Speaking of divine, the almighty forces of the universe must have been at work as I was just able to place an order through a local Woodcrafts for a Jet JDP-12 that had just gone on sale. The unit had to be ordered so I should have it in about a week during which time I can continue to exercise patience. Heck I will be so busy with lawn work I will not have time to wait!
Thanks again Tom and everyone
Thanks again Tom and everyone
Finally picked up the unit and proceeded to drill a few test holes in wood and metal last night. Set up was straight forward. The unit has a high quality 5/8” chuck that allows use of .8 to 16 mm bits. The table, base, and column are of decent quality. The motor sounds smooth and quiet with very little vibration at about 1300 RPM. The down-feed travel is smooth and quiet unlike the other unit I ended up returning that was quite loud and rough. The laser needs to be aligned however it is really not needed as long as the work piece is clamped on the table and the hole center is marked. I am pleased with this drill press. The only things to mention that are really immaterial to the operation of the unit are the quality of the head cover and down-feed and speed adjustment handles which are plastic and not terribly impressive. The caps on a couple of the handles fell off during assembly. I ended up removing the caps from all handles and gluing them back on. They should stay put for good. The paint job on the head is pretty shoddy too. But again these things do not affect the operation of the unit and are to be expected from a decent unit that is currently on sale for only about $250.00. The unit is a joy to use and I can easily recommend it to anyone seeking a decent quality drill press at reasonable cost.
Thanks for your suggestions everyone.
Thanks for your suggestions everyone.
Seraph,
I had to align the lasers on mine also. It's pretty easy to do. I think it took me an entire ten minutes... I agree with you on the quality of the handles. I initially thought of replacing mine with something better, but after a year-and-a-half of using the drill press I'd actually forgotten about it.
~Tom
I had to align the lasers on mine also. It's pretty easy to do. I think it took me an entire ten minutes... I agree with you on the quality of the handles. I initially thought of replacing mine with something better, but after a year-and-a-half of using the drill press I'd actually forgotten about it.
~Tom
Something to remember, these drill presses are produced in China, and most are produced in just a couple of factories. Although the distributor, Sears, Jet, Ryobi, HF etc specify the look and color, the real problem is caused by the poor Chinese QC and failure of the distributer to run QC tests prior to sale of the product. The belts and chucks are of poor quality. The bearings and spindle fit are subject to whomever is punching them in and what day of the week the assembly is done. Some cures are possible, link belts to replace the V belts, better quality chucks and a thorough rebuild of the spindle/bearing assemblies. If you get a good unit right out of the box with minimal runout, you win!
Tomchr,
Try McMasters-Carr. Immense inventory of industrial parts including things like bakelite knobs/balls with threaded brass inserts, perfect for drill press handle ends. A good hardware store sometimes has a supply, in those flat boxes where they keep the odd lots of springs, stainless fasteners and metric screws.
--Buckapound
Try McMasters-Carr. Immense inventory of industrial parts including things like bakelite knobs/balls with threaded brass inserts, perfect for drill press handle ends. A good hardware store sometimes has a supply, in those flat boxes where they keep the odd lots of springs, stainless fasteners and metric screws.
--Buckapound
I would second Conrad's list. Thou I'd raise the 'drill stop' priority. Most China drills have a stop that is at best cumbersome and at worst utterly useless! I am always looking at auction equipment etc for used American made stuff. With modest skill you can refurbish them to like new. I picked up a 40yo Royal press 15 years ago. Put a new Jacobs BB chuck on it and loved it till the motor smoked. Since I hate belt cones, I got a used 3P 1HP Mitsubishi motor and a surplus frequency drive (~$100 total) and just dial my way from 10RPM to 2000RPM!
Another good US made option is to look for a Delta with a varispeed belt drive (dial speed on top front.) I got 2 at auction for $150-250. Ususlly comes with 2HP 3P motor that is easily rewired with a static Cap phase converter for 220 1P.
Another good US made option is to look for a Delta with a varispeed belt drive (dial speed on top front.) I got 2 at auction for $150-250. Ususlly comes with 2HP 3P motor that is easily rewired with a static Cap phase converter for 220 1P.
