I need a drill press with a footprint no larger than 6 x 9 inches. It will be used for drilling metals like cast iron brass steel and aluminium mostly 1/8 th or smaller. .
My first thought was a Dremel 4300 rotary tool with the Dremel 220 - 01 workstation. I would like the rotary tool in hand held mode for some jobs. But all the Dremels and other rotary tools seem to run too fast for comfortable drilling in cast iron. Many consider 12,000 as slow and the slowest I can find is a variable speed Dremel is 5,000 rpm. Is 5,000 rpm too fast or am I worrying needlessly.
Next I looked at the Proxxon TBM 115 bench drill The front to rear dimension is more than I can comfortably accommodate but I could store it sideways and turn it around when I need it. It will run at 1,800 rpm on the slow setting of the belt and pulley adjustment and will also give me a lot more torque than the Dremel.
Both the above get good reviews although there are a couple of very negative reviews on Proxxons where there were significant alignment and run out issues.
Finally I came across the cheap chinese table top drill sold by a number of outlets eg
Amazon Small Benchtop Drill Press | DRL-300.00
It has a three position drive pulley and a variable speed control the motor is quoted at 100w which is a little greater than the Proxxon. I am not sure about it's slow speed capability but if I found it to be too fast I am sure I could turn up something for the pulleys that would give me something slower.This is the one that fits best into my limited workshop space.
Are there any other option?
Are there any 'gotchas' I have missed
Or should I just buy the Dremel and stop worrying about drilling cast iron at 5,000 rpm.
My first thought was a Dremel 4300 rotary tool with the Dremel 220 - 01 workstation. I would like the rotary tool in hand held mode for some jobs. But all the Dremels and other rotary tools seem to run too fast for comfortable drilling in cast iron. Many consider 12,000 as slow and the slowest I can find is a variable speed Dremel is 5,000 rpm. Is 5,000 rpm too fast or am I worrying needlessly.
Next I looked at the Proxxon TBM 115 bench drill The front to rear dimension is more than I can comfortably accommodate but I could store it sideways and turn it around when I need it. It will run at 1,800 rpm on the slow setting of the belt and pulley adjustment and will also give me a lot more torque than the Dremel.
Both the above get good reviews although there are a couple of very negative reviews on Proxxons where there were significant alignment and run out issues.
Finally I came across the cheap chinese table top drill sold by a number of outlets eg
Amazon Small Benchtop Drill Press | DRL-300.00
It has a three position drive pulley and a variable speed control the motor is quoted at 100w which is a little greater than the Proxxon. I am not sure about it's slow speed capability but if I found it to be too fast I am sure I could turn up something for the pulleys that would give me something slower.This is the one that fits best into my limited workshop space.
Are there any other option?
Are there any 'gotchas' I have missed
Or should I just buy the Dremel and stop worrying about drilling cast iron at 5,000 rpm.