Just bought a King KC-12HS-VS variable speed bench drill press. I needed something with a better table than my existing Skil 10", as the Skil table didn't rotate and wouldn't work for tight access when drilling electronic chassis boxes.
Criteria to be met:
Rotating table
Real female MT2 quill tp match my mill and lathe tailstock. I didn't want a JT2 male quill.
Bench mount, no more than 40" high
Variable speed (I hate changing belts)
Reviews of the King were generally good, one reviewer said the equivalent (maybe identical) Wen 4214 was the best small bench drill for price/performance.
Impressions:
Decent quality, castings are mid-grade Chinese. Fit and finish is acceptable.
Noisier than my old stepped-pulley machine.
Table has a cute extension arm with a roller support. Might never use it, but who knows?
Quill runout maybe 0.0015", hard to measure because I didn't remove the drive belt so took a lot of force to rotate the quill against the variable speed mechanism.
It came with a no-name 5/8" chuck with about 0.003" runout. Actually not too bad, but because it has a real MT2 quill I can use any of my other MT2 chucks if I need more precision.
Variable speed mechanism works well. Uses two variable pulleys for 550 to 3000 rpm range.
Laser crosshairs works reasonably well, took a tiny bit of adjusting to line up properly.
Couldn't find any deals, every retailer around here that had stock was the same $449 price. Amazon was $528 but free delivery, so I drove two hours to save $80.
Criteria to be met:
Rotating table
Real female MT2 quill tp match my mill and lathe tailstock. I didn't want a JT2 male quill.
Bench mount, no more than 40" high
Variable speed (I hate changing belts)
Reviews of the King were generally good, one reviewer said the equivalent (maybe identical) Wen 4214 was the best small bench drill for price/performance.
Impressions:
Decent quality, castings are mid-grade Chinese. Fit and finish is acceptable.
Noisier than my old stepped-pulley machine.
Table has a cute extension arm with a roller support. Might never use it, but who knows?
Quill runout maybe 0.0015", hard to measure because I didn't remove the drive belt so took a lot of force to rotate the quill against the variable speed mechanism.
It came with a no-name 5/8" chuck with about 0.003" runout. Actually not too bad, but because it has a real MT2 quill I can use any of my other MT2 chucks if I need more precision.
Variable speed mechanism works well. Uses two variable pulleys for 550 to 3000 rpm range.
Laser crosshairs works reasonably well, took a tiny bit of adjusting to line up properly.
Couldn't find any deals, every retailer around here that had stock was the same $449 price. Amazon was $528 but free delivery, so I drove two hours to save $80.
