# Central Machinery (HF) 38142 12" DP



## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

*Central Machinery (HF) 38142 13" DP*

I recently purchased the Harbor Freight Central Machinery 38142 13" 16 speed benchtop DP after looking at the Craftsman 12", Hitachi, Ryobi, Harbor Freight, Griz, Northern Tool, and Delta. It was a replacement for my undersized 8" Grizzly. HF isn't known for their stellar quality and I was a bit apprehensive about buying it, but DPs are a fairly simple device and I've heard several good reports from other HF DP owners. At this point I'm fairly impressed, and think I'd need to spend considerably more money to do better. I really didn't notice much quality difference between the group of DPs that I compared. The 38142 is rated at 3/4hp, and has alot more power than my 8" Griz 1/2hp did, so I'm thinking the motor rating is fairly accurate. It weighs ~ 125# so is plenty stable. There's no detectable runout, and the quill travel is > 3". It runs smooth, strong, and true. My only complaint so far is that it's very tall for a bench DP...~ 42". I'm thinking about cutting ~ 3" off the post to bring the height down. It doesn't have any gizmos like laser guides, work light, or digital readouts, but seems to be strong in the basics. This DP retails for $195, but was on sale for $160, plus I had a 10% coupon that brought it down to $144. There are two HF stores in my area that both have liberal return policies, so I felt that my risk was fairly low. I didn't expect it to perform as well as it does, but there definitely are some gems mixed in with the "clutter" at HF. :thumbsup: 

So far, so good, but I'll post an update if my impression sours over time.

Machined steel column features rack and pinion table movement. Cast iron table is accurately gauged, tilts to 45° left or right. Precision chuck holds bit from the smallest wire gauge to the largest size with 5/8'' shank. Morse taper spindle for versatility. Adjustable depth stop and gauge included. Table and base are slotted for easy vise installation. UL listed. 
Chuck capacity: 7/64'' to 5/8''
Column diameter: 2-57/64''
Spindle stroke: 3-1/8''
Motor HP: 3/4
Spindle Taper: MT2
Table size: 11-1/2'' diameter
Spindle Speeds: 16
Swing: 13-7/8''
Spindle RPM: 240 - 3600
Base size: 17-5/8'' x 10''
Height: 41-3/4''
Tool weight: 125 lbs.
ITEM 38142-7VGA


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## Geoguy (Feb 22, 2008)

Good looking machine and you can't beat the price. I think you'll be happy with that purchase. You may want to make a larger table with some type of backrest or fence and you'll like it even better.

Congrats! :thumbsup:


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

Geoguy said:


> Good looking machine and you can't beat the price. I think you'll be happy with that purchase. You may want to make a larger table with some type of backrest or fence and you'll like it even better.
> 
> Congrats! :thumbsup:


Great idea. I plan to do that soon now that there's sufficient power and capacity to even bother with! 

Thanks. :smile:


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## Graphiti (Mar 29, 2008)

Harbor freight gets most of their Large power tools from the same factories as many of the higher end companies, Sears for instance. I have several stationery tools from H.F. These range from a 14" Band saw and 8 drill presses to My table saw, a 6" belt -12" disk sander, and a horizontal metal cutting band saw. 0f all these tools, the table saw is the only one I've had any trouble With. Being a fabricator by trade the mods to saw were no big deal. The main fault in the saw was a low quality rip fence and a weak leg assembly. This was solved with a $150 Delta rip fence, and replacement of the weak leg assembly with a welded l/2" angle steel base. The Trunnion assembly is as good as I've seen on any saw costing less than $1200. Now the saw cuts so smoothly I have difficulty telling which side of a board was jointed on my Delta jointer and which side was Cut on the table saw... You may find vibration to be a problem, If so just replace the belts with a higher quality belt such as the "twist Lock" belt from Rockler.com. The belt is expensive but its worth twice the price, it completly eliminated vibration on the saw's and drill presses that I put it on.
I think the best aspect of the tools from H.F. is the price is so low it is feasible to buy multiples of a single tool and set some up in a manner that's dedicated to a Single purpose, hence, the reason I have 8 drill passes. Three are st up to produce a pre-measured pattern, at $24.00 each, they paid for themselves the first week I had them.
I am sorry for rambling. But I need to mention one more thing, 3" electrical conduit works nicely to convert the bench Model to a floor standing DP.


