USA Made Drill presses?

[Ainsley]

That's a beauty bench top buffalo.
This is my floor stander.

 

[Gasgt1]

I always liked that old Craftsman.
The Powermatic is a much heavier machine.
Both USA quality

 

[mopar65]

that's a great job on the clausing

 

[Ford Farmer]

I can't imagine paying $350 for any bench model drill press, and that one has only 4 speeds and missing the belt guard. For that kind of cash, it should have variable speed or something extra special.

Thanks for the feedback, just beginning to learn about vintage drill presses.

 

[bubinga]

You would be happy with one of those Craftsman 150 bench or floor models.

 

[Model A Fan]

Can we keep this thread going for potential drill press purchases or should we start a new thread titled, "Rate this Drill Press"? Something like that would be handy to have so we can discuss potential purchases.

 

[TheBadDog]

I've got a big Wilton 20" VSG. Looks nearly brand new, but is actually pretty old, back when they still made them in the US. Very nice quality machine, and VERY low speeds with endless torque. Not only great for big drills, but also for hole saws and such. Low speed is rated at something like 80 rpm, but mine goes to roughly 60 before the drive starts complaining. And the Powermatic 20" provides higher speed services going up to (IIRC) 2500 rpm. Both have nice long quill travel of ~7".

But I've always wanted one of the big "camel back" drill presses. Fantastic style, clockwork gears that will hypnotize you, power feed, good stuff.

 

[bubinga]

Very nice quality machine, and VERY low speeds with endless torque. Not only great for big drills, but also for hole saws and such. Low speed is rated at something like 80 rpm, but mine goes to roughly 60 before the drive starts complaining.

is it a DC Motor and Drive?

 

[TheBadDog]

No, it's 3 phase 2(?) HP with a Reeves drive for variable speed. But the VSG stands for variable speed GEAR drive. And that gear is a huge reduction gear. So top speed is something like 1200 rpm or so. It's specifically designed for cutting (relatively) big holes in steel, and it's very heavy built (for a drill press in it's class). IIRC, the table is rated for 700 lbs static load, and it's got a pretty rugged rack and pinion for relocating the table.

 

[bagged89s10]

I always liked that old Craftsman.

The Powermatic is a much heavier machine.

Both USA quality

Very nice pair of floor models!


~Veeps

 

[600SL]

Here's one if you got the dough.

http://www.clausing-industrial.com/insourcing.asp

 

[toplessHO]

while not a show piece I picked this floor model Rockwell up for $40 on CL
part of the table is broken that I need to repair . I replaced the worn out chuck with a nice Grizzly that then doubled my investment to $80 total.
Deals are out there just dont get in a big hurry.

 

[63GASSER]

This is a 1907 drill press made by Rockford Drilling Machine Company. I just finished restoring it.

 

[bagged89s10]

This is a 1907 drill press made by Rockford Drilling Machine Company. I just finished restoring it.

That's the biggest belt I've ever seen.


~Veeps

 

[Marctrees]

To Aahz- the OP- I think( I may be mistaken) when you say 15" you mean 7.5" column to drill spindle CL ??

Otherwise, you may need a "radial" drill for farther reach.

As the above posts, I totally feel there is NO equivalent to 1940's to like 1960's USA made stuff.

I'm sure great stuff was made in Germany, etc, but not really available in US like at all.

I have a Delta floor model about mid fifties.

Will last for 10 generations. or more with lubing and some basic bearing replacement..

Cost $400, plus a week of rebuilding, mostly cause I wanted it alllll Lubed AND Pretty. Marc

 

[Marctrees]

I missed to say, I totally agree with most of the above posts. Marc

 

[Vinko]

BUMP

Nice thread. I came to it because I was curious if there was anything drill presses still being made in the USA. I've got an old Buffalo 18 I've been trying to get a few parts for. Including a return spring and one or two other pieces. I checked with BMT a while ago and the price on the spring was I want to say a few hundred dollars which stunned me. I checked over at OWWM (which now has a wider spread of interests than it did previously).

I also have an older Jet and Delta but they're pretty beat up.

Looking at the stuff being made in Germany. Starting prices of about USD3500 for bench models. Going way way up from there. Beautiful stuff.

 

[My Old Tools]

If I understand properly, there is BMT (Buffalo machine tool) which is the old american company, and there is Buffalo brand, which is all chinese junk.

There is also General, which has a 15" drill press that looks almost identical to the old Buffalo 15, and is made in Canada.

Canada General is now General International. All production is overseas. Powermatic is now overseas in the same factory with Jet.

 

[zkling]

BUMP

Nice thread. I came to it because I was curious if there was anything drill presses still being made in the USA. I've got an old Buffalo 18 I've been trying to get a few parts for. Including a return spring and one or two other pieces. I checked with BMT a while ago and the price on the spring was I want to say a few hundred dollars which stunned me. I checked over at OWWM (which now has a wider spread of interests than it did previously).

I also have an older Jet and Delta but they're pretty beat up.

