Tech Request: Drill Press Buyer's Guide

I have a old Fosdick drill press. It has a 1/2 chuck, belt driven, weighs 500lbs+. It was left in my shop when I bought the house. After using it for 3-4years I was going to haul it off for scrap. I asked a good friend of mine Chris who is a machinest what I should look for in a new drill press. He asked me what was wrong with "The Big Dick". I told him my problems, and he said I just needed to do a little tune up. We replaced the chuck, washed, cleaned, lubed and adjusted everything, had the old belt shortened, wired a new switch. We made a new table that bolted to the old one, with a wider work surface. I could not be happier with how it turned out. It is one of my favorite tools, and it has more charm, and personality then any other tool I own. Now it works as good as it ever did.

Not long after we finished the R&R on the drill press, Chris hooked me up with a 1982 Enco mill/drill. One of the guys he works with was upgrading his personal hobby shop, and was selling the Mill/drill. It came with a nice vice, rotary table, collets, and a bunch of tooling. I was then given a couple hour crash course on milling operation. The whole package was $500. The difference drilling with the vice and adjustable table is night and day.
I set up my old drill press as a hole saw tube notcher. It makes tube work a breeze now.

I am not sure I would go out and buy a new enco mill/drill, but have been very happy with mine. Not all the older stuff is made better, but just like our old cars there is tons of old equipment that will serve you well.

 

My advice is the same as some of the others...go find a GOOD used one...if I had a preference it would be for a Rockwell...that said, if ya can't find a good old one...buy Grizzly...Grizzly owns the old Delta/Porter cable plant in Taiwan,,,they build it there then ship over here and tear them down and reassemle to specs...the also re-wind many motors here...I have buddies with Grizzly tools and have never heard bad things about them...

 

the shop class next to mine has all grizzly tools......they have held up but over-all i don't care for them.....especially compared to my old delta/rockwell stuff......BUT grizzly isn't too bad for the price......the thing i see most (and this stuff is used everyday by KIDS (the real test of things) is things like the plastic knobs/handles etc....VERY cheap and break really easily....now, for a home owner that takes cars of his tools, probably not a problem....

a buddy of mine and i went to lowes and looked at their delta drill presses about 4 years ago......nice looking (i have one at my school shop) pretty good pc. of eq. after lowes, we went to one of those little stores on the corner that has used/new Chinese tools, etc.....anyway, they had a drill press there that was the same color, same plastic guards, etc......looked/felt just like the delta we had looked at but without the decals....about half the price.........i don't know if the tolerances are the same but he has been using it ever since....

just some more change to throw in the pile

 

On the subject of equipping a home shop, years ago I bought an old used band saw from a "used everything" store. It was a Craftsman 3-wheel deep throat (not that kind) model made for wood working. I used some pullies bought at the same store and "geared" it down to about 110 fpm (feet per minute). The saw worked great for many years with metal cutting blades in it. It was no powerhouse but I had all of $75 invested in it and I cut many yards of metal with it. Years later I sold it for what I had in it and got a new Wilton.

 

You're getting some good advice here. 500 RPMs max. When you get it home put a foot switch on it before you use it. There' nothing worse then getting a drill stuck with one hand on the vise, and the other holding the quill. Trust me you can't turn off the switch with your tongue, I've tried.

 

Can you tie cherry stems in knots with your tongue? I think you have to learn to do that first then you move on to operating power tools.

500 rpms is the top end for metal, eh? Good to know. I read about the foot switch--mainly about a convenience factor--though I guess being able to stop your hands from being turned into hamburger might be considered a luxury in certain situations.
Thanks everyone.

Tucker

 

Id seriously check out the sears craftsman floor mount drill press with the laser beam that shoots down a grid on item your drilling to find center cooler than hell,really works good for engine turning.

 

What you want is a radial arm drill, pal. They make 'em big enough you'll have to use a forklift or crane to move your part.

 

Try bolting the vise to the table.

