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I'm in agreement that $39 isn't a very big gamble these days! I teach Industrial Technology in a large Indiana Junior High School. If that isn't an atmosphere for potential tool mis-use, I don't know what is! About 15 years ago, I had a chance to pick up two little bench-top drill presses for about $30 each. I got them and the school PTO re-imbursed me. Those things have endured almost daily duty in the hands of 6th-8th grade kids without much trouble. The return spring for the quill broke on each of them in the first month or so we had them. I eliminated this problem by boring out the center of a pulley to fit on the shaft which raises the quill. Then I installed the recoil starter mechanism from a Sears Eager1 (Tecumseh) engine on the column next to the motor, and ran the cord to the pulley. This provided an efficient and adjustable quill return mechanism. End of that problem. One of them had a break in the table clamp from being knocked onto the floor (don't ask...) and we solved that problem by installing a small piece of 1/8" steel on top of the broken side, using self-tapping screws to attach it to the broken cast piece. No additional problem there. I keep waiting for the little motors to burn up, but they haven't. The chucks were 1/2" capacity, and have given no trouble. The handles stay put now, since I added some Loctite to the threads. We've drilled wood, plastic, aluminum and steel with them. They aren't high-powered, but they weren't high-priced. At $30 each, they've probably cost us less than 1 cent per hour!
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