Drill press advice?

I am looking to buy my first drill press? (Benchtop for model/light engineering) and have been considering the models sold by Axminster Tool Centre (they do two in my price bracket, one at £132 and one at £233)

My question is are there any other good makes I should be considering/are recommended and if not of the two above would you go for the more expensive model? Got a 650w motor and 12 speeds as opposed to 370w and 5 speeds, and looks to be more substantial

Thanks very much

Chris Parsons

Hi Chris,

It's only my opinion - and I have no direct experience with Axminster drill presses - but I'd go for used everytime. I had one of these modern drill presses but sold it when I got a new mill with a quill (they all seem to be the same, just different colours) and it's the same old........cheap, cheap, cheap. They even smell cheap somehow.

You do see some lovely used drills such as Boxfords, Meddings, Elliot, Denford, Fobco etc. They all scream quality........I would choose one of those every time over a new import. In my opinion these machines are infinitely superior and you will enjoy owning one.

Regards.

Edit: Just remembered - I paid about £250 for my pillar drill and the chuck it came with was an absolute abortion........if it came in a Christmas cracker I'd have been underwhelmed!

Edited By MAC on 18/03/2012 12:08:59

Chester and Warco tend to do very similar products to each other and Axminster do something a bit different. Most obviously the handles are different in this case. A quick look on the web is showing a £100 difference between the 12 speed models so you really need to get hands on to see what the real difference is.

Hi Chris

I would agree with Mac, if you want a serious machine, check out firms like Quillstar and see what you can get for similar money.

Plenty of good quality British drilling machine about that will outlast the cheaper imports.

Regards

Ian

usual disclaimer

Among the less expensive drill presses one major variation is the fit of the quill in the housing. My advice is to buy one only in person, after extending the quill and moving it around side to side and front to back. If you feel any play, don't buy it.

Also, have the seller plug it in and listen to it run. If it's smooth and quiet at several speeds you are probably OK. If it is noisy as a freight train, or shakes enough to knock a house down, don't buy it, it will drive you crazy. Sometimes these faults can be fixed but I've seen a few where it was just a bad combination of materials and design that result in a real mess, and could not get them quieted down and smooth .

I have a large floor model Taiwanese drill press , the 'King' brand in North America. It was relatively cheap to buy. It performs well, is very powerful, and is quiet. It had almost no play in the machined parts and has kept this quality for 8 years. However, when buying it and comparing units in the store, the same model machine right next to it shook like crazy when switched on, and had at least .030" side play in the quill when it was extended.

Good luck, JD

For my 2 pennorth I would say buy an older reputable make any one of the ones Mac quotes, then trot along to Arc Eurotrade and buy a £77 precision vice (screwless type).

My first experience with an "offshore" drill press was some 20+ years ago I bought a cheap "NuTool" 5 speed drill press....what a waste of money it must have had around 1/8" of play with the quill fully extended.

I see that most of the ones you see in B&Q & Wickes etc. still use that same basic "NuTool" design (and very similar castings).

I eventually bought a 12 speed drill from Warco OK it's an import but this is very nice quality, but that was some time ago when they were based in Shere and only had a three digit phone number!

I finally got around to doing something with the NuTool drill and put a slitting saw through the casting and fitted a pinch bolt which fixed the play but while cutting the slot in it I had a good chance to see how really poor quality the castings etc. were.

Regards

Paul

As everyone says do not go for one of the chingalees makes they all come out of the same factory and are badged and painted for the retailer go for a good secondhand british one you will not regret it. If you can go and inspect it first even better.

I did buy a pillar drill from old man warren when they were in esher but the finish was a hammer one not the current batch from all suppliers if you breath on it the paint flakes. regretably had to sell it as was downsizing.

My pennyworth

Bob

Edited By Springbok on 18/03/2012 20:55:12

shop around and Go for a secondhand uk built machine.

I recently got a pollard corona floor mounted drilling machine in superb condition

and not a mark on the table

for £150 lovely machine will last a lifetime

best Wishes Martin

Chris,

I don't know where you are (hint to all posters - put your location in your profile!) but in the north -east, Bede Tools (google them) often have a good range of UK made pillar drills. Well worth looking at, may be superior to new ones and offered at a sensble price.

