In contrast to other posts, I'm going to assume that Hougen is out of budget. Try to find something that can run really slow with decent torque. I haven't run across one either.
What kind of press is that?Only because I took this picture for another reason, that drill in the background has been drilling through steel (springsteel, mild, and even stainless) as well as aluminum and on the rare occasion, wood.
It's a Wen 4214T that I've had for several years (about 3?) and I got it for about $170 - 190 give or take from Home Depot.
It runs as low as 540rpm and as fast as +3,200rpm.
Aside from killing maybe one or two 1/8" cobalt bits, all my other bits are still good and I use it often.
Although 14 gauge is really thin so you can easily knock that out with a small drill - Milwaukee Fuel M12 works great for that as I use that too for items I can't fit on the drill press.
www.trick-tools.com
I've got a 90s Delta 17" press. It goes down to 250, and has pretty good grunt. top end is 3k. There are a zillion essentially identical machines under all sorts of brands. If they have a decent motor, they're a decent drill that do anything you'd reasonably want it to do. The better made versions are pretty accurate, as DPs go. I don't look at tool listings much, so I don't know what they're going for these days, but there was one in the restore a few months ago. I think they wanted $500 or so. I paid $150 for it 6 or so years ago, and overpaid, its first owner was an art school, and it got the expected loving care art students are known for. IT needed a few things, including the rack for the table lift.
-You haven't stated your price range, that's important. You also haven't included what you need in throat depth, table size, and the type of projects you intend to work on. Sheet metal work suggests ductwork for HVAC where throat depth could make a difference, for ductwork maybe a hand drill might be a better choice? You also haven't stated whether this is for a home project (50 holes) or a commercial venture (500+ holes) where motor longevity dictates a more durable motor than OEM **** from China that burns up after 3 months of continuous duty. Do you need a floor model or will a benchtop model have enough height for tall workpieces? How about whether you have 3 phase electric or household single phase 110? The average garage shop only has 110v. and the greater demand for those drill presses drives the price up into the absurd range even for used presses. Have you considered the 3 phase with a VFD? Often a better value for 3 phase machines, better build quality, lower prices (sometimes), and VFD's are fairly cheap and just about plug-n-play. Even one of those tiny imported mill/drill machines might fit your needs and still be within the budget. You really need to include more information to get a better answer.
-Standard twist drills are not a good idea for sheet metal unless you know how to grind the geometry for thin materials. I've done this and it's rather a PITA for just a few holes. A cutter like the Hougen suggested by @cvairwerks would be better for making a cleaner hole without the ragged burr left from a standard twist drill. Is deburring important? Ductwork sheetmetal fasteners are made to drill the hole and fasten in one shot. The cutting speed (RPM) is important, so is the cutting tool, and the technique used. Making a hole in unsupported work will about guarantee a ragged/deformed hole at breakthrough and risk grabbing/shattering the cutter as it bites off too much material at the end. You may not need a drill press if punching a hole is possible, more info is needed.
-If you can better define the work you might get better replies. Just a suggestion.
That's far less than I thought. I'll have to look into some.
-As a long time metal worker (sheet and otherwise) that's not always good advice or a general rule of thumb.
-Most certainly has, I was responding to the post above mine about the techniques employed. This is a necro thread but incomplete or bad advice warrants a reply for those readers that don't do the research/homework. Thanks for pointing out the non-current timeline.
