Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi
My bench top drill press is a bit weak and doesn't make perfect holes despite new bits. (12" craftsman) Also, It doesn't do well with drill press style rosette cutters. So, I am looking for a more robust model. I have the space for either another bench top or a floor model. I don't want a massive one, maybe a 15-17" model.

Are there very good bench top models out there? What are the best floor models?

All input appreciated

Thanks
Andy

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Check out Grizzly. Pass over the cheaper stuff, their nicer stuff is really good for the money. I have several Grizzly tools and prefer them even over many delta tools. I hate Delta drill presses. The old shop where I worked had a bench model and a floor model Delta and on both of them the spindles would loosen and you would have to get in there and tighten the nuts back up regularly so the spindle would not fall out. I am also looking to upgrade my cheapo drill press but I have not decided which to purchase but I am pretty shure it will be from grizzly.

Stay away from the ones that have the depth stop and quill lock on a collar with a setscrew on the axle of the main handle. Many of the cheaper Deltas, etc are like this. My Delta is like this and it is a royal pain. They are devilishly hard to make fine adjustments up or down because once you loosen the lock to adjust it, you have lost your reference point. Plus, they don't really lock the spindle in place. When you lock the spindle in place at a pre-determined depth, all it does is keep the spindle from returning up. It does not keep it from going deeper. The old-style depth guage with two nuts on a threaded rod (I can't tell if the Rikon in the picture is this type) and an actual spindle lock is definitely the way to go.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

I bought a PowerMatic, adjustable speed with laser and lights, 1.75 hp. Dam thing is awsome and has an expandable table. About twice+ the price of what you will pay in a borg store.

I dunno about Grizzly drill presses. Grizzly has the goods on bandsaws and tablesaws... no doubt about it. Drill presses? To me their models are lacking (feature wise). No lasers, etc. And to those of you who claim lasers are pointless, well try a GOOD one. I use my drill press for a lot of tasks. I am glad I got a good one.

Mike

Steel City drill press is nice. They are having them on sale at woodcraft until end of this year.

Thanks for the info.
I think I am leaning towards the Steel City

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

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if you can swing it , I would tell you to look at a mill drill. They have the power , accuracy and can do more than drill a hole. Check one out
john

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I have a Jet floor model and it's fine. You have to change belts to re-set speeds but after a while that's not all that bad to do. It has the threaded rod with nuts as the depth stop and I also agree, that's definitely the way to go. I had a Delta bench top before with the depth stop on the main handle and I'll second TRein's post. They are a real pain to use. Whatever you get make sure it has the threaded rod depth stop.
Terry

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Steel City much better than Grizzly for drill presses. To me, they look like Harbor Freight tools. I do not get it. THey make such nice table saws and bandsaws. Drill presses apear to be an afterthought.

Hey Grizzly company people, you reading this? Bring your drill presses into the 21st century!

PS: I know john likes Grizzly, did you buy their mill drill? That does look like a nice machine.

Mike

A good drill press with a steady quill is nice, but I think for most presses you are asking a lot of them to cleanly handle an unbalanced load like a rosette cutter. With a spinning off-balance load like that, you won't find a lot of drill presses where the quill will remain 100% steady, and would more likely need a nice milling machine to avoid the slightest wobble.

In my experience the best solid way to do this on a press is by first drilling a 1/4" pilot hole in the top with a brad point bit, and replacing the pilot bit in the rosette cutter with solid 1/4" drill stock. Then set up a backer board to clamp the top to with a guide bushing (1/4" brass bushing/bearing will work fine) to accept the pilot rod. Lower the bit in to the bushing (with the top in place) to position it, clamp the backer board to the table, start the motor with the pilot bit in the guide but cutters away from the wood, and go at it at a fairly low rpm (300-450).

You still ought to look for a press that can handle a clean cut with a straight fresh bit, but I wouldn't expect to find one to cleanly handle a rosette cutter without assistance until you get in to some bigger machinery. I would equate running a rosette cutter centered at only one end to turning an unbalanced load on a lathe without the tail stock engaged.

Maybe you're already doing it as I described, in which case I would say you really do need a new drill press. If it can't cut a clean rosette with this method it would mean there must be an awful lot of side to side slop in the quill.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I am looking to upgrade from an old handme down craftsman press which was pretty rough but it didn't vibrate and it drilled true. the motor is small and the table is terrible to adjust, don't even think about a depth stop on this baby. I also looked at the steel city, Rikon, and craftsmen presses. I think I can do without alot of the fancy stuff as long as it acts like my old press but is just easier to adjust. My second choice would probably be the rikon. By the way the powermatic is awsome but I couldn't afford it, plus I'm not into the lasers.

I bought a 17" Craftsman (Steel City made) from Sears. I bought it online and Sears sold mine at the store before I got there to pick it up. I tried for weeks to get them to give me another one but they just wanted to give me my $$ back instead. I said heck with this, so I went to Sears and told the guy I had been dealing with, I was taking their floor model - he could either call the cops or help me load it. It's in my shop now.

