Dont get me wrong, I have the money for a mill, but whenever I buy something expensive, something breaks. Im basically trying to get by while Im saving up for a mill. However you can still run into the same sorts of issues you run into with 3in1 machines and multipurpose tools.Īll good stuff to know. I haven't gone this route simply because I'm still building up the metal working portion of the shop. For many they are a far better benchtop drill press than can be had these days at a reasonable price. Is considerably more precision in the build of these machines so that is a big plus right there. Someplace in the middle is the various mill/drill machines. Let's face it a floor standing drill press leaves a lot to be desired, feel wise, when it comes to small drills. That can be a DIY machine like offered up for a pillar tool, a used industrial machine or something like a Servo drill press. If you find yourself doing a lot of work with wire gage drills and similar precision work consider a drill press meant for such work. However I'm going to suggest a machine with at least 1/2 HP and a wide range of spindle speeds. What that means to you specifically I don't know. You want enough Horse Power to handle a variety of jobs on a machine strong enough to handle that HP. That is a mythical HF machine that produces results beyond anybodies expectation.Īs such I'm going to suggest, as many other have already, to get a floor standing drill press and to look for the better quality machines. Maybe you will get lucky and walk out of the store with a unicorn. So if you are expecting to chuck a #40 drill or something similarly small in the chuck and get good results you should put that idea out of your mind. In any event my opinion is that none of these machines is ideal for modeling or small precision work. Big is useful though as I can drill holes, drum sand and do a host of other activities on the machine. Even though I went with a slightly larger drill press, in the hopes of getting better quality, it is still a "cheap" drill press in my mind. I don't really think having two is excessive as I use them a lot for both metal and wood working. In my case this is my second drill press. I don't have the model number handy but it has speed ranges that can cover much of what I do. It is a passable machine with plenty of power. So I compromised by buying a larger machine, a floor standing model. In general I have high expectations for machinery but often a deflated wallet, so I try to choose wisely. Mind you I checking this by grabbing the chuck and was not delighted at all with what I felt. If the quill wobbles all over the place it really doesn't matter if the spindle runs true. Considering that I wanted a machine that could drill with precision especially in the smaller diameters most of those low end machines where basically useless. Everyone of those lower end benchtop and free standing machines had terrible wobble in the quill assembly and general looseness to the assembly work. I had the intention of buying a low end floor standing model but that idea was trashed when looking at the units they had on display in the showroom. Years is probably close to 40 years ago and frankly it is a better machine than they are selling now.Ī couple of years ago I went down to Muncy to purchase a drill press from Grizzly. I've actually have considered making a new spindle for it it is so bad. It isn't t a bad design but the spindle run out is terrible. I purchased a HF quasi benchtop drill press years ago. In any event some comments about drill presses below: If you need power or think you need power this is the wrong machine for you. 1/3 HP (real HP, not Chinese stall torque) is probably the frames limit. On the other hand you can't expect much at all out of such a frame.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |