# Drill press shopping.



## Max Simons (Nov 16, 2015)

Hey guys, I'm in the market for a drill press and am trying to find a good deal on Kijiji,  but it's easier said than done. If I decided to go new, what advice do you have?


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## Janger (Nov 16, 2015)

How much do you want to spend? The addition of an xy vise is really handy on mine. Look for a good range of speeds. 300-3000ish. The floor mount ones have a lot more space to put a vise, and work, and the bit. I have the porter cable one from lowes. The good: It has a nice 1hp motor, it's powerful, the belts are easy to change speeds, it is sturdy and heavy and pretty rigid, and it was cheap. The bad: the supplied chuck has run out, holes in metal tend to be a bit oval. It needs a better chuck. I also have a ryobi one from Home depot, quite inexpensive, works well - better than porter cable with very little runout. However it's too small to fit parts, drill bits and the xy vise all at once. So it tends to stay sitting on the floor. 

Best thing for your drill press - high quality bits! I have the Norseman brand ones from KMS. They are fantastic. 

Another good topic to discuss - automatic tapping adapters! I was looking at the tapmatic stuff. Anybody have any of those ones or any other brand? I want something but what?


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## Janger (Nov 17, 2015)

Max - check out this one: http://www.kijiji.ca/v-power-tool/c...ss/1113612587?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true


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## kylemp (Nov 18, 2015)

If you've got the money buy a variable speed one.. I've got the general 75-700 (http://www.general.ca/products/1_general/75_drill/75-700.html) and I'm pretty happy with it, but it ain't cheap.
The things that I find I really like:
 - Variable speed
 - Big swing and quite tall
 - MT shank, which allows for larger chucks and things like tapping heads or making adapters for other tools
 - big T slotted table is nicer than the typical slotting on drills
 - Very rigid and has plenty of power
 - Very low runout

The cons:
 - Very expensive (I think its $2900 new)
 - A pain in the ass to move around if you need to
 - No power quill feed (I have to have something to look forward to)

If I were picking up another drill press I would say get something with a good speed range, if you can either find one that is variable or get a 3 phase motor and VFD to get there, that works. I would also get something you can run a 5/8" or larger chuck on (I personally prefer 3/4 generally). My biggest issue I have run into with my old drills in the past is that the motor is not strong enough for large hole boring, and they are not rigid enough to drill a very big hole. Once you get into the 1" range without piloting, you start putting a lot of force down onto the table.. and many of the tables will flex which is obviously undesirable. I rather drill at low speeds for most things (a lot of people run every drill bit at way too high of a speed), and when you get into thicker materials and larger drills its almost impossible on a bench top version.

Another thing that might work well for you is to get a bench top mill drill. They have a good range of speeds, better control for feeding and can kind of mill but they also can be expensive and they are heavy depending on the logistics of moving it to where you need it.



Janger said:


> Another good topic to discuss - automatic tapping adapters! I was looking at the tapmatic stuff. Anybody have any of those ones or any other brand? I want something but what?


I've got a cheap one, doesn't do anything too large in size.. I've never actually used it for anything since I bought it (other than tapping 1/4" holes in 3/4" plate to try it out). It worked quite well, and I anticipate using it next time I'm home since I'fe got a project with a friend that has tapping 2" thick aluminum. They don't have to be REALLY expensive, I think new you can get some for like $250 if you go the China route.
The one thing I DIDN'T think of, you certainly have to have your materials fixed to the table since that's how the tap reverses (pulling up engages the reverse gear). I think it will be something I only want to pull out if I've got a lot of tapping to do unfortunately, but I'm also thinking I'll just build a tapping arm for my workbench for the general tapping I do. I want to start buying expensive taps so everything that can make those taps last is worth it in my eyes.


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## kylemp (Nov 18, 2015)

Oh, heres 2.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-power-tool/e...rs/1118942709?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

This is what I want to get eventually.. radial arm..

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-business-ind...ss/1118927191?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true


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## Max Simons (Nov 20, 2015)

Here we go, I got this one for $50 on Kijiji. The chuck only has 0.007" runout


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## kylemp (Nov 20, 2015)

Wow, nice find!


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