It had some wear and tear (and a broken on/off switch). I wasn't going to Sears for satisfaction, so I called Steel City. The guy I spoke with kind of chuckled and apologized after hearing the story. I asked for a parts price list for this model - he asked for an address. A few days later, all the broken/worn parts were delivered to my front door - not the price list. I called back and said there was a mistake. He said no mistake, enjoy the drill press. 10 minutes later, new parts on, it was better than new. This drill press is a good bang for the buck - I can't see wanting anything else unless this wears out - then I'll get another Steel City.

Sorry for the long story, but Steel City really impressed me with customer service and build quality.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

I have an ENCO mill drill. I bought that used. I do have a Grizzly drill press and to be honest , the motor was replaced and it isn't the best of what they make. I have a Steel City table saw. I like the saw , but that too had to have its motor replaced. Most of this is from China . I don't think we will see real quality tools for a long time like we had in the 60's.
Get a strong drill press. That older chraftsman will be fine.
john

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I have a roughly 10 year old Grizzley drill press and can't complain too much with the following exceptions:

Chuck - the chuck was not adequate for what I was doing. I bought a better one and a better MT to JT adapter from a local joint and it's been fine ever since. I probably paid around $30 for the new chuck.

On - off switch broke (was sticking on and wouldn't turn off) and had to be replaced. I was kind of irritated that they didn't warrantee the item even though it was out of warrantee - it was obviously a bad part.

Hmm...maybe now that I think about it, it isn't so great! Anyhow it does make holes just fine though and I don't plan on replacing it any time soon.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

The biggest complaint I hear about any Grizzly items is the motor. Still, they (table saws and band saws) are a great value. Use it till the motor burns then invest in a baldor replacement.

Drill presses (as I said earlier) leave a lot to be desired.

On a side note, I bought the fret presser and cauls from LMI to use in a drill press or arbor press. I went to Harbor freight to pick up one of there 2 tone arbor presses, but it was not designed to take a "bit" so to say. Other than buying the $300 model from LMI or Stew-Mac, is there anyway to modify these arbor presses to accept the fret press? (other than welding!) Perhaps drilling a hole? Anybody tried that? At $40, its worth a try, huh?

Mike

I actually just did that last week and I believe they're all able to accept a "bit". I bought a 1/2 ton press from Production Tool and Supply for $64 (local so no shipping). The ram has about a 3/8" hole with magnet at the bottom (top really). Because I don't normally make guitars I didn't want to spend a bunch of dollars on the holder thing so I just bought a 16" caul for $5 and made a holder from wood. It's probably not as good as the real deal but to my un-trained eye my frets look fully seated. I drilled a hole in my wooden "holder block" and used a piece of soft metal rod I had laying around to go into the ram. I widened the slot a little with a round rasp so that the caul could self adjust.

Two other things - for some reason they installed the ram on mine upside down. I tried doing this in the drill press first and it was just way too flexy. It seated the one fret I did just fine but it was making me really nervous.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Mike, I drilled a hole in my cheap arbor press from a local import tool store. It wasn't that difficult to drill as the shaft was relatively soft steel. You just need some type of setup to drill a hole into the end of the shaft so that it is lined up correctly. I used the horizontal drilling setup on my Shopsmith to accomplish this. You will also need a set screw installed in the side of the shaft to hold the Stew-Mac caul holder.

An arbor press has a much more rigid connection between the ram and the table. As I mentioned in my post, I did press one or two frets on the drill press but the table was flexing like mad, especially compared to the arbor press.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

My grizzly floor drill press has worked real well although my major criticism is that it has more runout than I'd like to see. I can't say that it has affected my work though.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Yes, its the flex in the drill press table that bothers me. It makes the process inefficient. Harbor freight sells some reasonably priced arbors, but no hole in the ram. Glad to see others have done this. I will go get one and do the same. Yup, I thought about the set screw also!

Mike

Yep, I've done that too, thought the freight to Australia would prohibit the purchase of a fret arbor press so I took a punt on fitting the parts from Stew-Mac onto a locally available arbor press which looked identical, drilled a hole up the centre, drilled and tapped a side entry hole for a grub screw that lined up with the groove in the fret press and away I went, exactly the same as Stew-Mac's less the huge amount of freight.
Cheers Chopper

Another vote for the 17" Steel City (only one they make I think). This thing is fantastic! .002" runout, 6" quill stroke, split head design and just has the feel of a very robust tool. Also allows me to drill to the center of a 17" archtop plate

I was faced with this same issue several years ago. I was able to find a Variable Speed Delta that was used but need a a minor recondition. After some clean up, paint, and basic rework it is a great piece. I spent about $300 total and it is much better than anything I could have purchased new for the same money. It has a 3/4 hp motor, 8 quill travel, and variable speed with a dial to control speed (this option is great). At the time I wasn't sure about the decision but after a few years of use has become on of my favorite machines.

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Brad
Avon, OH

Appologies to the OP for my sidetracking of the thread. I am so pleased to learn that others have done to inexpensive arbor presses what I was planning to do. A drill press is not designed to be a pressure applicator. One can do it, but personally it makes me uncomfortable.

Mike