Just bought this 8 inch drill press

steviejr92

Authorized Vendor
So I’ve been thinking about buying this for awhile. I just didn’t know where to start and after literally a month of procrastinating I finally pulled the trigger. I’ve been drilling all of my enclosures by hand and I have to say….I’ll never be as good as a machine. Now I went with the inexpensive route (hoping this doesn’t bite me in @$$ in the future) at $91.36 out the door, which gets me an 8 inch drill with 5 speeds and a base that can tilt 45 degrees to either side. Now my father always taught me to buy your tools only once. I just hope I made the right decision here not really knowing anything of this brand. I will be putting it to the test with the next enclosure for sure, let’s see how it holds up!

Now just where to put the damn thing :ROFLMAO:

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So I’ve been thinking about buying this for awhile. I just didn’t know where to start and after literally a month of procrastinating I finally pulled the trigger. I’ve been drilling all of my enclosures by hand and I have to say….I’ll never be as good as a machine. Now I went with the inexpensive route (hoping this doesn’t bite me in @$$ in the future) at $91.36 out the door, which gets me an 8 inch drill with 5 speeds and a base that can tilt 45 degrees to either side. Now my father always taught me to buy your tools only once. I just hope I made the right decision here not really knowing anything of this brand. I will be putting it to the test with the next enclosure for sure, let’s see how it holds up!

Now just where to put the damn thing :ROFLMAO:

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I have the exact same one. From Harbor Freight right? I also bought a big heavy buffer stand and have my drill press clamped to it. That said, I never use it hahaha. I just hand drill my enclosures.
 
I have the exact same one. From Harbor Freight right? I also bought a big heavy buffer stand and have my drill press clamped to it. That said, I never use it hahaha. I just hand drill my enclosures.
The same exact one from Harbor Freight! I didnt see the buffer stand i might have to go that route i dont have any "official" work desk to clamp it too.
 
The same exact one from Harbor Freight! I didnt see the buffer stand i might have to go that route i dont have any "official" work desk to clamp it too.
I'd not recommend the buffer stand. It's not super stable unless you bolt it to the ground. I don't have a good place for a permanent stand in my garage. My bright idea was to clear some space, bolt the stand to the ground then be able to use other types of tools on it, like a grinder, buffer, or belt sander. Unfortunately the bolt patterns on the stand don't line up well with most of those other tools. So I'd have to tack weld some kind of plate to it. You don't want to see me with a welder........I've done it a few times but I would not trust my welds to hold a box of components let alone a tabletop power tool hahahaha
 
I'd not recommend the buffer stand. It's not super stable unless you bolt it to the ground. I don't have a good place for a permanent stand in my garage. My bright idea was to clear some space, bolt the stand to the ground then be able to use other types of tools on it, like a grinder, buffer, or belt sander. Unfortunately the bolt patterns on the stand don't line up well with most of those other tools. So I'd have to tack weld some kind of plate to it. You don't want to see me with a welder........I've done it a few times but I would not trust my welds to hold a box of components let alone a tabletop power tool hahahaha
Ive never welded, my dad has a nice MIG welder im trying to get him to send it to me ;) But this is good to know i think for now ill have to set it on the floor till i can come up with a more permanent solution. Maybe build a wooden platform for it to sit on and be stable. Never done woodwork but would love to try!
 
Nice!

I use a little Grizzly that's the equivalent to that one and I've had it a few years. It does a great job for what it is and if you're using mainly for drilling enclosures then you're good to go.

As far as buying tools go I tend to be a fan of buying the cheap import for nearly everything and then replacing whatever I break or wear out. The idea being that those cheap imports are fine for my home/diy purposes 99% of the time and if I use one to the point of wearing it out or overworking it then I deserve to treat myself to a much more quality brand of whatever.
 
Nice!

I use a little Grizzly that's the equivalent to that one and I've had it a few years. It does a great job for what it is and if you're using mainly for drilling enclosures then you're good to go.

As far as buying tools go I tend to be a fan of buying the cheap import for nearly everything and then replacing whatever I break or wear out. The idea being that those cheap imports are fine for my home/diy purposes 99% of the time and if I use one to the point of wearing it out or overworking it then I deserve to treat myself to a much more quality brand of whatever.
Thats the idea I bought it to drill enclosures and that’s it. If you’ve seen my previous build reports you can always notice a hole being off by the smallest hair. It drives me crazy! So just wanted something that was going to give me accurate holes and not be slanted!
 
That drill press is the reason I'm here, in fact.

I bought it to press turrets, I had no intentions of drilling anything, but ended up building a couple pedals.... which led to a couple more, and then a couple more.... and then ..... well, you know the drill. :ROFLMAO:
Well this definitely assures me, I’m planning on using this thing for long time!
 
Well this definitely assures me, I’m planning on using this thing for long time!

I still have mine, aside from a little rust from sitting in storage I'm sure it's perfectly functional.

To be honest, I sometimes miss using it... My floor drill press seemed like a great idea at the time but it's really too dang big and heavy.

I never use the laser guide and the crank operated table is more of a hassle compared to how the Harbor Freight model worked.

The only benefits I gain are that it doesn't take up bench space and I can run it at a slower speed than the HF model. I have mine set to the slowest setting, that way if a stepped bit grabs an enclosure I can get out of the way before it spins around and smacks me two or three times. :ROFLMAO:
 
I still have mine, aside from a little rust from sitting in storage I'm sure it's perfectly functional.

To be honest, I sometimes miss using it... My floor drill press seemed like a great idea at the time but it's really too dang big and heavy.

I never use the laser guide and the crank operated table is more of a hassle compared to how the Harbor Freight model worked.

The only benefits I gain are that it doesn't take up bench space and I can run it at a slower speed than the HF model. I have mine set to the slowest setting, that way if a stepped bit grabs an enclosure I can get out of the way before it spins around and smacks me two or three times. :ROFLMAO:
So my dad had one of those big bench drill presses he got rid of it literally because of its size. He just texted me this morning saying he misses it now after sending him a pic of the HF model 🤣. I say keep ‘em both and bring the smaller one for home usage!
 
I still do everything with a hand drill, without any quality complaints, but I do miss the satisfaction of using a drill press.

How do you handle the metal shavings? With a hand drill, I just do it in a box and it catches 99% of them.
 
I still do everything with a hand drill, without any quality complaints, but I do miss the satisfaction of using a drill press.

How do you handle the metal shavings? With a hand drill, I just do it in a box and it catches 99% of them.
So i drill all my enclosures outside. I have a designated spot on the side of my house. I literally just let the shavings fall to the ground and i just sweep up after every session.
 
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