Are Cheap Drill Presses Worth Anything?

[Aaron SEIA]

Want a drill press so bad I can taste it. Can't find anything used. Found new Harbor Freight 16 speed 3/4 horse that goes down to 220 rpm for $270. Not going to see a lot of use, but would be drilling some 1-2" holes using hole saw bits in 1/4" steel. Reviews seemed to be ok, but not sure what kind of work they were doing. No way I can swing a $400-$500 press and tired of paying the local fab shop guy $65 an hour to do what I could be doing.
AaronSEIA

 

[Richard G.]

Have used a few cheap presses over the years. Hated them. I paid $100 for this and it gets used all the time. Champion Forge and Blower Co, Lancaster PA. I figure it must be at about 100 years old.
All I know is it does a great job.
Richard in NW SC

 

[Billy Shafer]

We have a cheap one at the feed store. Does what we need it to. Not used all the time.

 

[David G]

I have a cheap one, does what I want most of the time.

 

[4wdtom]

They aren't too bad for the money. The big problem is that 220 rpm isn't really slow enough for
much over 1/2". Sure if you have a lot of power, constant coolant flow, perfect drills well
maybe. A problem is the largest pulley on the spindle isn't large enough, the smaller the pulley
the more pull the belt needs to make to make it move and the belt will slip on the small pulley
on the center cone pulley. I have added a 9 or 10" pulley to the large pulley on the spindle of
one import I have and it works well. The problem with this drill press was the spindle broke off
at the top of the morse taper socket where the slot for the removal wedge is. I cut off the
spindle, screwed/welded on an extension, turned it to match the outside diameters, and threaded
the end for a screw on chuck. It has been good since. I never run it at high speeds as the
grafted on pulley may not stand that, I have 2 other drill presses for high and intermediate
speeds. The chuck I screwed on is a 1/2", you never need the 5/8 or 3/4" chucks these come with
as almost all drills you will use are 1/2" shank, and a hole saw will work in a 1/2" chuck too.
The problem with too fast a speed is the drill will want to chatter, and break off the corners,
then not cut, then over heat. I don't know how you get a reasonable priced drill press that will
run slow enough, 100 to 150 rpm. It seems like for just a little more they could make a model
that would run slower for metal work. The speeds on most of the imports seem more geared for wood
working.

 

[Bill in IL]

Buy what you can afford. The cheap presses are not as refined but do work. A big part of a good drill press is just having some mass and
frame strength to control the vibration. I have one very similar to what Richard has, it's not a drill press its a driling machine but it's also setup
to go below 100 rpm. I also have a little 10 inch bench top model that was cheap and very handy but it's not setup to go below 600 rpm so it's
limited in its abilities.

 

[4wdtom]

Nice machine. I have a Champion post drill that someone modified for electric power that works well too at a slow speed. It has a nice half nut at the top for automatic feed and a ratchet mechanism adjustable for 3 rates of feed. I am sure it will outlast any 3 imports.

 

[rustyfarmall]

(quoted from post at 07:24:46 03/13/16) Want a drill press so bad I can taste it. Can't find anything used. Found new Harbor Freight 16 speed 3/4 horse that goes down to 220 rpm for $270. Not going to see a lot of use, but would be drilling some 1-2" holes using hole saw bits in 1/4" steel. Reviews seemed to be ok, but not sure what kind of work they were doing. No way I can swing a $400-$500 press and tired of paying the local fab shop guy $65 an hour to do what I could be doing.
AaronSEIA

I have one of those cheapies. Made in China. Bought it used at a farm auction. VERY used. I've drilled some 3/4" holes in 1/2" plate steel, but it was very slow going. Belt kept slipping. Put on a new belt, got it as tight as possible, but it still slips before the motor will stall out. 1/2" hole in 3/8" steel works better. Disappointing? Yes. But it is better than nothing. If I could afford it, or thought I had a real need for it, I would be shopping for a used milling machine. A milling machine will put any drill press to shame.

 

[4wdtom]

Yeah, a milling machine is great, but you got to watch even them, some, especially the imports will
only go as slow as maybe 270 rpm.

