Cheap Drill Press

[NYCOne]

I have this drill press and it works well. It's a great deal today:

Drill Press - 5 Speed

[tomchr]

We have one of those at work. It's horrible. The belt is too long so some of the low gears can't be used without having the belt rub against the housing. The depth stop, which was impossible to set accurately, broke off a long time ago. The drill doesn't even run true so it's nearly impossible to precision work with it. In other words, it's cheap from Harbor-Freight.

Sorry.... I can't recommend it.

If you want an inexpensive drill press, I suggest looking at the Jet JDP-12. That's not top of the line either, but at least the drill runs true and the machine drills round holes with considerable precision.

~Tom

[tomtt]

wandered past that last night -




i bought some low dollar tools from Big Lots yesterday.

we'll see how these work out .

just like these -

Rotary Tool Kit - 80 Piece Set

[Richard Ellis]

The bearings used in the chuck assemblies are the same type & size that you find in the likes of a skateboard......just plain tiny. Put one of the longest bits you can, get a dial-gauge & measure the deflection.........this tolerance separates the good ones from the lousy ones.

__________________________________________________ _____Rick.........

[NYCOne]

Maybe we have different ideas of what "cheap" means. The Jet is $400, the Harbor Freight is $40.

At $40, its a good value. I'm not expecting .001" accuracy, just a device to drill a lot of decently perpendicular holes. I've made a few dozen PCBs with this drill doing the holes, and this has helped immeasurable in drilling heat sinks and cases vs. my old method (freehand).

Don't get me wrong, I'll take the Jet ten times out of ten if you're buying the tools. For a tool I use rarely, and for very few purposes, $40 is the deal I want.

[stoc005]

Good quality bearings can be had at a skateboard shop for a decent price. Buy ABEC-5 or ABEC-7 bearing, any brand, as long as they are cheap. If these fit, they should work well. Perhaps better than the originals.

[a.wayne]

Now if only you could find that 40.00 scope .......

[NYCOne]

Originally Posted by a.wayne

Now if only you could find that 40.00 scope .......

Soundcard...

Ghetto DIYAudio.

[vdi_nenna]

NYCOne,

I have that very same drill press.
The HF $40 press is fine for basic work.
Better than using a hand drill.
Good for limited space, budget and skillset.

Now if only you could find that 40.00 scope .......

I'm pretty sure I paid 90 bucks for my used scope with probes.


Vince

[tomchr]

Originally Posted by NYCOne

Maybe we have different ideas of what "cheap" means. The Jet is $400, the Harbor Freight is $40.

Possibly. Maybe we've been burnt differently by cheap, crappy tools too... Or have had the pleasure of using real tools and gotten spoiled.

Originally Posted by NYCOne

At $40, its a good value. I'm not expecting .001" accuracy, just a device to drill a lot of decently perpendicular holes. I've made a few dozen PCBs with this drill doing the holes, and this has helped immeasurable in drilling heat sinks and cases vs. my old method (freehand).

If $40 is your budget and you already have a hand drill, I would actually recommend getting a drill stand. I've drilled many PCBs, chassis parts, etc. with a setup like that. That'll drill straight holes and the drills tend to run true.

I can, obviously, only judge by the one sample of that particular drill press that I've seen. That one specific sample is a complete piece of junk. Maybe you got a better sample...

Anyway. You're happy with the deal. That's all that really matters...

~Tom