Looking at the stuff being made in Germany. Starting prices of about USD3500 for bench models. Going way way up from there. Beautiful stuff.

Clausing, be sitting when you ask for a quote though.

 

[EricP]

A lot of good quality USA drill presses have been mentioned above but I'll put another good word for Powermatic in. A Powermatic 1150 is a common auction and craigslist item. I bought a sad ******* for $75 on ebay about 8 year ago and did a complete restoration. I use it regularly in my shop now and couldn't be happier. Drill presses are not all that complicated to break down and re-bearing or make other repairs, if needed. With a little searching you should be able to find something that will give you more satisfaction than an import.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

South Bends are now Grizzly (it had been quit a while since SBL produced simple manual drill presses in the USA / in South Bend). Of course Grizzly is all (most?) made overseas...

I don't know of others, and was surprised to see Clausing still doing them..

 

[LS6 Tommy]

There's a nice older drill (Delta?) press at work they're gonna scrap. Jusdging by the obsolete motor , I'd say from the 50's. Normallysomething like that would "wander away" from the dumpster and follow me home, but to swap out the 5Hp 3 phase motor is just too expensive for me. I just don't have $500-700.00. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to give it away, either. Another vintage unit may go away...

Tommy

 

[Ironhorse74]

"The difference in the two stories. Amana used to be made in Pennsylvania and Ohio but they have since shipped production to the far east. Amana had very tight quality control. No matter which washer you bought you never got a bad one (there are statistical aberrations but the warranty made them all good).

"[signed] Big Dave"

Amana was and still is for the most part built in Middle Amana Iowa. Never had plants in Pennsylvania or Ohio.

Brad

 

[reader2580]

I have a made in Canada General drill press. I had loaned it to my friend for quite a while as he was working on a project.

I was able to get a nice old South Bend (I think) drill press from work. Anything left in the building was going to the demolition company to do as they wished. My boss said I could take it. It had a 1/3 HP three phase motor. I gave it to my friend and he gave me back my drill press. He got a motor free or cheap from another mutual friend.

Why would anyone put a three phase 1/3 HP motor on a drill press? Nothing else in that room was three phase.

 

[EricP]

There's a nice older drill (Delta?) press at work they're gonna scrap. Jusdging by the obsolete motor , I'd say from the 50's. Normallysomething like that would "wander away" from the dumpster and follow me home, but to swap out the 5Hp 3 phase motor is just too expensive for me. I just don't have $500-700.00. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to give it away, either. Another vintage unit may go away...

Tommy

Just out of curiosity, what drill press needs a 5hp motor? I've see a few big drill presses that were powered similarly but they wouldn't fit in a dumpster nor would they endup there given scrap value. A typical 15 - 20" drill press is under 1 1/2 hp and if three phase can be equipped with a VFD to run on single phase for under $200.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Just out of curiosity, what drill press needs a 5hp motor? I've see a few big drill presses that were powered similarly but they wouldn't fit in a dumpster nor would they endup there given scrap value. A typical 15 - 20" drill press is under 1 1/2 hp and if three phase can be equipped with a VFD to run on single phase for under $200.

It would be very unusual for me, but if I read the motor tag wrong it might have been .5 Hp, but it was definitely 3 Phase and even if it was .5 Hp, why would it have a 20A plug?

A new motor and a $200.00 VFD is still too steep to make it worth it for me to bring it home. I just don't need a drill press THAT much.

Tommy

 

[EricP]

It would be very unusual for me, but if I read the motor tag wrong it might have been .5 Hp, but it was definitely 3 Phase and even if it was .5 Hp, why would it have a 20A plug?

A new motor and a $200.00 VFD is still too steep to make it worth it for me to bring it home. I just don't need a drill press THAT much.

Tommy

VFD for a .5 hp motor is under $150 and it powers the existing three phase motor.

 

[Gentleman Adventurer]

Now that is cool, I would like to find one of these. I'm endeavoring to work quieter.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

VFD for a .5 hp motor is under $150 and it powers the existing three phase motor.

That's good to know, but it's still more than I can spend and I'm 99% sure it's a 5 hp motor...

Tommy

 

[skulkingcrow]

They used to make a good quality maintenance / light production drill press. I would assume they still are.

Are you talking about this bulletin?

http://www.bmt-usa.com/resources/15_18+Drill+Bulletin.pdf

Machine tool manufacturers generally don't print flashy sales bulletins. There's no need for a bunch of fancy photos and page upon page of verbal diarrhea like a car brochure.

I spoke with Joe Silva (CEO of Buffalo Machines) when I called them last week. He seems like a stand up guy. After a lot of research, Buffalo may be the last company around that makes drill presses in the USA. According to Joe, the US Navy is their biggest customer, as these drill presses are installed on ships.

Castings come from 2 different forges in the US (one is in Richmond, VA). Motors are US origin, and refurbished machines are available for sale at around 40% off the cost of a new unit. That's still ~$2100 for a base model plus freight!

Does anyone have any experience with the new generation of Buffalo Machines (Forge) drill presses?