Does having a mill/drill obsolete your drill press?

Chewy said:
I have 3 drill presses. The original is a Delta high school model about 50 yeras old. You have to arm-strong the table height. My wife got tired of asking me to do that so she got an el cheapo HF bench top one and then found out it was too limited. She then got a nice Jet desktop one she uses all the time. I use the big one for quick holes, countersinking and second operation stuff. I have a tapping adapter that i will be using soon. It's in the plans to make a table hoist first. The HF one is going to my daughters place for when I have to fix things.
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you can fix that old Delta by attaching a counterweight to the table. I have seen weights that go into the column over a sheave, the other just a sheave off the back of the press. Attach an eyebolt to the table or a ring, or other attachment, use some aircraft cable....
So a good project to make a good tool, great.
 
C-Bag said:
I didn’t post it because I posted pics before. It’s a Delta UniDrill. It says it’s a 24” arm.
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I've been looking at one like that at a local used equipment dealer. The asking price is $200.00. It wasn't in as nice a shape as yours, and I think it would have needed a little work. I'm still considering it, but was really looking for something a bit larger.
 
To me this sounds like a "gun" conversation:: "when should I get rid of a gun"
Answer: "one never gets rid of or sells a gun" unless there is a great big overriding reason.

Me, I keep my Drill Press in the house I do reloading, and keep the mill in a different location entirely.
However, we are going to raise the house the DP currently resides and build a new facility, so the DP will migrate over to the Mill's location.
 
I have 2 drill presses and 2 mills and I'm looking at another small drill press to set up with a countersinking bit just for deburring. I wouldn't get rid of it unless you really need the space. Even then I'd probably tuck it in a corner somewhere.
 
I took this picture this morning as an example for this thread. Then C-Bag went and slam dunked the thread with that Uni Drill. Lol. Ah well, here it is anyways. The mill is busy, so...drill press to the rescue! Lol
 

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I still use my DP for lots of stuff. Drill/tapping/deburring while there's a setup in my mill. Doing the same operations on a something too big for the mill. Wire brushing and sanding awkward shaped pieces that won't work anyplace else. Carding rust blued rifles. Repetitive operations that require crazy fixturing. The list goes on. I just pulled a 90VDC 2 hp motor out of a treadmill. Can't wait to set up that puppy on my DP. Slow speed! Reverse! I'm droolin'!
 
projectnut said:
I've been looking at one like that at a local used equipment dealer. The asking price is $200.00. It wasn't in as nice a shape as yours, and I think it would have needed a little work. I'm still considering it, but was really looking for something a bit larger.
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That’s way less than the $650 I gave for mine. I do wish it was way slower rpms. 450-4200.

this is the first UniDrill I’ve ever seen. There’s a different radial arm drill setup I’ve seen and it wouldnt have worked for me because it didnt have much z clearance. The UniDrill is not perfect but it has become very useful. I certainly wouldn’t get rid of it.
 
I always wanted a decent drill press.
Owned a couple but they were always too fast for use on metal. A year ago I bought an old Millmaster vertical mill and rehabbed it.
5+" of quill travel, 1 HP, reversible,
3 six position step pulleys for 31 speeds of 61 to 9660 RPMS. See photo.
Now I have no use for a DP.
Someday I might upgrade to a mill with downfeed which it does not have. Or add a drive to this one for power feed on the Z axis.20210920_044430.jpg
 
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