Small drillpress? What to look for?

[alex e]

I have no idea what to get but I'm interested in one for the garage shop and it should fit on the counter ideally. I'm short on floor space. What are the desirable features to look for? Speeds, adjustable table? I'm looking to spend 3-450$. I might look at preowned too on CL or in pawnshops. Mostly I saw stuff in the Grizzly catalog that was reasonable in price and new. Small floorstanding might squeak by the wife, but you never know. School me!

 

[Dirtsquirt]

IMOP

You should look for something that goes down to 200rpm or less

Holesaws and big bits need far less than the 600rpm the cheap
harbor frieght drill press I bought goes.

Like I said I bought a cheap harborfreight unit and completely wasted my money.

I am looking for a Older decent unit from craigslist and local used equip suppliers.

Good luck

 

[EricG]

If you're looking used, check how solidly the chuck stays on the shaft. I bought a used delta benchtop, but the damn chuck falls off the taper. Any suggestions out there for helping this issue. I'm about to squirt some epoxy down there.

Anyway, I'm in the market for a floor-standing one. Found to much stuff that was a PITA or just didn't fit with the benchtop.

 

[RavenTai]

I picked up a old Rockwell recently for $50, it had hardly been used, table was perfect not a scratch on it, much better made and much cheaper than the Chinese crap you see everywhere now.

 

[2mbb]

You should look for something that goes down to 200rpm or less

x2. I have a small (12") delta bench top with minimun speed of 650rpm. It's a nice machine, but it doesn't run slow enough for some of the stuff I'm doing--especially metal or using larger hole saws. I don't know much about them but Grizzly has a bench top unit that goes down to 140 rpm.

 

[john_eckels]

I picked up a delta 14" floor standing unit at the The Andeson's General store a while back for $179. I have been very pleased with it for the money.

 

[D'Animal]

I bought a new Jet JPD-14J 14" 1/2" capacity for $200.

The slowest it will go is 460RPM and sometimes that is too fast with Step Bits and Hole Saws.

 

[Johnnymiz]

a couple of things you want to look for in a drill press.
1. quill travel.... no one ever complained that they had too much, but no having enough sucks if you have to reposition the table
2. crank table height...slower than just sliding it, but if you do have to lower it, it wont move from side to side while you do it
3. slooooooow speeds
4. if you buy used, make sure there is no runout (that the chuck doesnt wobble at all)

 

[alex e]

What brands do you guys recommend?