Purchasing Drill Press

[Kenskip1]

Before everyone goes bananas yes I have used the search function. I am wondering if anyone has purchased the WEN 4208 8-Inch 5 Speed Drill Press?
It is either this one or one of the Harbor Freight models. My budget is limited. Amazon has this model listed for $79.95 free shipping. I will be using it for small metal working projects.Has anyone purchased this model? Thanks Ken
WEN 4208 8-Inch 5 Speed Drill Press


WEN 4208 8-Inch 5 Speed Drill Press

 

[JWStout]

I bought one. It was okay for a smaller press but I ran into some power issues. Granted, I was trying to drill with 1 1/2" forstner bits, but it bogged down a lot. I ended up buying a Delta 17-900 off of Craigslist. If you're sure your only going to be doing lightweight drilling, you'll probably be fine. If not, I'd recommend saving up and trying to find a deal on Craigslist.

 

[spongerich]

As long as you're not planning to drill anything much larger than 1/2" that should be an OK machine. The biggest challenge with most of the small imports is that even the slowest speeds are a little on the high side for drilling steel, stainless, etc. If you don't mind tinkering, you could always find a set of replacement pulleys or fashion a countershaft to slow things down a bit... there's also the DC treadmill motor conversion route too.

 

[uart]

As long as you're not planning to drill anything much larger than 1/2" that should be an OK machine.

1/2" in what material though? With only a 1/3 HP motor and 620 RPM lowest speed, it's not going to be too much fun drilling even 1/2" in steel with that thing. I'd be looking at it as more around 1/4" to 5/16" max for comfortably drilling steel (maybe 3/8" at a stretch).

The price is good though, and any drill press is better than none.

Kenskip, what sort of stuff are you mostly planning on drilling?