'll drill holes where you want them.

Aluminum pullies are a problem? My poor old benchtop Delta that I just told you about has aluminum pullies, and my other one, before I had a home shop, I drug it to work where it now lives bolted to the floor there. 25 plus years of absolute stupid abuse, that one is in a lot better shape. Powermatic 1150, with the change belt, not the variable option. That one has aluminum pullies. I've yet to find out why they're no good. If you've got pullies that are bored crooked and wobble all over the place, you're going to hate life, but that's not a material thing, that's a quality control thing that any HF supplier could provide on demand at just about any point in time on just about any product they make.

Here's my thought- Despite it's warts (and under three grand, outside of commercial stuff, there WILL be at some warts on it somewhere), I think you've picked a very servicable drill press that with (or without) some polishing up here and there, will serve you very well and do good work for as long as you'd like for it to. Don't let others wreck it for you before you even open the box.

 

[455dan]

Thanks Jake, I won't read to much into the reviews.

I have MT 2 and MT 3 taper drill chucks from both the little 7x10 and the 12x24 HF lathes So have spares for the new press in a sense.
Just thinking the MT 3 would be a larger shaft and that would mean larger bearings as well. Again this is the drill press number that gets panned.
On the aluminum pulleys I actually kind of prefer those, and had to buy bore and then true them on the little lathe for the larger one to get it up and running. So either model will be fine I guess. I do find the big difference in motor amp rating weird. Who knows what is up with that. I just hope the castings for the base and table support are cast iron and not aluminum and run out is OK.

HF reviews could be like amazon where they lump different model reviews in the same group even though the reviewer was referring to a different model unit sold by the same company.