Official Luthiers Forum!

The time has come for me to break down and get a decent floor standing drill press. So I'm curious what features members of the forum appreciate most or seek out for lutherie purposes. WARNING: The first one to to tell me make sure it has a chuck gets that Tub-O-Lard Hesh used to flog around here

Seriously though, I need to find a good drill press and would like to hear your comments before I go hunting.

As always, thanks for the input!

Cheers
Rick

Rick,

I don't know the proper term, if there is one, but I've found a threaded depth-lock adjustment to be valuable. The laser guides that I've seen and used have been worthless, though there might be some good ones out there.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Hi Pat. I think it a depth stop system and I agree they are quite useful. I wondered about stationary power tools with lasers and how good/useful they actually are. Thanks for the insights.

Rick

Now that I'm using a Safe-T Planer in the drill press more often, I'd find a quill lock useful. Fortunately, my drill press, like most of the cheap knockoffs, has a rack-and-pinion crank so I can adjust cut depth that way. Not very precise or handy, though.

Also, check the speed range (number of steps on the pulleys, or variable speed range) - something like a circle cutter (fly cutter) for cutting soundholes needs really slow speed; the Safe-T planer recommends 3000rpm , as I recall (I could be wrong on that) so you need a good range.

I don't know if any of the common drill presses have provision for a retaining bolt for the MT chuck adapter (I recall milling machines I've used all had this) but it would be a nice thing. On both my Taiwanese/Chinese drill presses I had problems with the chuck falling out- a real PITA involving cleaning the tapers, removing burrs, etc before they would 'stay put' properly. (They just hang there on the taper- 'by guess and by golly' as the saying goes...)

If you have a dial indicator with a mag base, I'd take it with me (along with a good quality drill shank or steel dowel) and check the runout.

Radial drill presses have a nice reach which can come in handy but are usually quite a bit more flexible, so not very good for metalwork where sometimes a lot of downward pressure is needed. If you want to do rosette work on a wide top, you will need quite a good throat depth (the 'swing' is double the throat).

BTW, I picked up one of those little benchtop presses ($50 on sale at Cdntire) and it's handy for jobs where you want to 'keep a close eye' on the work, like drilling bridges, etc.

There's a good 'shopping list' at http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/DPFeatures.shtml
Cheers
John

Pat:
Here's a clever mod for that threaded depth stop - if my press had one, I'd make a locking nut like this asap.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/building-better-drill-press-depth-stop-138199/

John

I'll second what Pat said about the threaded depth controller thing. Also that laser guides are pretty much useless. One thing that I find very handy is a speed control. Granted I have to open up the top and slide the belt onto a different wheel, it doesn't take too long.

Actually, on most decent drill presses the chuck is replaceable, so don't let that stop you if you can get a bargain!

1) long quill travel with very little slop. Frustrating to drill 3/4 of a hole, then have to stop and adjust the table.

2) Variable speed. when I had one where you had to move the belt between pullies, I almost never ran at the correct speed. Now that it just turn a knob, I almost always run it at the correct speed for the task at hand.

-jd

If it's a typical Taiwan type then plan on replacing the chuck with a good Jacobs unit.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Owning a Delta/Milwaukee floor model which is older than I am (I'm 66). I wish most for a rack & pinion table lift, but have a good locking quill and a nice long travel and an adjustable depth stop with a lock nut on it, which I use all the time when I'm thicknessing veneer strips for purflings and rosettes, and, occasionally, sides and backs. Speed changes, by changing pulleys, take seconds. Probably all of them now have rack & pinion table lifts, so I would look for good long quill travel and depth stop. I added a laser gizmo, but I don't like it much either. The lines are so fat, the only way to make it work is to set the drill point at either the inside intersection or the outside intersection, but something is always in the way.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

John, that's very slick. There's also something called a quick nut but I don't know how it would work in this situation because of the flats on the threaded shaft.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

That's interesting. My Delta/Milwaukee has the flattened shaft, but has two knurled spinners one just acts as a lock to the other. You back off on the top one and move the bottom one, then spin the top down to it to lock. Works flawlessly, and they won't turn together.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

One word...radial.

One word...radial.

Check the size range on the chuck.
Some on the larger machines don't grip very small bits
Mine only went down to 3mm...

Todd-
Are those specs just to ensure a 'solid' unit, or do you actually have guitar-building jobs that require the 5/8 chuck and (honest) 3/4 hp ?

Some of the hp ratings on equipment nowadays seem a bit 'imaginary', I admit.

Cheers
John

I'd have to disagree with you Haans. Every radial press I've tried has been a pain to set-up and adjust properly. Handy when you need a big swing, but unless you spend big dollars, I've never had much pleasure in using or trusting their accuracy. I agree with Todd's minimums and also love the 6" quill stroke on my Steel City. A Jacobs or Golden Goose chuck is a great addition as well.

Works for me...
If you need HD, how bout this?

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Radial- ... ress/G9969

Or how about http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-Spee ... ress/G7947

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

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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