No connection etc...

John

edited to add UK made.

Edited By John Corden on 18/03/2012 22:01:17

Thanks for all the advice everyone - I would certainly consider second hand UK but am not sure I have the knowledge to judge a good or bad example, but one poster did mention some basic tests, thank you.

I am in Exeter in the West Country and are not aware of anywhere local that sells reconditioned machines but will look around and watch the classifieds.

Don't have much room so it needs to be fairly compact, and if the bug bites enough may get a mill eventually which I guess could be a good substitue?

Best wishes

Chris

Hi Chris,

I have got a bench model Fobco Star drill. What a massively built job! Believe it weighs as much as the Myford. Two men struggled to get it in to my car but I managed it single-handed from car to bench. Just dont ask....

Am well pleased with it.

Hullo again Chris,

Just a couple of thoughts,

1. Get a decent drill vice big enough to hold likely size of work.

2. Bolt said vice down. Bolt it down! I used to think my drill vice was so heavy that I could "get away with it" when using small(ish) drills. The 3/16" drill jammed and turned work and vice round, haing snatched handle out of my hand, drill snapped vice chucked off table! I now always use a minimum of one bolt to hold vice to table.

Good luck in your search and take care - all machinery is potentially dangerous.

John

Don't know whos idea it is that all the machinery from China comes from the same factory, a large number of factories build the machines, the designs come from a centeral agency, the different factories have widely different standards. This is the reason why two seemingly identical can be so different. The best of the retailers go to China personally to purchase the machinery after inspection. Ian S C

While there are some very good Chinese machines about, I would very much agree with the majority above and buy an English or better still an Australian drill! They are relatively simple machines and with a lick of paint and a bit of fettling you will end up with a far superior machine that looks like new

Regards

Dave Tointon

Fobco star are excellent but if you can get one with a rise and fall table it makes life a whole lot easier!

I put a cross vice on mine so I can move the work under the drill under complete , accurate control.

Mind you always check belt speed ( friction welded a 10mm drill down a pilot hole some years back- I still wince when I remember that incident and the shriek it made )

Also never try to redrill a hole for a farmer in a "bit of a plough " so he could fit a bigger shear pin! By god that steel was hard. Even after oxy acetylene treatment we struggled.

Ian

Ian

I bought a far eastern import - one of the better ones from Taiwan - but....

1) Throw the chuck in the bin where it belonged and replaced it with a high quality one.

2) The quill diameter was about 10 thou smaller than the housing bore. Solved this with a cylinder of 5 thou shim brass insert into the bore. Result no play.

It is know OK for general work but for accurate drilling I use my VMB.

MCW

Just a completely different thought: If you are indeed contemplating the purchase of a milling machine, do you in fact need a drill press?

I have a drill press, but since I bought a milling machine about 25 years ago I don't think I have used it even once for metalwork; instead it is relegated to woodwork use (keeps the sawdust away from the expensive machinery). You do of course need to make sure you get a mill with a lever operated quill, but these are quite common. You will get far better precision of hole location using the X-Y travel on the mill table (and with a DRO, even better!).

The money you save on not buying the drill will make a sizeable contribution to the cost of the mill.

David

Edited By David Littlewood on 19/03/2012 13:28:43

"The money you save on not buying the drill will make a sizeable contribution to the cost of the mill."

Yes, fine, but how do I sell the idea to SWMBO ?

Dennis

Yes, this had occurred to me - I can do some drilling on the lathe and then on the mill when it comes, but I have not even bought the lathe yet, still converting the spare room into a workshop...

I think this would seem to be a logical step but I wanted something to drill wood for the home improvements so perhaps a cheaper drill press at £100 odd would not be too great a risk. Looks like a mill might set me back 1000 - 1,500 without the tooling (gulp) so this might have to wait for a while

As a complete beginner it's difficult sometimes to know where to start but I am booked on a course and am avidly reading a great deal, and trying to prepare a suitable place to install this stuff as and when I buy it...

The help and opinions are very interesting, thank you and keep them coming

Chris

Chris

I have sent you a pm.

Regards

Norman