# Decent inexpensive drill press



## Marine04

I'm needing to buy a inexpensive drill press capable of making clean level holes in 6/4 about 3/4 down for candle holders I'm selling. I haven't had any luck on Craigslist. I've seen some good brands but they all look older than I am. I'm thinking about breaking down and buying either the skil model at lowes or the ryobi model at HD. Any thoughts? Do you guys think they will do the job and last for a little while?


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## BigJoe16

I have the craftsman 2/3 hp bench too drill press. It works better than it should. I bought it on sale from sears hardware for $80. It easy spins a 2" Forster but threw bowl blanks. 

As for it's durability, we use that same model at work to bring to job sites to drill 1/2" holes threw 1/4 and 3/8" steel plate. I think that DP is almost 3 years old and only has a new belt. It gets beat up, knocked over, and thrown in the back of a truck and hasn't given us problems. 

I'd go for that one 10 out of 10 times over a Skil or ryobi machine.


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## Marine04

BigJoe16 said:


> I have the craftsman 2/3 hp bench too drill press. It works better than it should. I bought it on sale from sears hardware for $80. It easy spins a 2" Forster but threw bowl blanks. As for it's durability, we use that same model at work to bring to job sites to drill 1/2" holes threw 1/4 and 3/8" steel plate. I think that DP is almost 3 years old and only has a new belt. It gets beat up, knocked over, and thrown in the back of a truck and hasn't given us problems. I'd go for that one 10 out of 10 times over a Skil or ryobi machine.


Right on. I'll check out craftsman. I did see a couple at Sears tonight. Is the one you're running the one that usually cost 129?


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## Masterjer

I have a Ryobi and I hate it. I'll sell it to ya cheap!? I'm looking to upgrade to a "real" drill press.


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## lilman

Bout a small benchtop drill press from HF a few months ago and have been pleased with it so far. Depth stop is a little "eh" but it's manageable.


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## Gilgaron

Do you have room for a full size? Several others here and myself have the Porter Cable drill press from Lowes and it works quite well and isn't very expensive.


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## Marine04

Gilgaron said:


> Do you have room for a full size? Several others here and myself have the Porter Cable drill press from Lowes and it works quite well and isn't very expensive.


Yeah I was going to build a small table with cabinet for a bench top press so a full size won't be a problem. I'll go up there and check out the PC. I have a PC table saw and jig saw and love them. Good advice


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## MT Stringer

Marine04 said:


> Yeah I was going to build a small table with cabinet for a bench top press so a full size won't be a problem. I'll go up there and check out the PC. I have a PC table saw and jig saw and love them. Good advice


If you buy a cheap, underpowered drill press you will most likely get what you pay for...and be disappointed in it's performance. I had a small /delta but sold it and bought a larger benchtop model with 3/4 hp motor. it is working pretty good but I can still bog it down with big forstner bits (3" +) or hole saws (4-5 inches in dia).

Cabinet, you say?

Here are a few pics of the cabinet I built. Works great! And so does the table.


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## Marine04

MT Stringer said:


> If you buy a cheap, underpowered drill press you will most likely get what you pay for...and be disappointed in it's performance. I had a small /delta but sold it and bought a larger benchtop model with 3/4 hp motor. it is working pretty good but I can still bog it down with big forstner bits (3" +) or hole saws (4-5 inches in dia). Cabinet, you say? Here are a few pics of the cabinet I built. Works great! And so does the table.


That is a good looking cabinet and drawers. So far the biggest stuff I am needing to drill is 1 5/8". So are the delta DP not that great? I was assuming they were pretty good. I think I'll probably go with the port cable floor model. I checked it out and online it says it's 299.00 and I've been really happy with porter cable as of late


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## MT Stringer

Marine04 said:


> That is a good looking cabinet and drawers. So far the biggest stuff I am needing to drill is 1 5/8". So are the delta DP not that great? I was assuming they were pretty good. I think I'll probably go with the port cable floor model. I checked it out and online it says it's 299.00 and I've been really happy with porter cable as of late


For my purposes, the motor was too small. It might work well for you.


