ATTN Rockler woodworking regulars...

[Mazinger]

Hello to all the Rockler faithful,

I'm interested in buying a Rockler "portable drill guide with vise", linked below:
https://www.rockler.com/rockler-portable-drill-guide-with-vise

Right now it's on sale for $269.98. According to the site, it's normally $319.98, but I'm not sure if they ever actually offer it at the "normal" price.

For those of you that buy regularly from Rockler, do you think $269.98 is as good a deal as I'll ever see, or is it likely to be cheaper during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale events?

I've been eyeing this kit for a while, and I'm kicking myself for not ordering it a couple years ago when you could get it for like $220.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mike93lx]

If you regret not getting it when it was cheaper, I would buy it now and not wait. Is the prospect of saving $20 worth the risk of spending more than it is now?

 

[RTM]

Wow, you can get the drill guide by itself, slightly worn and not terribly accurate for $5-$20 at many garage sale around here.

The plain drill guide is available from others for $37-60. Rocklers version is $169. Is their quality that much better? I dunno

I go to Woodcraft since they are 45 mins closer than Rocklers, so I googled

woodcraft drill guide

To get this info


Now, is a centered vise worth that much extra? Maybe if you are drilling pen blanks.

 

[mhejl]

I'd buy a table top drill press for that money (or less). Much more versatile.

I sticky taped a couple of MDF blocks with a V groove into an old style wooden clamp to hold pen blanks for drilling:

 

[WWheeler]

I'd buy a table top drill press for that money (or less). Much more versatile.

+1
You'll never get as good of results with Rockler's tool as you will with any $100-$200 benchtop drill press of any brand. Add Horror Fright's $20 drill press vise to it (or use wooden handscrew clamps like mhejl suggested) to hold smaller pieces for drilling and you're golden.

FWIW I do have Milescraft Drill Mate which is a portable drill press a lot like Rocklers minus the vise and it comes in handy to nice straight holes in places you could never do with a drill press. There's other brands similar that I suspect work just as well. I highly recommend it. It's like $30 though.

 

[Brian Puccio]

The UJK drill guide:

UJK Drill Guide with 10mm Chuck

It is practically impossible to drill at a specific angle freehand. This carefully engineered drill guide helps you to drill at angles over a 110° range. The UJK drill guide is in effect a versatile and portable small pillar drill. The portability of...

www.axminstertools.com

And drill guide vise:

UJK Self Centring Vice for Drill Guide

Made to fit directly onto the UJK Drill Guide, this beautifully engineered self centring vice will be just as useful on any small pillar drill. A vee-notch in each face holds round or square stock perfectly centred and perpendicular. The maximum...

www.axminstertools.com

… have a combined sticker price of $262. So no, I don’t think $300+ is the normal price.

This thread on the FOG has some discussion about the two models and links to others as well:

Drill Perfect Holes With The New UJK Technology Drill Guide

Drill Perfect Holes With The New UJK Technology Drill Guide

www.festoolownersgroup.com

 

[paulsomlo]

Or: https://www.woodpeck.com/auto-line-drill-guide.html

If you really don't need to take the drill to the work, get a drill press instead.

 

[BTL-A4]

This one is $60 and it seems overpriced:
https://www.rockler.com/portable-drill-guide?country=US&sid=V91040&promo=shopping&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_content=pla&utm_campaign=PL&gclid=CjwKCAjw6fyXBhBgEiwAhhiZsjmpRDO1UHqmJXwrpQ1XprZS16uhpdmeOhIWysiA_1N9mFWqDG_MlRoCLbcQAvD_BwE

I bought a General Tools one. They are about $40 -$50 now. It has worked just fine for the 20 years or so I've had it.

Edit: I see that the link in your original post has a small vise. I agree that a drill press might be a better option, UNLESS you need this for a situation where a drill press is not a viable option.

What are you using this for?

 

[rharman]

Rockler has good quality stuff but I've always thought that guide was WAY overpriced - even when they first introduced it.

That being said.... Doubtful it's going to get any cheaper going forward. One of their "tricks" is to offer it on sale AND toss in a $50 gift card. Never know if that's going to happen though.

 

[tamaraw]

I would not buy that. I tried a guide like it a few years back and found it to be a pain to set up and and awkward to use. If you could find it for less than $100 usd, that would still be a questionable value imho.

A drill press will provide better results and be easier to use and more practical (as well as cheaper) in just about every situation. Only thing I can think of is if you were trying to do very precise holes in the middle of a large thick slab, but that's a fairly niche situation.

I'm also not terribly impressed with Rockler's tools in general. For example, they sell repackaged machine mortising chisels with a manual grip as "hand tools" which are completely useless outside of maybe balsa or styrofoam. I don't believe they make anything themselves, just rebrand and mark up quite a bit.

If you are on a budget, have a look at something like these, you could buy two and still have cash left over for the price of that guide.

8" Benchtop Drill Press at Grizzly.com

<h1>G0925 8" Benchtop Drill Press</h1> <h2>The compact and versatile benchtop drill press.</h2> <p>The Grizzly G0925 Benchtop Drill Press is compact with an 8" swing and powerful enough to drill through metal, wood and other materials. With a cast-iron base, it is remarkably stable for such a...

www.grizzly.com

WEN 2.3-Amp 8 in. 5-Speed Cast Iron Benchtop Drill Press with 1/2 in. Chuck Capacity 4208T - The Home Depot

Remember when you could drill with maximum accuracy. Power through metal, wood, plastics, and more with the WEN 8 in. 5-Speed Drill Press. Don't let our compact design fool you. Between the 5 operating

www.homedepot.com

I have the grizzly branded one and it has stood up well to quite a bit of "abuse" working aluminum. It's also fairly portable for a drill press, I carry mine down to the parking garage to be quieter in my apartment building.