Recommend me a good HD import drill press.

[Simplytodd]

I am wanting to get a floor standing 15” or larger variable speed drill press. Wanting something that will get the chuck speed down in the 100’s rpm range as I plan on drilling metal mostly with this drill.

I have been looking on Craigslist for the better part of two years for a good quality USA made machine but Houston is a tool desert when it comes to quality vintage equipment. A newer Clausing is out of my price range so that leaves me the imports. I was looking at possibly this one.

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-Heavy-Duty-Floor-Model-Gearhead-Drill-Press/G0779

Or maybe this one.

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Nova-18-Nova-Voyager-DVR-Variable-Speed-Drill-Press/T30589

I’m open to suggestions if anyone has one that they have been happy with or have any horror stories of ones to avoid.

 

[tarbellb]

Those are both my top two suggestions!

My brother bought the Grizzly, it is a beast. Big, heavy, and seems built well. He doesn't use it much so no report on durability and operation.
The Nova looks to be a great machine as well, lighter duty, but likely more user friendly in a diy shop. No first-hand experience, just reviews and opinions.

Wish I had more hands on experience, my DP is a 1970s 1hp Delta Rockwell 17". But if I was in the market, I'd go with either of those linked units. Likely leaning towards the Nova, that grizzly is massive.

 

[shawhite]

Do you have a budget?

 

[Simplytodd]

Thanks for the info tarbellb.

I would like to keep it in under the $2k price range but could go a little higher if the right one came along.

 

[shawhite]

I personally love my arboga but I think that would be out of your budget but I did a quick search on Craigslist and came across a couple near you.

https://lakecharles.craigslist.org/tls/d/kinder-vectrax-rf40hs-20-gear-head-6/6883283818.html

https://lakecharles.craigslist.org/tls/d/kinder-vectrax-20-variable-speed-drill/6898939473.html

 

[sreeb]

Depending on your planned usage, you might consider a mill/drill.

 

[bobcatdan]

I have a Bailegh 15" bench top and so far have been happy with it. It has variable speed and has had no problem drilling a 1" hole threw steel. Its basically a shorten floor model for bench use.

 

[dr_clyde]

I wouldn’t give up on a good USA or European drill.

Skip Craigslist. You want to look where businesses sell their assets. Look for a machinery dealer or asset liquidation house. Machine shops sell off surplus or close and sell off assets all the time, all over the place.

Thing is, they don’t sell to joe public typically. They sell to other businesses and places that handle industrial surplus.

Call around, beat up the internet. Drill presses are common, almost every shop in the world has one so most every auction has one for sale.

FWIW, my experience with Grizzly has not been great. Mediocre tools built to a low price point. Useable, sure, but not nice.

I would look for a Clausing, Walker Turner, Cincinnati Bickford, Allen, Arboga, Solberga or Alzmetall. Jet and Wilton rebadge some Arboga gear heads.

You don’t find deals advertised, typically. Usually it’s a private sale or the right place right time kind of thing.

Keep looking, they’re out there.

 

[unknownroad]

Call around, beat up the internet. Drill presses are common, almost every shop in the world has one so most every auction has one for sale.

As soon as I read this, I thought "this guy's gotta be in the rust belt"... Oh look, Michigan

Y'all don't understand what it's like out in the strip mall wastelands of America... Sometimes we just need a tool to do a job and want to exchange currency for having the damn thing delivered with a warranty. Time may not always have a linear relationship to money, but none of us gets an infinite amount of it.

 

[tarmy]

I use the hell out of this one...metal working mostly. Get good chucks, expensive but very much worth it...

I think the DP was a grand or so...the chucks are 200-300 each...

 

[dr_clyde]

As soon as I read this, I thought "this guy's gotta be in the rust belt"... Oh look, Michigan

Y'all don't understand what it's like out in the strip mall wastelands of America... Sometimes we just need a tool to do a job and want to exchange currency for having the damn thing delivered with a warranty. Time may not always have a linear relationship to money, but none of us gets an infinite amount of it.

I don’t buy it.

I realize I have a surplus around here, but the fact remains that industry is constantly buying new equipment and surplus is being sold, everywhere in the country.

Yes, there is a lot of used old iron in the Midwest. But there’s a lot of industry in Texas and oil country too.

