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Cheap drill press good enough?

91samurai

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 6, 2020
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Just looking for something to not have to hand drill holes in mild steel. Are the cheap bench top drill presses good enough to get me by for a couple fab projects till I find a deal and have some cash for a floor unit?
 
I used a harbor freight benchtop drill press for many years and still have one at home. Works good as long as you centerpunch where you want and use the smaller size pilot bit. Most of them don't go slow enough to drill steel even at 1/2" worth a shit but still better than doing it by hand.
 
TRINDU said:
I guess that depends on how much walking is acceptable to you
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I used to use a harbor freight floor model a lot that had some run out but was good enough for me.

My biggest concern is the power. I use a step drill a lot to make 3/4 and 5/8 holes
 
TTMotorsports said:
I used a harbor freight benchtop drill press for many years and still have one at home. Works good as long as you centerpunch where you want and use the smaller size pilot bit. Most of them don't go slow enough to drill steel even at 1/2" worth a shit but still better than doing it by hand.
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That’s good to hear. I was comparing the harbor freight and northern tool drill presses online. I always center punch anyways
 
yeah I used a harbor freight one with a harbor freight router speed controller to slow it down and it worked but had no power at all. So i upgraded to a larger floor style drill press which works awesome but takes up more room but much less room than the best drill press I even had, a vertical mill.
 
TTMotorsports said:
yeah I used a harbor freight one with a harbor freight router speed controller to slow it down and it worked but had no power at all. So i upgraded to a larger floor style drill press which works awesome but takes up more room but much less room than the best drill press I even had, a vertical mill.
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Look around and find an older unit.
Atlas, Rockwell, Duro, Dunlap etc.

This one I converted to a DC motor and drive. Near full torque at low RPM and is reversible.

It is rigid as hell and will power tap 3/8-16 into 1” steel with ease.

I have less than $200 into it.

 
91samurai said:
I used to use a harbor freight floor model a lot that had some run out but was good enough for me.

My biggest concern is the power. I use a step drill a lot to make 3/4 and 5/8 holes
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Take off the cover, slap a big fucking pulley on and drill away. Even the littlest press HF sells has more than enough power for 1"+ bits IF YOU GEAR IT DOWN TO AN APPROPRIATE SPEED (I say that from experience)
 
I’ve got a HF Floor Unit and added the RogueFab DPRK (Drill Press Reduction Kit). Sure it’s got runout/walk, but it’ll go slow with decent balls. Will slip the belt occasionally if I push too hard. But it’s so so so much better than using regular drills.
 
TTMotorsports said:
I used a harbor freight benchtop drill press for many years and still have one at home. Works good as long as you centerpunch where you want and use the smaller size pilot bit. Most of them don't go slow enough to drill steel even at 1/2" worth a shit but still better than doing it by hand.
Click to expand...
hah, my cheap drill press slips the belts so much with 1/2"+ drill bits that getting the speed up is the hard part :laughing: comes in a bit hot, add pressure until the belts slow down enough, adjust pressure so that it keeps cutting :rasta:

i'm happier with the floor unit than the benchtop unit, but really only because then the table is much more adjustable. it's a screaming pile of shit, but if it keeps working i'm going to keep using it.
 
2020AT4 said:
This one I converted to a DC motor and drive. Near full torque at low RPM and is reversible.
Click to expand...

Nice, that looks like similar vintage to my old Atlas drill press. Any details on DC motor controller?

I have an old treadmill motor that I've been toying with using for something.. this could be good use.
 
I have a harbor fail floor drill press. It’s acceptable for a POS, and it is a cheap Chinese pos but couldn’t beat it for the money it cost.

I’d replace with a Delta if I could find one used.
 
JohnnyJ said:
Nice, that looks like similar vintage to my old Atlas drill press. Any details on DC motor controller?

I have an old treadmill motor that I've been toying with using for something.. this could be good use.
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Its a 1/2hp baldor motor and K&B controller board.

There's lots of options out there for cheap if you're willing to take the time to look.

I also have a variety of treadmill motors waiting for projects.:idea:
 
4Eyedturd said:
I might have to start looking for a dc motor and drive for my benchtop unit
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For not much money you can turn an old drill press into a very versatile machine.

Ive done several and have a little Homecraft (Another good name, basically delta) in the works currently.

