drill press

[flying belgian]

My old Northern drill press has finally worn out. I had replaced the motor several years ago and don"t remember how many hp the original motor was. I know it was big enough and always worked good. I just replaced it with an old motor I had laying around. Now I am buying a new drill press and don"t know if 3/4 hp is enough or if I should get a 1 hp. $150 difference. Wish I new what I had originally. What do I need? Just a small farm shop mostly 1/2" bits or smaller.

 

[TimV]

If it's a reputable brand of motor with an honest 3/4 hp rating, that will be plenty of power. If it's afflicted with the current scheme of rating a motor's horsepower by its starting current, then all bets are off, as the HP will be whatever the marketing department figured would sell drill presses that day. I've successfully repowered drill presses with 1/3 hp motors, if that was what I had lying around the shop at the moment.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Like Tim says...marketing does boost the hp. Sears and all others are guilty. Old true formula: W=AxV. Wave formula. Look at the nameplate on the motor to determine true hp. Watts equals amps times volts, and 745 watts equals one hp. My '6HP compressor' motor actually developes about 4.5 hp. I have a Craftsman drill press that is over 30 years old, has a half horse motor on it, half inch chuck. Works well for most drilling, but I bought an antique machine shop drill (ok, I have two, and one is for sale) that takes the bigger bits, up to 2 inches at a slow speed. Bottom line, typical farm shop...half horse motor should be fine.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Actually, I wouldn't pay much attention to the horsepower. As the other posters said, HP ratings on power tools are usually flat-out lies.

I suggest you go by the lowest speed at which the press can be run. The lower the speed, the more torque is required and, in general, the better the press.

 

[RickB]

I shopped Sears, Lowe's and Home Depot a couple years back for a floor mounted press. Bought the Ridgid at Home Depot because it had the slowest spindle speed. All were priced close. No production use, but I like it a lot

 

[Anonymous-0]

Go for one that has low speed of 150 RPM's or less.I seen one on the internet about a week or so ago that was 120 RPM, and it was a bench top model. That really caught my attention. It's hard to find a floor model which would go that low. It was just under $400.00. I've been looking for it ever since, and can not find it. I'm beginning to think it was a typo. Or, I read it wrong.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Google; type in drill press+Model Number:M02-ZQJ4119K. Not sure if it's the one I came across or not. Still; another bench model with low spindle speed of 120 RPM.

 

[Bob - MI]

Sometimes the Home Depot and Delta websites have great deals on refurbished tools.

Not sure that I would spend more to get more HP for home shop use. As others have said lower speed = more torque.

Lots of machine shops closing down now days. Used equipment can be a great way to go.

 

[WD Tom]

I have to agree that low rpm is more impoetant thatn hp. I too agree that 150 rpm would be good. You may have to look a bit or pay a little more though. Most of the $200 drill presses in the tool catalogs are in the $200 range on sale. You will enjoy the lower speed though when you want to push a 3/4 or larger drill through steel. It will cut instead of chatter it's way thourgh and the drill will last longer before you need to sharpen it.