You guys give up too easily and only look on Craigslist and Facebook. That’s not where the deals are. You need to attend asset auctions and look where industry buys used stuff. The best deals I’ve ever gotten were from machine shops going out of business.

Also, most machinery dealers in the country will ship on a freight truck from anywhere in the country.

****, some of the best deals on lathes in the country are in Texas. You mean to tell me that oilfield shops going under don’t have a drill press in their machine shop?

 

[Simplytodd]

Once again thanks for all of the suggestions. It seems I need to broaden my search for makes as well as sale locations. I do look on local government/school auctions weekly but nothing has really come up that has fit what I had been looking for. This leads me to my next thought and I don’t want to get off topic here but perhaps I have been narrowing my search to something I don’t really need.

I have mostly been looking for used clausing/delta/ Rockwell drills a lot tend to be three phase and that’s a discussion for another thread but the few that are single phase that have come up are often in the lowest speed setting somewhere in the 300’s. I have discounted these as I thought that when cutting mild steel and harder you wanted to get the drill speed down into the 100’s. I got to thinking what are these drills used for if not for Metal they certainly seem to be overkill for wood. I went to the manufacturer website for the majority of my drill bits and they list the formula for figuring out rpms’s needed for a given material.

R.P.M. = (3.8197 / Drill Diameter) x S.F.M.

So say I want to drill a 3/4” hole in mild steel it would be 3.8197/.750 x 80= 415rpm is my math fuzzy? Have I been limiting myself to drills that will turn in the 100’s or single digits when really all I need is something in the low 300’s. Hell even drilling a 3/4” hole in tool steel could be done in the 300’s if my math is right.

 

[mcbane]

If you buy a Chinese drill press be aware that there is wide variation in precision even from the same brand and the same model. Bring a dial gauge and a piece of drill rod or precision shaft so you can check runout on the spindle and tracking on the quill.

Good copies are precise to better than 0.001” but some copies have an almost cartoon like level of precision.

If you are patient there are good finds. I got a good Jet 20” unit for $125.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MattT]

I have mostly been looking for used clausing/delta/ Rockwell drills a lot tend to be three phase and that’s a discussion for another thread but the few that are single phase that have come up are often in the lowest speed setting somewhere in the 300’s.

3 phase is easy fixed with a VFD. And that'll also give you a useable speed reduction down to about 1/3 of nameplate rpm. Or just replacing the motor with a single phase one is the low tech option and may be a little cheaper.

On the single phase machines you might be able to halve the speed by replacing the motor. If they have a two pole 3,4xx rpm motor you can replace it with a 1,7xx rpm 4 pole. Or go with a VFD controlled 3 phase 4 pole and really knock the rpm down.

With a 2K budget you should be able to pick up a decent used drill press and have plenty left to make it work.

I went to the manufacturer website for the majority of my drill bits and they list the formula for figuring out rpms’s needed for a given material.

R.P.M. = (3.8197 / Drill Diameter) x S.F.M.

So say I want to drill a 3/4” hole in mild steel it would be 3.8197/.750 x 80= 415rpm is my math fuzzy? Have I been limiting myself to drills that will turn in the 100’s or single digits when really all I need is something in the low 300’s. Hell even drilling a 3/4” hole in tool steel could be done in the 300’s if my math is right.

Your math ain't wrong BUT those theoretical speeds are usually based on a rigid set-up and flood coolant. Real world on a drill press better to run a little slower.

 

[tarbellb]

I personally love my arboga but I think that would be out of your budget but I did a quick search on Craigslist and came across a couple near you.

https://lakecharles.craigslist.org/tls/d/kinder-vectrax-rf40hs-20-gear-head-6/6883283818.html

https://lakecharles.craigslist.org/tls/d/kinder-vectrax-20-variable-speed-drill/6898939473.html

Couple of tasty machines there, second listing is 1ph.

There is lots of good advice here, Doc always chimes in with solid long term investment wisdom. But I agree that it is two totally different markets, midwest, specially Detroit area is saturated with good deals.

A geared head machine will do anything you want, but a solid 17-20" belt drive DP with ~300 rpms will plow through some serious steel. Also keep in mind that you can upgrade your cutting tools to overcome machine shortfalls. A good rotabroach set of hole cutters will get you those larger diameter cuts, step-bits will do wonders. I rarely use a actual silver demming bit these days.

Search that list of mfgs Doc mentioned.

Ill say it everytime I see it- Avoid Baileigh!