Its about half the size of the atlas and will go nicely in my hobby room.

ETA, I just stumbled across this and may try one out.


ETA: Scratch that, its 12V input.
 
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I have a regular Dayton Drill press, but I often wish I had a mag drill.

The BEST scenario is to have both, but I think if I had to have ONE I think a mag drill would be my preference.
( I do have a heavy fab table that would work well with a mag drill)
 
CDA 455 II said:
How risky is it to buy a used floor drill press?
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I paid $100 dollars for mine used from someone who upgraded. I’ve been using it for at least 13 years and have no reason not to keep using it. It’s paid for itself at that cost.

I have this one. 13 in. 16 Speed Drill Press

It says it’s out of stock and on back order till August. So if you want one used is the way to go.
 
CDA 455 II said:
How risky is it to buy a used floor drill press?
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Depends on how old it is, how much its worn, and like most machine tools, the more mass it has, usually the better it runs as rigidity is a key factor in holding tolerance. Brands like Rockwell, Cincinnati, Bickford, and even older Deltas have a good reputation. Check the quill bearings, the spindle bearings, and the motor bearings. If its belt drive, pop the belt off so you can actually detect anything. If its under power, click it on and use a little IR gun to check the bearings even.

I've actually never bought a "new" floor model drill press and have had everything from a 3/4 hp Craftsman from the '80s up to my current machine which is a 1930 Rockford all gear drive that weighs 3,000 lbs.
 
CDA 455 II said:
How risky is it to buy a used floor drill press?
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Cheap belt driven one without power feed is basically no risk unless the spindle is bent or some absurd shit like that. The only thing that can really go wrong is spindle bearings which are an excuse to lowball but easy to fix.

When you start talking gear driven shit with power feed where there's more shit to break and fixing it is more of a "spread the parts out on a table" affair you really should just buy a cheapo mill at that point.
 
TRINDU said:
I guess that depends on how much walking is acceptable to you
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Seeing this again reminds me, (thanks for bringing it up) bit choice and prep work is critical to keep the walking from affecting our intended work. If precision matters (and it does)

This is the cheapest best drill bit I’ve ever found for garage level work. “Pilot point” bits. Dedicate these to the drill press only, they’re way to easy to mess up with a hand drill but make perfectly round holes and last very well in the drill press.

C879164C-7BF5-4A60-8879-C2BB5B93DBDB.jpeg



We also use annular cutters in our cheap belt driven drill presses. That only works if the table will hold still, and you can hold the material solid to the table. It takes me more time to set up the material hold down than it does to drill the hole with the annular but it’s worth the extra effort. Annular cutters are not cheap and a poor setup is a quick easy way to break one and usually ruins or makes a mess of the material you’re working on.
 
RPS1030 said:
I’ve got a HF Floor Unit and added the RogueFab DPRK (Drill Press Reduction Kit). Sure it’s got runout/walk, but it’ll go slow with decent balls. Will slip the belt occasionally if I push too hard. But it’s so so so much better than using regular drills.
Click to expand...

Same here, but it still sucks, the kit was disappointing. It slips belts still and overall, it sucks enough that I never use it.
 
Bacho said:
Drill presses seem to have an endless supply of old quality machines available at very reasonable prices. I wouldn’t buy one from Harbor freight.
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Speak for yourselves. Not all of us live anywhere near a metropolitan area chock full of good old shit for sale. I looked at home before refuting your claim. There is exactly 1 used floor mount drill press (that’s not harbor freight) for sale within 4 hours of me. A Wilton they’re asking $850 bucks for.

 
2020AT4 said:
Look around and find an older unit.
Atlas, Rockwell, Duro, Dunlap etc.

This one I converted to a DC motor and drive. Near full torque at low RPM and is reversible.

It is rigid as hell and will power tap 3/8-16 into 1” steel with ease.

I have less than $200 into it.

Click to expand...


Heh... I did something similar. DC motor, controller, and worm gear reduction box. Still need to add a reversing switch so I can tap with it easier.

1230171753.jpg


1230171753a.jpg
 
JR4X said:
Why not take it off and go back to normal mode?
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Honestly mostly because I was annoyed with the whole thing. But also the drill press sucks worse by its self.

Once you've used a $$$$ variable speed drill press, maybe it's hard to use anything else :laughing:
 
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