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Cheap drill press good enough?

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.




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.
Another option. Astro tools step/twist drill bits.

I've never used them, but I think the people on GJ like them.


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91samurai

You haven't really said what you're drilling, other than 5/8 and 3/4 in mild. Another option you could consider (and I highly recommend!) is the Blair Rotabroach kits. It's a bit of a combination between a hole saw and an annular cutter, and meant to be used with cordless drills.

No pilot bit, instead it's got a spring loaded centering pin that you align with a center punch divot.

For holes bigger than 3/4 I use the large diameter Blair kit and use a "Hole Hawg" type hand drill. 90 degree three speed hand drill with slip clutch. They can usually go down to very low speeds, like 200 or 150 rpm.

The Blair kit is my first choice when I'm making holes in 1/2 inch thick steel or less, and I use the wax lube sticks they also sell.

 
Another option. Astro tools step/twist drill bits.

I've never used them, but I think the people on GJ like them.


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FIL just bought a similar set off the tool truck, lifetime warranty. Said he beat the fuck out of them and they've worked well. Dulled a couple after a couple hundred holes and the tool truck replaced them
 
Before I got my lathe I used my old drill press as a vertical "lathe" with the cross slide vise to hold the tooling. Only did that to face bushing tubes an only a tiny bit and would that finish up with a small air grinder and hand file if it needed more taken off quicker.
 
Any drill press is a win over a hand drill for stuff that fits on the table. The better ones drill rounder holes, but anything is better than hand drilling.

The chuck is probably the biggest factor though. If you get a real cheap one with a crappy chuck, you can swap it out with a decent one from Amazon for less than a hundo, and have a better experience.
 
I have the small bench top drill press from Harbor Freight. It works fine for most automotive fab that I've ran into, but on larger bits you will have to go slow.

Set the belts on the lowest possible speed combination, and read the directions and use the included tools to make sure the chuck is set up as straight as you can get it.

I also use thread cutting oil from Lowe's on everything I drill to make bits last longer.
 
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