 

[RayP(MI)]

I got a cheap one from TSC a few years back, thinking it was less than $100. bench mounted, but
what the heck. Works fairly well, and I feel money well spent. If I was doing holes all the time,
would want something better, but gets me by.

 

[dr sportster]

I posted this before . Here is how you check the table to the spindle: Take a piece of welding rod and bend a short 90 degree bend at each end opposite each other .Place one end in the chuck. Now rotate the chuck slowly and see if the other side sweeps the table evenly. If it scrapes one side and not the other the table is off. If you are really thrifty put the rod back in your welding rod pile.

 

[FLOLDFORD]

I picked up the little Craftsman at an auction a few years ago for around $30. It's mounted on my work bench and I use it for anything smaller than 3/8". The Powermatic I
got on a sealed bid from one of our plant machine shops they were shutting down. Think I paid $150 for with two 5 gallon buckets of Morse taper bits. It was wired 3 phase
but I fond a single phase 110 motor pretty cheap. I have drilled 1 1/8" holes in 1" plate with it . The little ones are fine for what they are intended for. Check Craigslist in
your area sometimes a decent press can be found for the price of one of the cheap imports. Any press is better than no press!

 

[loko17]

Try going to google and putting in Grizzly tools. When the next screen comes up, scroll down to "Grizzly Industrial- Ebay". Click
on that and you will see an array of tools made by Grizzly. I took a ride up to their showroom in PA and took a good look at the
various tools they offer. My impression was that they are made for heavy duty applications for the most part. They lack finishing
on some of the areas of the castings where other companies may have done so but that would be for appearances only. The other thing
I noticed is that things like belt guards, etc. are kind of "tinny". These parts do get the job done but they could be made heavier.
They are made in Tiawan (or at least they were when I visited the showroom). I don't have a Grizzly drill press as I bought both of
mine second hand from private individuals but if I was looking for one, I'd look at Grizzly. LOL

 

[CGID]

dr sportster's tip about leveling the platform is spot-on. There are fairly costly instruments that do the job quicker but they are no more accurate. When the wire just begins to scrape, matching its sound, side to side, will allow extremely accurate adjustment. I use coat-hanger wire. If the platform is off front to back, the joint where the platform pivots can be shimmed. The quill may wiggle in inexpensive or used machines. When facing the machine, and usually on the left side, there will be a screw and lock-nut just in front of the quill return spring housing. This screw can be turned in to take up the slop in the quill. Check for slop along the entire length of the quill's travel. If you look around, there are plenty of examples of ways to add speeds and larger motors.

 

[Shoprat]

Buying cheap junk from China hurts this country and has for a long time. Go ahead, it's your choice, but, I'm with Richard, find a an older Made in USA drill press, Cincinnati made fine machines and lots of them.

I had one a size or two bigger than Richards with power feed, made a lot of money with that thing, sounded like an old washing machine.

 

[Dick2]

I check out drill presses by grabbing the chuck to see how much spindle movement side-to-side there is. They claim to be adjustable, but I've never seen one that I could stop from "wobbling". I ended up with a Hitachi that Lowes was selling at the time. It had the least side-to-side movement that I could find and drilled holes better. My friend has an old Chinese cheap floor model that I hate - crude to operate and can't keep the vertical spindle from moving around.

 

[Dick L]

Dick 2 is correct.
Grab the chuck and see how much it will move side to side. I bought a cheap bench top for home several years back. I bought the cheapest drill press not because it was the cheapest. The more expensive drill presses looked like the casting came from the same factory regardless where it claimed it was manufactured and had a lot of slop. All I checked was not tight in the quill. I found one import on display that was tight. They didn't want to sell it and brought one out in a box. I made them take it out of the box so I could check it. It was not tight in the quill. I told the owner of the store if he wanted to sell a drill press to me it would have to be the one on display. They took it out and put it in the trunk of my car. The only thing I don't care for about it is it will not run slow enough to drill larger holes properly. That don't stop me but takes a bunch of trips to the post grinder with a drill bit and lots of oil. I do most bigger holes at the factory is I feel like taking the time.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I bought a used craftsmen in 1979.
Still good. I wanted another drill
press for pole barn. Yes shake hands
with the chuck. I got a delta from
Lowes. Most likely it was made in
China, but it was a clone of my old
craftsmen and just as good.

