Drill Press for metal and wood

[J.SAN]

I'm located in Canada and I need to get a drill press. Do you guys think its a good idea to get a mag drill and make a custom stand for it to be used as a drill press for most of the time. This way I can use it as a mag drill to drill metal and put it back on the stand to drill wood or metal?

What type or/and brand would you guys recommend? Budget is around $900CAD

Thanks

 

[crguy]

A mag drill isn't going to make a good drill press.

 

[tarbellb]

A mag drill isn't going to make a good drill press.

This

The speeds don't work for wood.

Ideally you want a belt or gear driven unit that ranges down to <100 rom

 

[larry_g]

I'd think the 'swing' of a mag drill would be to small to use on a stand. If you could make it work on a stand it would be a fairly complicated stand.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Firebrick43]

I have used a mag drill on a heavy 1/2 top welding/fixture table and it did well with steel. It was a milwaukee two speed unit and could use annular cutters. It was well suited to drilling and tapping steel with 3/8 and larger holes, little slow for 1/4" holes but worked. If the throat was to small, it could normally be placed on top of the steel being drilled.

First problem is cost, it is worthless without a thick top table imho as a drill press, and would be more than 900 CAD.

Second, for wood it would be worthless. wood isn't magnetic and the spindle on any model I have used isn't fast enough.

 

[lilredex]

Get an early eighties import with sixteen speeds. Got my HF #38142 for $40.

 

[crguy]

Get an early eighties import with sixteen speeds. Got my HF #38142 for $40.

Or, better yet, get an older US made drill press like a Delta which will last forever.

 

[Firebrick43]

Or, better yet, get an older US made drill press like a Delta which will last forever.

I bought a dp220 delta and hung a vfd/3phase motor on it. Variable speed at the turn of a knob, and super slow speed and reverse for tapping. Drill press, ebay baldor inverter duty motor and vfd cost about 700 dollars. I painted and replaced the bearings as well

 

[seber]

Other than a chuck that turns there is very little in common between the two types of drill. Just get a drill press. You will be much happier.

 

[J.SAN]

Thank you all for your responses and guiding me off the mag drill route. Someone mentioned Delta or older models but it seems I can't seem to find the sweet deals like some of you guys come across. I will look for drill machines with variable speed and low RPM with high power.

 

[Tools4Me]

What types of metal drilling are you wanting to do OP? Are we talking larger sized bimetal hole saws or 1/2" and smaller HSS drill bits? A standard drill press that goes down to 600rpm is fine for drilling holes in steel up to around 1/2" in diameter. A drill press that goes down to about 300rpm usually works fine in steel up to about 7/8-1" diameter. You can push things a little bit by drilling slower and using cutting oil, but those are good reference points. If you want to be able to spin larger sized hole saws you need something that can go lower. For instance, 170rpm is the ideal speed for a 2" diameter bimetal hole saw into mild steel and 115rpm is the ideal speed for spinning a 3" diameter bimetal hole saw into mild steel. Most people don't need to do that sort of thing though, so it depends on what your needs are.

For most people, I would recommend a drill press that can go down to 250rpm. Drill presses usually start going up in price fast if they can turn slower than that. 250rpm would allow you to use bimetal hole saws to drill holes in steel up to about 1-1/2" in diameter or holes in wood up past 6" in diameter. Good luck in your search.

 

[seber]

Patience is your friend. I didn't think I would ever find a vise, but they show up at irregular times. I buy and sell a lot of bench grinders. It can be a year or more between finds and then suddenly three or four will turn up