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## TimPa

Marine04 said:


> I'm needing to buy a inexpensive drill press capable of making clean level holes in 6/4 about 3/4 down for candle holders I'm selling. I haven't had any luck on Craigslist. I've seen some good brands but they all look older than I am. I'm thinking about breaking down and buying either the skil model at lowes or the ryobi model at HD. Any thoughts? Do you guys think they will do the job and last for a little while?


not to offend you, but my first thoughts were an older used model. so many machines are built of lesser quality today. if working properly, those "older than me" models are likely to be better than a box store dp of today. not too much can go bad on a dp. just my opinion.


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## Tilaran

TimPa said:


> not to offend you, but my first thoughts were an older used model. so many machines are built of lesser quality today. if working properly, those "older than me" models are likely to be better than a box store dp of today. not too much can go bad on a dp. just my opinion.


Amen ! Porter Cable, Craftsman, Grizzly. All the same crap. Get an old, old, press and buy a high quality keyless chuck and, if it's low HP, adapt a kickin motor to it. You'll have 3 times more $ in it but you'll have a 57 Chevy instead of a P.O.S. Hyundai.
HERE's a REAL drill press !
http://www.mkctools.com/tachdeltadp.htm


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## Marine04

TimPa said:


> not to offend you, but my first thoughts were an older used model. so many machines are built of lesser quality today. if working properly, those "older than me" models are likely to be better than a box store dp of today. not too much can go bad on a dp. just my opinion.


Yeah I know what you mean. Seems like black and decker has bought every tool company to make sure we can't go to a store and get a good tool. I've noticed a down turn in quality in just the last 8 years. It is unfortunate


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## railaw

Marine04 said:


> Yeah I know what you mean. Seems like black and decker has bought every tool company to make sure we can't go to a store and get a good tool. I've noticed a down turn in quality in just the last 8 years. It is unfortunate


Then Stanley bought black & decker!


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## Marine04

railaw said:


> Then Stanley bought black & decker!


I didn't know that. It's pretty tough keeping up with all the ownership changes. Seems like stuff changes all of the time. I do have to say I have been pretty pleased with porter cable. I've been really happy with my table saw and jig saw


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## Bigdaddybama92

Not to argue, but Dewalt owns Black and Decker. Stanley didn't purchase B&D.


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## Marine04

Bigdaddybama92 said:


> Not to argue, but Dewalt owns Black and Decker. Stanley didn't purchase B&D.


I thought black and decker bought dewalt?


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## Bigdaddybama92

You are correct! My bad. They own Dewalt, Porter Cable, and a buch of other names u see


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## Marine04

Bigdaddybama92 said:


> You are correct! My bad. They own Dewalt, Porter Cable, and a buch of other names u see


Yeah that kind of worries me. I'm concerned that all the big names that make good tools will start being made with black and decker quality. So far bought two porter cable tools in the last couple months and been very happy. I haven't bought any dewalt stuff in a long time and when I did it was drills and sawzaws which I've had for about 5 years and the still work great. I have had to replace some batteries though. Dewalt batteries used to last me about 1-2 years but I was using them everyday doing electrical work. I do still plan on upgrading to a dewalt orbital sander though and buy their benchtop planer I'll just cross my fingers and hope the quality is still there


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## Bigdaddybama92

I worked for them about 5 urs ago and I remember that they really didn't want dewalt to be associated w/b&d to the consumer. But at that time dewalt was considerably better quality of coarse


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## Marine04

Bigdaddybama92 said:


> I worked for them about 5 urs ago and I remember that they really didn't want dewalt to be associated w/b&d to the consumer. But at that time dewalt was considerably better quality of coarse


Do you know how the quality is now? I know 5 years ago it was really good


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## reynoldston

I see a lot of drill presses on E-bay. When I bought my drill press 15 years ago I got it just for wood working so I bought the Delta 5 speed radial arm drill press. Its been a good drill press for me seeing its designed for wood working. If I try to use the bigger bits it is underpowered which is very rare. I sure would be lost without it in my shop. Hope you find something that fits your needs.


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## Pirate

When I see a machine older than I am (66) I'm usually looking at a quality machine. Heck, even machines 20 years younger than me!
Seen some real nice old benchtop dp's for $50 +/- Floor models $75 - $150
A cheap drill press is better than no drill press. If bought used, you could use it, until a better one came along. Before you know it, you find a keeper. I've been upgrading my machines for years.


