Official Luthiers Forum!

Rick,

I bought the Steel City drill press a few months ago. I love it.
Its main selling point is a 6" stroke with very very little runout.
But there is also R&P lift, quill lock, threaded depth stop, 2850 rpm max, 3/4 hp, and a nice work light.
Not to mention the long warranty, though I hear some have had issues with steel city support.

The nice thing is they seem to be easy to find in the GTA, I called around for the best price and most of the good dealers had them. I got a nice deal at Vaughn industrial.

Happy shopping.

One thing I have found useful that you can add after you get it, is a foot operated ON/OFF switch. That way you can keep both hands on what you are drilling until the bit stops. Just be sure to turn the machine off when your done working; so you don't step on it by accident while changing bits. I put one on my bandsaw too. Hooked the saw and the vacuum on it.

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

I own a PowerMatic 18" with laser, thread lock depth, and infinitely variable speed (and speed readout) and expanding table, and led work area lighting. I love it. My laser is very accurate. What do I love best? Can't say, I love the whole package. I suspect however I am about to be presented with bad online Internet reviews.

You may have thought about/dismissed this already but if you can find a used milling machine that would be what I would go with. I used a nice variable speed Bridgeport at work and no drill press will ever look the same to me after that. It did everything (except the radial option) better than any other drill press I have seen. The things I liked the most (drill press-wise) were the variable speed option (the safe-t-planer asks for 4000-6000 rpm, much higher than the 3000 typical on most drill presses although it works well at 3000), the quill lock, and a very solid and dependable depth stop. The fine tuned raising and lowering of the table is pretty nice too. I still have my little 10" ryobi in my small personal shop that has none of these things. I can't wait until I can fit a larger machine. Good luck with whatever you choose!

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

bump

I just got a 14" drill press cheap (around 100 dollars delivered), its not that heavy but not that light either. It's about 1 meter tall so its more of a half-benchtop model. I will probably stand it on cement blocks later on and bolt the thing to the cement block. The drill press needs some cleaning like getting the rust off, replacing the switch with a safer one (I do not know where to get those) and making a plywood table that is good for woodworking as well as safe-t-planer. The problem with this drill press is that the maximum speed it goes to is about 2000rpm and I am concerned about using a safe-t-planer with it... I am not sure what I can do about it.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I'd be looking for a radial with a large column to drill distance.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Gentlemen,

Thanks for your insights. This has been a truly instructive thread for me!

Most of you have mentioned quill lock and travel. Waddy, you mentioned you appreciate the 'long' quill travel on your Delta/Milwaukee - how long is long? What is standard?

John - TX for the Wood Central link. It's a great summary of what to look for. Also the depth stop link you provided is quite slick - it looks like the flat depth stop threaded rod is necessary - is this standard on all DP brands/models?

Pat - You pointed out the Quick Nut. On an unrelated subject, do you think this could be used as a quick height adjustment feature on a shop made thickness sander?

Haans - Regarding radial DPs are there any issues with play vertically when the DP head is extended to its largest swing?

Edward - What Steel City model do you have? Here in the GTA Steel City is one brand that is readily available. Others are Delta, King Industrial, Busy Bee, Jet and possibly General.

Jason - TX for the foot switch tip. I have thought about one for my router table set up but it never occurred to me to add it to a DP or BS.

Filippo - Love the DP table set up! It'll be the first thing I tackle when I get the DP - guaranteed. Does anyone know if Rikon tools are available in the Ontario market?

Burton - I have wondered about a milling machine for other purposes too - I haven't looked into them (other than the small hobby types) but presume they are pretty pricey - would I be right?

Mike - The PowerMatic looks like it has some nice features - unfortunately it does not look like it is available in Canada (other than maybe online but then shipping would be a major investment).

Todd - I appreciate your input and wisdom (as I do for many others here on the OLF) on your vast experience and knowledge on many levels . TX for your list of features to look for.

Tai - TX for sharing your experience with the bench top model. I have a small bench top DP but the quality and tolerances are very poor. I know that there are some pretty robust bench top models available out there but I'm leaning strongly towards the floor model version for some of those chores which require a longer vertical set up.

A few mentioned keyless chucks, I have those on my handheld drills and love it. I didn't realize they were available for DPs - I'll have to look into that.

As always, any other tips, watch-out-fors etc. are appreciated!

Cheers
Rick

I'm not Edward or Mike, but as far as I know, Steel City only makes one floor model press with 17" swing. Powermatic is now available in Canada. Black Forest Woods in Calgary carries Powermatic and I know there's a large dealer in Quebec. I would assume that they are also available in Ontario.

Thats pretty much right, but there is a second model almost exactly the same but with variable speed. I heard it is not worth it though.

Rick,

Yes, new ones are very expensive. The best bet is to find an older used one. They can be had fairly cheaply (around here at least, and compared to the new price) as long as you can get it out of where it is, which is not always easy. There are lots of things to consider in terms of machine tooling but if you will be using primarily as a drill press they are not as important.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Drill presses are fairly common, it shouldn't be hard to find one for very little money, or for no money. My last drill press was given to me, but it was so badly rusted that it took a LOT of WD-40 to get it working again (everything, including the quill froze). It's actually very similar to the one I just got now... they are good for just about anything you'd do on a drill press, if you need more precision than woodworking then get a milling machine.

The problem for me is a mill weights literally a ton, and getting that up 5 floors without elevator is going to be impossible. Besides, it's impossible to find them for little money like you would for a drill press. Mills aren't really good for woodworking, its really designed for metalworking, although it will cut wood like butter! But seriously whatever I would need a milling machine for on wood could be done with a router with a jig.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I think the infinitely variable speed adjustment is worth xtra dollars. Mainly because u can do it while the machine is running!

I don't adjust much, but when I do, I prefer powermatic. Stay creative my friend.

Todd, how thin can u get stock with a safe T planer? I would love something simple for making shims.

I have a milling machine and I love it. It's much more useful then you might think on guitar type things. But, if I had to take one up 5 flights of stairs I wouldn't have one either

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Rick, there is some movement at full extension, but I guess one has to evaluate what exactly they would use a drill press for. Radials are woodworking machines, and that is what I use it for. Personally, I use it more for small drum sanding, and I have it set right next to my downdraft sanding table so I can put on a 5" disc, rotate and extend it out over the sanding table and contour sand stuff. I can set it and drill a 13 degree hole if I want.
Frankly, I just can't think of too many instances to drill a hole in building a guitar. On my guitars, I can only think of one, drilling the holes for CF tone tubes, and you need to drill them at around 13 degrees.

Keyless chuck. Ask merchant about "drift" specs.

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Greg
http://garibaldiinstruments.com/

Mike O'Melia-I spotted that clever Dos Equis parody. Really made me grin. A series of commercials that are inane, but, for some reason charming too.

Like Waddy-I have an ancient Craftsman weighing around 125 pounds. It is a real horse, but no R & P for the table-that gets hefty with a quality cross-slide vise mounted. I keep the column well, but lightly, lubed, but----Waddy-do you find yourself doing a strange "hula-dance" when raising the table when it is all loaded with vise and material? I will say that mine is 50's-60's vintage and nothing on it is a stamping and it still has about .002 runout at max quill extension-closes up to nil at 1/2 travel or less. And, there has been a "deadman" foot switch on mine since forever.