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

Knotscott Instead of cutting the post off, build cabinet under it. It looks like you have a ,(what I call a 3/4 model) They make floor models, and bench top models, and one in between. Mine is to short to sit on the floor and to tall to sit on the work bench, so I made a low work bench out of 2 x 10 about 24" off the floor. It made the DP the perfict height to work with.


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

Handyman said:


> Knotscott Instead of cutting the post off, build cabinet under it. It looks like you have a ,(what I call a 3/4 model) They make floor models, and bench top models, and one in between. Mine is to short to sit on the floor and to tall to sit on the work bench, so I made a low work bench out of 2 x 10 about 24" off the floor. It made the DP the perfict height to work with.


Thanks for the idea. My shop area is about 1/3 of the floor space of a standard 2 car garage and is really tight. To be efficient, I've had to have my DP on a rolling tool box along with my sander and mortiser, all on a lazy susan....my 9" BS used to be on there too, but the switch to a bigger 12" model means that it now takes up floor space along with my portable planer that's on it's own rolling stand...plus the TS/router, plus the DC, plus the jointer, plus the workbench...you get the idea. I may need to rethink the whole layout a bit before I do something as drastic as cutting the post down. I'll post some pics if I figure out anything clever that I'm proud of. :thumbsup: If not, I'll be begging for more ideas like this one! :notworthy:


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

Thanks to you guys for talking me out of cutting the post down to size. I ended removing the lazy susan and oversized granite table top from my rolling tool box to lower the overall height by ~ 4.5", and moved my mortiser to a less convenient location since it doesn't see as much use. The DP now sits next to my Ridgid OSS, and the chuck is no longer at face height...it's still a tad higher than I'd like but I no longer feel like I'm gutting take a workpiece in the chops! . Getting rid of the granite took ~ 100# off the rolling tool box and it's alot easier to roll around now. :thumbsup: I do plan to build a DP table for it.

I'm still very pleased with this humble HF DP. It's got so much more power than I'm used to and runs vibration free. It cuts a 2-1/8" diameter hole like nothing. For those considering this unit, it's worth mentioning that it's bigger in person than it looks in that pic.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*You got to be kiddin' me*



knotscott said:


> Thanks for the idea.* My shop area is about 1/3 of the floor space of a standard 2 car garage and is* really tight. To be efficient, I've had to have my DP on a rolling tool box along with my sander and mortiser, all on a lazy susan....my 9" BS used to be on there too, but the switch to a bigger 12" model means that it now takes up floor space along with my portable planer that's on it's own rolling stand...plus the TS/router, plus the DC, plus the jointer, plus the workbench...you get the idea. I may need to rethink the whole layout a bit before I do something as drastic as cutting the post down. I'll post some pics if I figure out anything clever that I'm proud of. :thumbsup: If not, I'll be begging for more ideas like this one! :notworthy:


Are you still in this shop space scott?:blink: bill


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

Yep...my shop footprint has "crept" to close to 1/2 though! :shifty:


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## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

I have seen that "humble" HF drill press. It's not that much different mechanically from my Northern Industrial 15" floor model... At a lower price (new, I got mine used...). I hadn't considered a Harbor Freight drill press at the time I had bought mine, seeing all the really good reviews on this one though, really looks like you got a winner!


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## gfadvm (Jun 23, 2011)

*Drill Press Table*

Go back to HF and buy their drill press table. It is cheaper than I could build one and has worked very well. Fence is square to the table, replacable insert,attachment knobs,etc for under $35.


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

I've said that some if not most HF DP's were good for years for the same reason knotscott mentioned. There pretty basic and hard to mess up. I have the 20" floor model. They use the same factory as Grizzly and Shop Fox from what I can tell because when I bought mine it looked like a Grizzly DP with the depth gauge of the Shop Fox model which is owned by Grizzly.

My only complaint was getting use to the different depth gauge type and I've had it for like 4 years if not longer.


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