Jet Deluxe Drill Press?

cjarvis · Jul 20, 2018

The motor on my POS Northern tool 8" drill press just went TU, and it will be time to upgrade, hopefully soon...

I drill a little bit of everything from HDPE to 3/8" mild steel, although steel drilling will be more rare.

I've looked at craigslist, letgo and offerup multiple times and there have never been any decent drill presses available, at any price in my area, which leaves me looking at new units.

What are your thoughts about this one: http://www.jettools.com/eu/en/p/17-deluxe-drill-press/354173

tarbellb · Jul 20, 2018

Got a budget?

Like you will find in the previous 200 threads about this exact same scenario-

a) all DP's at this price point are about the same, go with what you fancy (I like Grizzly)

b) inevitably somebody will chime in to "buy old usa", but like you mention, finding one
is the hard part

Good luck, if you push your budget way up, like $1200+ you can find lots of very nice USA DP's on Ebay and then the Nova Voyager variable speed at $1300.

Carquest · Jul 20, 2018

What is the general consensus on the Nova?

tarbellb · Jul 20, 2018

Full disclosure, I have not used one or even seen one in person.

But I think overall it gets great marks. Everyone should do their own research tho...

Tons of nice features, and again, most (new) DP's up to this price point are average at best.

cjarvis · Jul 20, 2018

Search was the first thing I did. I didn’t find much other than “buy a used, American made drill press” (not that that’s bad advice, I just can’t find one), and nothing on this particular drill press.

ETA: the drill press I linked to has been discontinued in the US anyway, so good drill or not, it’s a moot point.

tarmy · Jul 20, 2018

I have an older version of a similar model. It has served me well.

The second two photos are the real important part...get good chucks. Most drill presses cheap out on them.

These two are about 200 each...one keyed the other keyless for day to day stuff.

dogdog · Jul 20, 2018

I have an Older older 1990's JET 14" bench top drill press and it worked ok to well... 1/2 HP was not strong, but this new one is 3 pulley and 3/4HP... saying that...

This JET JDP-17DX looked very very similar to the Ridgid 15" except you paid for some bells and whistles like the LED lights probably.... so maybe you might want to check that one out... Delta also makes good drill press, but I only have their bands saw. Even thought they listed as woodworkers drill press , they will drill metal fine with a proper drill bit.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-15-in-Drill-Press-with-LED-R1500/205653862

6PTsocket · Jul 20, 2018

As it says in the ad, it is intended for woodworking. Obviously a general purpose press or one made for metal will do many of the same tasks. You know best what you want to do and how big you need to go. A lot of cheap presses have a short quill travel and if you want to drill a deep hole it can be a PIA. At least 4", preferably more. Again, price range detirmines how cautious you have to be. Chinese and even Taiwan are not immune from bad machining. My table is square after I shimmed it.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

foghorn1966 · Jul 20, 2018

Or if the 8" drill press worked for you, a cheap 3 phase motor & VFD to make it way better. See the VFD sticky.

cjarvis · Jul 20, 2018

Since the one I was looking at has been discontinued, it’s replacement is looking pretty good.
http://www.jettools.com/us/en/p/17-drill-press/716300

Git · Jul 21, 2018

Take a look at the Delta 18-900L. I have had one for a couple of years now and have been very pleased with the purchase

Fine Woodworking did a review in Oct 2015
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2015/07/29/tool-test-drill-presses

I caught it on sale on Lowes for $750 - looks like they have gone up a bit... Here it is at Acme Tools for $950 with shipping

exmaxima1 · Jul 21, 2018

I like everything about the Jet, especially the table with its removable center piece and easy to clamp to design. But the spindle travel is only 4-3/8", which is a deal breaker for me at those prices. If it were a Craftsman 15 for $100 I could accept the short travel, but when looking north of $600 you should get 6" of travel.

tarmy · Jul 21, 2018

akalian said:
That drill press has two things that many modern ones don't have.

The first is a positive depth stop.

The second is a T-Slot table to attach hold downs, with drip channels to containg the coolant overflow.

Keyless chucks are great and a good quality one will take care of 95% of most drilling needs. But I've got a 3/4" one for the larger holes 1/2" to 1" and any hole saw over 2".

You won't need this Big **** chuck if all your larger drill bits and hole saw arbors have three flats ground into them. I wish I had paid more attention to that when I bought my Silver & Demming set many years ago.

.

This is something else I added...the off paddle switch. I had realized, your sig line about experience reminded me, that you do learn things. One of those thing is that if you bind a drill bit and DON’T want to let go for fear of pain...you need a way to shut of the press. That paddle works great with my forehead!

exmaxima1 · Jul 21, 2018

tarmy said:
This is something else I added...the off paddle switch.

The new version of the Jet JDP-17 has the same paddle switch AND 5" of spindle travel

PT Doc · Jul 22, 2018

cjarvis said:
The motor on my POS Northern tool 8" drill press just went TU, and it will be time to upgrade, hopefully soon...

I drill a little bit of everything from HDPE to 3/8" mild steel, although steel drilling will be more rare.

I've looked at craigslist, letgo and offerup multiple times and there have never been any decent drill presses available, at any price in my area, which leaves me looking at new units.

What are your thoughts about this one: http://www.jettools.com/eu/en/p/17-deluxe-drill-press/354173

That drill press would be great. I would assume by the table that is considered a wood working machine so you’ll have a 5 year warranty. You will be happy with it and Jet customer service should you need it.

Jet Deluxe Drill Press?

cjarvis

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tarbellb

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Carquest

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tarbellb

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cjarvis

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tarmy

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dogdog

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6PTsocket

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foghorn1966

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cjarvis

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Git

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exmaxima1

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tarmy

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