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Craftsman vs. JET

smitty9805

Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2013
Messages
9
Was looking at buying a new drill press from sears.com today and noticed two that I liked. The first one is a Craftsman 17" and the other is a 17" JET. The JET model is Jet 354173 JDP-17DX. Both look to be very close as far as table width and such. The JET is $100.00 higher. Is the JET worth $100.00 more than the Craftsman? Or should I look at something else all together?
 
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Midnight_America

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Messages
228
Location
Northern Illinois
If the freight is the same for both machines, then I'd spend the extra $100 for the Jet. Because both presses may have been created in the same factory in China does not mean that both machines are equal in quality. If everything else on the two machines were equal (which they are not), the better table and base on the Jet are worth the $100 extra. The Jet spindle utilizes ball bearings. What does the Craftsman use? Not to bash Craftsman, but generally when it comes to table saws, drill presses, and the like...the ones "made" by Grizzly, Delta, or Jet are usually of overall better build quality than the Craftsman model. Odds are that you would enjoy the C'man for $100 less, but you'll like the Jet better. The C'man is more of a pedestrian machine as compared to the Jet. Here's a whitepaper on the Jet model. Compare it to the Craftsman whitepaper, if you can find one. Just my $0.02.
 
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Vise Grip

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2011
Messages
22
Location
meridian ms
Don't know about the drill press, but I have a Jet Joiner that is well built. Its a older unit
but is well built and does a great job
 
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