dr_clyde
Well-known member
Local machinery dealer had this on his floor, as soon as I saw it I had to have it.
Solberga is a Swedish drill maker and IMO makes one of the very best small job shop drill presses.
If you've never used a gear head drill press, you're in for a treat. No belts to slip or wear out, changing spindle speeds takes seconds, runs very quiet, lots of torque.
This particular drill is a 22" model, meaning you can drill to the center of a 22" diameter circle, giving it an 11" throat. It has a 2 speed reversing motor so you can power tap with it, has a #3 MT spindle and is rated to push a 1-1/4" twist drill in steel. It also has a power feed on the quill which has 4 different feed rates.
I sold my 20" Clausing to a customer who needed a drill press for what I paid for it, and went and picked up the Solberga.
Unloading the drill with the bridge crane is almost like cheating.
It has a pretty nice range of speeds for general work. Goes a little bit slower than my Clausing which is nice for tapping.
The table is in very nice shape, only a few divots of shame under the vise. Nothing major. It also has this really cool side set of tee slots so you can clamp something vertically.
The table also loosens and pivots around on the center, allowing you to offset the vertical tee slots under the spindle without having to loosen up the head.
All told I am very happy with my new drill press, I had to do a little drill tap job yesterday and it did an outstanding job, so it passes the first test. I'm sure it will fit right in around my shop.
Solberga is a Swedish drill maker and IMO makes one of the very best small job shop drill presses.
If you've never used a gear head drill press, you're in for a treat. No belts to slip or wear out, changing spindle speeds takes seconds, runs very quiet, lots of torque.
This particular drill is a 22" model, meaning you can drill to the center of a 22" diameter circle, giving it an 11" throat. It has a 2 speed reversing motor so you can power tap with it, has a #3 MT spindle and is rated to push a 1-1/4" twist drill in steel. It also has a power feed on the quill which has 4 different feed rates.
I sold my 20" Clausing to a customer who needed a drill press for what I paid for it, and went and picked up the Solberga.
Unloading the drill with the bridge crane is almost like cheating.
It has a pretty nice range of speeds for general work. Goes a little bit slower than my Clausing which is nice for tapping.
The table is in very nice shape, only a few divots of shame under the vise. Nothing major. It also has this really cool side set of tee slots so you can clamp something vertically.
The table also loosens and pivots around on the center, allowing you to offset the vertical tee slots under the spindle without having to loosen up the head.
All told I am very happy with my new drill press, I had to do a little drill tap job yesterday and it did an outstanding job, so it passes the first test. I'm sure it will fit right in around my shop.
