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Tool Talk Discussion Forum

Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press?

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Dick2

01-31-2008 04:33:18




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My 10-year-old Ryobi 10" drill press has developed quite a bit of run-out. Most of the benchtop units look like they were made by the same Chinese manufacturers. The Hitachi looks like the Craftsman, but is $50 higher. Hitchi has bad customer reviews, but Craftsman has good reviews??? Wonder what's up with that?

Couldn't figure out how to get the Ryobi apart yesterday. Couldn't pull the top pulley off of the shaft. No info in the Ryobi manual.

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Don c

02-03-2008 05:45:09




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
Just about all the benchtop ones I have looked at run to fast, can't slow them down, need different pullies on them. Don c



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trucker40

02-01-2008 15:08:57




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
You cant hardly even find a new one thats good.Look for a old one.



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Southern Ray

02-01-2008 08:20:11




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
I had a Delta till it got stolen. Replaced it with a Craftsman. Both are OK for what I do. Neither one had a decent chuck. I put good chucks on both of them. I had to build an idler pully for my Craftsman to keep the belt from slipping.



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Jerry/MT

01-31-2008 11:09:50




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
I bought a a Palmgren 20 inch floor model drill press through Amazon in 2006. They had just started ofering them and they had quite a few five star reports from owners; woodworkers, gunsmiths, machinists, and, hobbists. It had great reviews. Palmgren guaranteed the runout to be less than 0.0005" and it came with a 2 year warrantee. It cost ~$500 and they make benchtop models. Absolutely no competitor had a guarantee on runout, at least at that time anyway.

I"m sure it was made in China but Palmgren is a respected name, a US companty headquartered in Chicago, and when I had a question and dialed the toll free number, I got an American engineer on the other end that answered my question on the spot-in American English. I asked him where he was at and he said in Chicago.

I looked around for used drill presses and there were not a lot of them around and most were 3 phase and located in the East,( Not a lot of heavy industry here in Montana!) so shipping cost was a problem. I have used it to fabricate parts for a handline trailer I was repairing and to fab several things around te ranch and it has performed flawlessly.

My first choice would have been an American industrial machine but I couldn"t find one the size I needed at an affordable price, when you included shipping and conversion to a single phase motor.( And I had no way of knowing what condition the machine was in from 2000 miles away.) So I settled on the Palmgren and Amazon had a special with free shipping and that"s what I got. I"m sure there are other excellent brands out there but that"s the process I used to select mine.

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Dick L

01-31-2008 10:39:31




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
Dick2, I bought a bench top drill press several years back. Probly 1983. I went to Sears and the wood working tool store and the Discount stores like Harbor Freight. I ended up buying at one of the tool discount places that had six drill presses setting side by side. My late wife could not understand why I didn't just get one and go home instead of going back and forth between the stores over and over.
But: What I found was that when you pulled the quill all the way down most all would move back and forth. The top dollar wood working tool store drill press had more play than one of the six at the discount store. The only difference that I could tell other than that was the paint and name. The one I bought had almost no movement when I pulled and pushed on the chuck with it all the way down. I actually bought the cheapest one but not because of the price.
I bid a job that the part had to have a hole fixture drilled. We do about 20,000 of those a year. I bought the drill press for my home shop but bring it to the factory to drill these parts several times a year. We have been doing this for over ten years and the drill is still tighter than the more expensive brand name drill presses. The store wanted to sell me one in a box and I said no I only want that one. You get a good one by shopping and checking how they were put together not by name.

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Bud in WV

01-31-2008 09:30:25




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
Sevral years ago I had to set up a mobile machine shop for turbine work. I found some great deals on used machine tools from the local machine tool rebuilder. That one was in SC but there's gotta be one close to you. A drill press that's too small or old for a shop is still great for a home shop. There's usually a lot of old American made stuff, too.
Another source may be a local auction company. I used to go one in Charlotte, NC - mostly farm equipment and tractors but plenty of lathe's, mills, drill presses and such, too. Good luck!

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rockyhawaii

01-31-2008 09:00:38




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
I've used a Delta for twenty years with no problem.



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Village Blacksmith

01-31-2008 17:33:40




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to rockyhawaii, 01-31-2008 09:00:38  
I have a heavy duty press, sits on the bench, and it is 45 years old and is as good as new. It is a Walker-Turner, by Rockwell. It is very heavy, but I have not seen one as sturdily built.



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Village Blacksmith

01-31-2008 17:33:12




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to rockyhawaii, 01-31-2008 09:00:38  
I have a heavy duty press, sits on the bench, and it is 45 years old and is as good as new. It is a Walker Turner, by Rockwell. It is very heavy, but I have not seen one as sturdily built.



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Village Blacksmith

01-31-2008 17:32:17




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to rockyhawaii, 01-31-2008 09:00:38  
I have a heavy duty press, sits on the bench, and it is 45 years old and is as good as new. It is a Walker Turner, by Rockwell. It is very heavy, but I have not seen one as sturdily built.



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Village Blacksmith

01-31-2008 17:31:01




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to rockyhawaii, 01-31-2008 09:00:38  
I have a heavy duty press, sits on the bench, and it is 45 years old and is as good as new. It is a Walker-Turner, by Rockwell. It is very heavy, but I have not seen one as sturdily built.



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markiz41

01-31-2008 08:51:38




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
Couldn't pull the top pulley off of the shaft.

Are you referring to the motor shaft or the quill spindle? There should be a recessed set screw in one of the steps, look closely. If you can get the thing apart and put in new bearings, that may fix it. But I would look at the chuck jaws first and quill play in the housing second.



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Mike M

01-31-2008 07:56:33




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
After owning a milling machine I would not even buy a drill press. Bench top mills can be found. There are some ok imports like around.



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oldfarmtractor

01-31-2008 07:12:51




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
I have two floor units. Both were for free. It is amazing how people have tools, something breaks and they toss it out.

One is a Delta-Excellent
Other is Craftsman - Excellent



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bill mart

01-31-2008 14:11:40




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to oldfarmtractor, 01-31-2008 07:12:51  
what was broke on them?



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oldfarmtractor

01-31-2008 15:44:52




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to bill mart, 01-31-2008 14:11:40  
What was broke?

In one case, the coil spring that returns the quill to the top popped off its anchor. I reattached it for the guy but he already bought a new press.

The other one had an electrical problem. I rewired the cordage and switch and it worked fine. Another case when a new item was faster than getting the old one repaired.

Ya never know.



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Dave Sherburne NY

01-31-2008 07:02:57




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
I have an old BUFFALO bench top Drill Press that I
bought at an auction heavy and well built. Try to find an old one.



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Pollack Pete

01-31-2008 06:10:52




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Dick2, 01-31-2008 04:33:18  
Look for an old American made drill press.Even if it needs some repairs,it will be far better than any of the crap out there today.Just my opinion.



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rustyj

01-31-2008 07:00:32




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 Re: Anybody know of a good benchtop drill press? in reply to Pollack Pete, 01-31-2008 06:10:52  
Ahh yes, we must all now worship at the altar of cheaply made tools, imported from some other country, mainly China! WOO-HOO!! And, what do ya get?? Cheap tools! Go to garage sales, flea markets, and look for a Delta drill press sold new by Sears-Roebuck. Look for other older models of machine tools made in the U.S.A. The stuff being sold new today is mainly useful as boat anchors!



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