Need advice: what floor-standing drill press should I buy?

cazclocker

Purveyor of cheese.
Registered
Joined
Sep 24, 2012
Messages
484
I haven't posted here for a LONG time due to health setbacks and other stuff. But wife & I just moved to new home, had to sell my old Delta bench-mounted drill press (and a large lathe) before moving. I need a new drill press, but this time I want a floor standing one. I'd like to buy used, to save money. I drill into some steel and aluminum, but probably into wood about 70% of the time.

What brand/model would you more experienced guys buy? All I know is the little Delta machine I had before did me just fine, even though it was probably Chinese-made. I just do NOT want Harbor Freight-level machines, for quality reasons.

Thanks in advance.
 
I'd go with this one. Seriously, keep an eye on Craigs list. Something like a 17" Delta can be had very reasonably. Cheers, Mike
bigradial.jpg
 
Thanks. That makes sense. But I love that huge drill press!
 
Many drill presses are designed/sold to woodworkers so often have low speeds which can be too fast for drilling metal, especially if you need to drill decent sized holes.

I have a Powermatic drill press, designed for woodworking. It has minimum speed of 300 rpm.

Think about the desired speed range you want as you look at the used machines.

If you do not find something in the used market and need to look at a new machine, take a look at Rikon. This machine has minimum speed of 220 rpm. This is made in China, as are most of the machines you will find. My Powermatic was made in China.

Rikon 17in drill press at Woodcraft
 
I need a new drill press, but this time I want a floor standing one. I'd like to buy used, to save money.
You may want to consider setting up a search on Craig's List and waiting until a good one shows up.

Like you, I have had a 12" Delta bench drill press (11-990) for a long time. It is Taiwan-made and has served me well. But I also wanted a floor model, and didn't want to spend a lot of money.

Finally, an old Craftsman showed up on CL for $75. You can see it was a real mess. But all it needed was new pulley spindle bearings and a cosmetic clean-up. I am very impressed with the quality of this machine. It's Heavy and runs true. The downside is that the cast table is very hard to adjust, due to its weight. But there are a lot of ideas out there on how to remedy that problem.

Good Luck!!

CL Photo of Vintage Craftsman Floor Model Drill Press
CL CraftsmanDrill Pressw.jpg
 
I have an older Grey color Ridgid DP which is not too bad for woodworking but i've been looking for a better floor standing drill press for a while now,
A metalworking DP should be at least be able to:
Go as low as 250 RPM,
Have a 17" or larger swing,
1 HP motor, 12 speed (variable would be great but not a deal breaker),.
And most importantly have a large table with T slots.Something like this:
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1365879316&requestSource=b

$_59 (2).JPG
 
Best advice i can give is to look around at craigslist, flea markets, machinery auctions and finde drill press that is in good shape and the size you need, then do your research for known faults for it, if it checks out buy it.
 
As seen in Ken's photo in post #6, one feature to make sure any drill press it has is the 'rack & pinion' mechanism for adjusting the table.
My ol' Duro didn't have one and it is a royal PITA.
Finally after 20 years I jerry-rigged a pseudo block & tackle pulley setup hung off the ceiling to assist. Needs a Rev.B design modification...
 
Back
Top