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## Marine04

Pirate said:


> When I see a machine older than I am (66) I'm usually looking at a quality machine. Heck, even machines 20 years younger than me! Seen some real nice old benchtop dp's for $50 +/- Floor models $75 - $150 A cheap drill press is better than no drill press. If bought used, you could use it, until a better one came along. Before you know it, you find a keeper. I've been upgrading my machines for years.


That's a very good point. I don't see myself having an extra 300 anytime soon and the list of things I need have grown this week so I may buy a 100 dollar press for now and just sell it a month or two down the road and put the money toward the one I want


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## Cmac08

Look at grizzly.... The full size start around 300.... I have almost all grizzly tools and I am very very pleased with the quality


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## Marine04

Cmac08 said:


> Look at grizzly.... The full size start around 300.... I have almost all grizzly tools and I am very very pleased with the quality


I'll check them out. I was thinking about getting a grizzly band saw because my friend just got one and really seems to like it


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## CaptainMarvel

Any thoughts/experience with the 16-Speed Heavy Duty Bench Drill Press?










http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-16-speed-bench-drill-press-38142.html


With a 25% Discount coupon, it would/should come to about $187.50


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## Anywhy30

Tilaran said:


> Amen ! Porter Cable, Craftsman, Grizzly. All the same crap. Get an old, old, press and buy a high quality keyless chuck and, if it's low HP, adapt a kickin motor to it. You'll have 3 times more $ in it but you'll have a 57 Chevy instead of a P.O.S. Hyundai.
> HERE's a REAL drill press !
> http://www.mkctools.com/tachdeltadp.htm


Lol..luv that


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## Brian T.

I have a dinky little benchtop 8" Delta, was maybe $100. I can get it to do all sorts of things for me, including carving and shaping slate stone and abalone shell. What I lack is a good drill press work holder-vise. For any need of precision (and there's very little), that's the keystone in the process.


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## Marine04

Well I ended up getting tired a waiting and bought a new craftsman 10in 5 speed DP. I paid for it on the sears app and got 15 off for buying online and then my wife found me a sears coupon online for power tools and when I keyed it in I got an extra 15 off of the discounted price. Came out to about 124. So far I've been pretty happy with it. I put a bessey 4 in DP vice clamp on it last night and worked out perfectly. I also went back a few days ago and bought that little craftsmanship router/ grinder dp work table for 30 bucks instead of buying nice wood and making my own. Thought about making my own table but it was quicker and cheaper to buy theirs. Only thing I don't like is that I run a 1 9/16 forstner bit the most and the recommended speed for that bit a a little lower than the lowest setting but it's worked out great with no burning. I'm pretty satisfied but would like to upgrade to one of the 1,800 floor models woodcraft sells once I build my new shop and have the space 
I'm going to put drawers on the bottom shelf for bits and clamps. Plan to drill a bunch of holes in 1 1/2" mdf and stick my forstner bits in it and put it in one of the drawers. Here's a pic of the setup so far


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## Hawkeye1434

Looks great marine04, I was going to say once your ready for a full size someday I got the porter cable from lowes and I love it


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## Marine04

Hawkeye1434 said:


> Looks great marine04, I was going to say once your ready for a full size someday I got the porter cable from lowes and I love it


Thanks man! 
So far I love this one! For what I use it for it does a great job. The largest forstner but I use on it is 1 9/16" for candle holders and although I can only set it as low as 640 rpm and my woodriver 1 9/16 bit recommends 540 I think it still has worked with no problem. Once I get my shop built in the back yard which I plan on it being about 12x20 I do plan to start upgrading to bigger and better tools and that PC DP is on the top of my list


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## yank

I bought the Ridgid floor model from the Big Orange, less then $150, 3 years ago and it works flawlessly. I don't even have it mounted to the floor, and it has not moved. 
You may want to look into this when you think about upgrading tools.


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## Marine04

yank said:


> I bought the Ridgid floor model from the Big Orange, less then $150, 3 years ago and it works flawlessly. I don't even have it mounted to the floor, and it has not moved. You may want to look into this when you think about upgrading tools.


I've never seen a rigid DP at HD. If I had I would have probably gone that route. I'll definitely check it out once I'm ready to upgrade


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