Time to get a new 10" drill press, got it down to a Hitachi or a Sears unit. Both made in China . Any opinions?
i try not to buy chinese on my bigger tools. you can find american made tools used, from factories and shops that are either going out of business or getting new equiptment all the time. usually pretty cheap. heavy duty stuff built to last. thats what i'd do. what kind of warranty do the sears power tools come with?
Do you know if the Chucks can be removed on either of these and if there can be collet devices installed. Also are they variable speed?
I have the sears 12", I had to buy something in a pinch one saturday. It works in a pinch, but it is poor quality and I don't trust it. The 10" is a toy compared to the 12", I wouldn't take one for free. Check your local craigslist and classifieds and buy a used one, less money, american built, better quality. Thorkle: On the 12", the chuck presses on, cannot be replaced with a collet.
I bought the Sears 10" or 12' (acn't remeber which one off hand)model several months back-It was around $179 at the time. Like another poster I needed it in a lurch. After I put it together and made sure it ran I bolted it down to the workbench. Found out soon the digital depth meter does not work but I'm too lazy to unbolt the thing and cart it back to Sears. They will probbaly want to replace it and I just don't want to put another one back together anyway. It works fine overall. It has the lazer sight on it. The up and down table adjustment is about worthless. It raises and lowers o.k. but if you have something clamped to the table and need to lower or raise the table to say replace a chamfer bit for a longer drill bit (and want a precision drilled hole)the table will go down of course but the lazer sight measurments will then be all out of wack. The side to side tolerances when moving up and down are probably 1/4"-1/2 or more . Like the poster said before me he does not trust it. Another reason I'm not too concernd about the digital depth gauge. I figure if I need something that presicion I'll use my friends Bridgeport mill. I think it is a 5 speed model. You have to move belts to different size pullies. I thought this would be a breeze but it's very difficult and hard on the fingers...not alot of room to maneuver. I would rate it a 6.5 on the 10 scale.
This one of those "ya' et what ya' pay for" things.....My 12" Craftsman is just fine for holes less than 3/4 or so. It'll never go slow enough for a larger holesaw. Treat it with some kindness and it will last quite a while. Pat
I have a 32 speed Delta that works great. Not a bench mount, it's a stand up unit. I would think there bench mount would work very well for what you were going to use it for. I think it was about $400.
you gotta check out Craigslist as many people buy these and let them sit in the garage for years with hardly any use. I just bought a Craftsman Floor press, all cast iron and in perfecting working order, built in 1957! I only paid $100. I'm using it but it has such a great looking nostalgic shape, I'm tempted to dissasemble it, paint and pinstripe it.
I got an old craftsman from the 70s that is great, but stay away from the small deltas, i wouldnt piss on one of them if it was on fire.
my 24" Boice Crane is a variable speed beast,bought used for $ 100 from my old shop.less then .005" run out with reverse.Yeah ,I know, I suck!!I have drilled 1" steel,1.625" dia. no problem.
I've used a Jet (japan made) at work for the last 20 years, They are nice drills. Look for one that has good power @ low rpm's
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