 

[504]

Watch CL for Peoria and Columbia. There are some on there about every week for a hundred and up.

 

[WGM]

Couldn't have been said better. Unfortunately, most citizens of this country just don't care where products are made.

 

[bison]

I bought a 1/2" 3/4 hp craftsman(china made) floor model 30 years ago.I added a bigger pulley to the center pulley stack for drilling up to 1 1/8".
I"ve drilled thousands of holes of every size with it over the years, some trough 3" think material.
The drill still works like a dandy.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

You can get the Ryobi at HD or Performax at Menards for only a couple of bucks more that chinese frieght, but they are much better. I have one of each and have started to only use the HF one for drilling angle iron since precision is never necessary. The others are not exactly precision instruments, but will do more of what you want than the HF.

 

[El Hombre]

I've had a similar model since '84, for drilling holes; it works. If you're going out to a 1" hole, which I've done, small pilot hole in the center punch dimple and then work your way up thru the drill index making the hole bigger. I start at 1/8", jump to 3/8", then 1/2", and so on. If you try to do it in only a couple of steps, it'll have a tendency to grab the work piece and fling it.

 

[Steve@Advance]

You'll burn up a hole saw turning it that fast in steel! At 220 RPM it will be limited to probably 5/8" drill
in steel.

If you're seriously going to be doing metal work, look around for a vertical mill, like an old Bridgeport.
Need something that will go down to 60 RPM and a way to clamp the work securely.

 

[Ken(MI)]

When I was first starting in the machine shop business back in the late seventies, I went to a LOT of auctions, had lot's of coworkers tell me to "pick up a $50.00 drill press and a $500.00
lathe for my garage while you're there". Yea, right, they were having a dream that never came true. Back then, everyone wanted a drill press and a lathe, Today you can't hardly give that
small stuff away. As I plan my retirement, I've been buying machines to equip my home shop, so far, the list includes a Cincinnati tracer mill ($350), Clausing Colchester 13" lathe ($800),
Miller 330 AB/P TIG welder ($250) Rockwell Delta drill press ($40.00) Buffalo Forge drill press ($65.00) and some others. I have not been looking very hard, and everything I've bought
requires little to no work to make it fully functional and they are all in excellent condition. The point is, keep looking, School auctions are good, and in many cases the stuff has had
little use, some of my best finds have been at these. I would look for older American made stuff, brands to look for are Walker-Turner, Buffalo, Delta, and Clausing.

 

[billfromwisconsin]

mine is similar, it is a Rockford. Those big old machines are dead on accurate and will drill through anything

 

[El Hombre]

(quoted from post at 21:15:35 03/14/16) When I was first starting in the machine shop business back in the late seventies, I went to a LOT of auctions, had lot's of coworkers tell me to "pick up a $50.00 drill press and a $500.00
lathe for my garage while you're there". Yea, right, they were having a dream that never came true. Back then, everyone wanted a drill press and a lathe, Today you can't hardly give that
small stuff away. As I plan my retirement, I've been buying machines to equip my home shop, so far, the list includes a Cincinnati tracer mill ($350), Clausing Colchester 13" lathe ($800),
Miller 330 AB/P TIG welder ($250) Rockwell Delta drill press ($40.00) Buffalo Forge drill press ($65.00) and some others. I have not been looking very hard, and everything I've bought
requires little to no work to make it fully functional and they are all in excellent condition. The point is, keep looking, School auctions are good, and in many cases the stuff has had
little use, some of my best finds have been at these. I would look for older American made stuff, brands to look for are Walker-Turner, Buffalo, Delta, and Clausing.

That's a rust belt deal; a tracer mill for $350???? I grew up there, wish I could buy there.