 

i'd shoot for something that has a slowest speed of about 300 or lower. the "recommended" speed for a 1/2" drill is about 500 RPM accounting for cutting fluid, i run a bit slower than that when drilling manually in a mill, and at whatever the slowest speed is on a drill press, around 250-300 usually. 500 will roast a 1/2" bit in steel on a drill press. if you'll ever consider drilling materials more exotic than steel like stainless, even slower speed is necessary.

 

I know about Shop Fox W1668 Bench-Top Drill press. This drill press is good quality and has the additional feature to be used as a sanding drum that moves up and down. Great power for a press that fits on a workbench.

 

Get one that uses taper shank drill bits, you'll never go back to the round shank ones again.

 

FYI
SPEEDS FOR DRILLING
A. Speed refers to the revolutions per minutes of the drill press spindle. For efficiency in specific drilling operations, the spindle should rotate at a certain number of revolutions per minutes, and the drill should feed into the work a certain distance (usually in thousandths of an inch) for each revolution. On a sensitive drill press where a hand feed is used, the spindle is turned as fast as possible without undo wear to the drill. The feed is determined by feel through the hand fed lever. When using the power feed, the speeds and feeds are set by control levers and must be determined before starting the job.
B. Drill speeds ‑ The speed at which various metals may be cut is expressed in terms of feet per minute (F.P.M) or surface foot speed (S.F.S.). Both numbers indicate the distance that a point on the outer edge of the cutting tool will travel in one minute. A small drill must rotate much faster than a large one in order to cut the same F.P.M. No hard and fast rule can be laid down for drilling speeds suitable for the various materials. The proper speed will usually vary with the conditions of each specific operation. Table 1 gives suggested peripheral speeds in surface feet per minute for drilling various materials with high-speed drills. Speeds for ordinary carbon steel drills should be half of those suggested for high-speed drills.
C. Determining R.P.M. of a drill to find revolutions per minute, the drill press operator either consults a table to find the speed (in F.P.M.) at which the tool should revolve for the material to be worked, or he makes his own calculations. From the speed determined in F.P.M., he can determine the number of R.P.M. for the size drill being used. Using the table to find R.P.M., suppose, for example, that the operator wishes to drill a 1-inch hole in cast iron using a high-speed drill. From Table 1, he knows that the recommended cutting speed for this type of metal is 100 feet per minute.
D. The operator next consults Table II to find out how fast is the 1-inch drill and following down the column to a point in line with the 1-inch drill in the column farthest left. There the most favorable number of revolutions per minute is given as 382. When the R.P.M. has been determined, the machine is set at the nearest spindle speed obtainable. To obtain drill speeds, Table 1 must be used with Table 2, 3, and 4.
E. Calculations to find R.P.M. In addition to finding correct drill speeds from the tables, the speeds can also be calculated from a simple formula. To calculate the proper speed in revolutions per min (R.P.M.) at which to run a drill for a particular metal, a single formula is used:

Feet Per Minute X 0.268
RPM = - Diameter of Drill (Constant)

Where the number 0.2618 is a constant. For example: To determine the speed in R.P.M. at which a one‑half inch (0.5”) high speed shell drill should be turned to drill medium carbon steel (annealed), multiply the recommended surface foot speed of 80 F.P.M by 4 (which is roughly equivalent to diving by the constant 0.2618) and divide by the drill diameter:

RPM = 80 S.P.M. X 4/0.5

RPM = 320/0.5

RPM = 640

When the R.P.M has been determined, the machine is then set for the nearest spindle speed.

 

I have a bench top model. I built a wooden cabinet on locking casters to set the unit on. Works GREAT! I have a free storage space with a drawer and two lower large open spaces. When not in use, I roll it to the far corner where it's out of the way. Yet, I can move it up to the work bench when necessary. I found this to be a far better option than either bench top or freestanding.

 

Just another one of thousands and thousands of products sold every year that for sure I wonder, do they (owner/CEO) ever use the shit they build/sell? EVERY inexpensive drill press is geared to run too fast, way too fast, at their slowest speed.