Your words on HF's quality are echoed in my experience. HF has a few gems but mostly garbage. Unless the equipment comes highly recommended by people you can trust, pass on it and spend real money or hold out until you find something used.
The majority of HF's items look like tools but that's where the similarity ends. I have bought air nailers that nail without trigger input (scary!) and laminate trimmers where the collet bore is machined .12" out of concentricity, rendering it completely worthless.
Brian
The majority of HF's items look like tools but that's where the similarity ends. I have bought air nailers that nail without trigger input (scary!) and laminate trimmers where the collet bore is machined .12" out of concentricity, rendering it completely worthless.
Brian
Getting the first punch in always helps, be it in the bar or in the workshop.
And as to what tools to buy - stay local. Nothing to do with patriotism or flagwaving, but when anything goes wrong you don´t want the nearest craftsman on the phone somewhere 6000 miles away.
D OK, so I live in Germany - Bosch tools go for ~half the $$ you pay in CAN or US)
And as to what tools to buy - stay local. Nothing to do with patriotism or flagwaving, but when anything goes wrong you don´t want the nearest craftsman on the phone somewhere 6000 miles away.
D OK, so I live in Germany - Bosch tools go for ~half the $$ you pay in CAN or US)
My drill bits no longer wander off........
A few accessories that will help with your hole placement:
An automatic center punch. These are very handy; a spring loaded gizmo that goes "snap" when you push it into the material leaving a nice little center mark to aim the drill bit into. Turning the barrel changes the spring load & force making larger or smaller divots in the material.
Home Depot and others sell General brand punches, they usually work fine, although sometimes they get finicky and do not want to snap when you press them, requiring adjusting the spring load or just repeating the pressing action. IIRC General brand punches come in two models, with the budget one around $16 or so.
For more cash, Starrett also makes these, and they have at least 2 models, a small one and a large one. I've used a General Brand one for years, but recently picked up a Starrett and it's the cat's pajamas. They are around $35. The higher end ones have replaceable tips, although if you are mostly working with aluminum, they will take years to dull. These will leave a center mark in steel with no problem. A malfunctioning center punch is a frustrating tool to work with.
The other indispensible tool is a center drill (the ones on the right in the pic). These come in a few sizes and are stiffer than a groom's pr*ck. Use these to start a hole; they make a beautiful tiny countersunk starter hole to help keep the twist drill on target.
A few accessories that will help with your hole placement:
An automatic center punch. These are very handy; a spring loaded gizmo that goes "snap" when you push it into the material leaving a nice little center mark to aim the drill bit into. Turning the barrel changes the spring load & force making larger or smaller divots in the material.
Home Depot and others sell General brand punches, they usually work fine, although sometimes they get finicky and do not want to snap when you press them, requiring adjusting the spring load or just repeating the pressing action. IIRC General brand punches come in two models, with the budget one around $16 or so.
For more cash, Starrett also makes these, and they have at least 2 models, a small one and a large one. I've used a General Brand one for years, but recently picked up a Starrett and it's the cat's pajamas. They are around $35. The higher end ones have replaceable tips, although if you are mostly working with aluminum, they will take years to dull. These will leave a center mark in steel with no problem. A malfunctioning center punch is a frustrating tool to work with.
The other indispensible tool is a center drill (the ones on the right in the pic). These come in a few sizes and are stiffer than a groom's pr*ck. Use these to start a hole; they make a beautiful tiny countersunk starter hole to help keep the twist drill on target.
Attachments
I would get a Delta drill press. They make 2 bench-top models. They both have 1/3 HP motors. One has some laser crosshairs system??? I would get whichever one you can find for less.
As for non-name (large name) low quality brands... I would sooner look for a decent used name brand press, than buy a new junk one. Just my opinion.
Good luck!
As for non-name (large name) low quality brands... I would sooner look for a decent used name brand press, than buy a new junk one. Just my opinion.
Good luck!
I find that somewhat difficult to believe.
Anyway, Bosch are good but they aren't the top of the heap here.
Buying local makes sense. Getting locally manufactured for less is not going to happen though. We have General Machine Tools here but they are not cheap.
They do have an import line called General International and these are made in Asia, but are still of relatively high quality at a reasonable price.
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