benny_profane
Well-known member
I'm thinking I want to upgrade to a drill press for enclosures. Looking for inexpensive options that people have had good experience with.
Drill Press Recommendations
- Thread starter benny_profane
- Start date
Robert
Reverse Engineer
I used one of these for many years. I've used it to drill PCBs, enclosures, press turrets, etc.
www.harborfreight.com
I "upgraded" to a larger floor model Porter Cable a couple years ago, the only real advantage gained was the ability to run at slower speeds....
Honestly I think I liked the Harbor Freight drill press better, but it's one of those things... you blow that kind of money on something you have to pretend to like it better.
Harbor Freight Tools | Whatever You Do, Do It For Less
Harbor Freight buys their top quality tools from the same factories that supply our competitors. We cut out the middleman and pass the savings to you!
I "upgraded" to a larger floor model Porter Cable a couple years ago, the only real advantage gained was the ability to run at slower speeds....
Honestly I think I liked the Harbor Freight drill press better, but it's one of those things... you blow that kind of money on something you have to pretend to like it better.
benny_profane
Well-known member
Thanks for the recommendation. It's good to hear that that model does indeed hold up over time.I used one of these for many years. I've used it to drill PCBs, enclosures, press turrets, etc.
Harbor Freight Tools | Whatever You Do, Do It For Less
Harbor Freight buys their top quality tools from the same factories that supply our competitors. We cut out the middleman and pass the savings to you!
I "upgraded" to a larger floor model Porter Cable a couple years ago, the only real advantage gained was the ability to run at slower speeds....
Honestly I think I liked the Harbor Freight drill press better, but it's one of those things... you blow that kind of money on something you have to pretend to like it better.
And I definitely know what you mean about that feeling of 'needing' to like the more expensive purchase...
Nostradoomus
Well-known member
I bought the cheapest mastercraft one at Canadian Tire a year ago...no problems at all. They’re really pretty simple machines to fix if something goes awry, and for what I use it for the cheaper the better. I’d just go to Home Depot and buy whatever 6-8” press they have on sale haha.
My old Home Depot Ryobi has a turd for a chuck but outside of that has served me very well. Don't think they sell them anymore. Tech is so simple and there's such good stuff being made these days you can't go wrong. When you start spending big money on a floor stand one it's like driving a Rolls Royce but nothing that won't slow us down.
steelplayer
Member
Ditto on what Barry wrote, mine also came from Northern Tool. Been going strong for 10+ years with regular use.
benny_profane
Well-known member
Great! It’s good to hear that a budget option is perfectly fine. Sometime with tools, cheap just means you have to replace it very quickly or that there are essential features missing. That doesn’t seem to be the case here, though.
Chuck D. Bones
Circuit Wizard
Cheap can also mean loose tolerances. You want to make sure the chuck doesn't wobble and will move up and down smoothly. Vibration should be minimal. I bought a made-in-Taiwan drill press used at a garage sale 30 years ago and it's still going strong. Had to replace the belt once, maybe the light bulb and that's it.
Danbieranowski
Well-known member
I use the Wen 8” and it works great. I’m not trying to make anything incredible and it was within my budget.
chongmagic
Well-known member
Robert
Reverse Engineer
Good point! Mine stays indoors (and I live hours from the ocean) and is quite rusty as well.
Hasn't affected performance at all though.
Nostradoomus
Well-known member
Mine sits outside, I’m about 5 minutes from the ocean on a peninsula...white paste wax over all exposed metal keeps it in line!
benny_profane
Well-known member
I think that I’m gonna go with the HF one and see how it goes. Do you guys secure it or leave it sitting without bolting the base?
benny_profane
Well-known member
Ah okay. It’s pretty stable then?
Good point on the rust. There's a number of cleaners out there that are worth using to keep the thing oiled. In the old days you'd just use machine oil on a rag to keep everything clean but there are lots of options out there to get rid of pith on saw blades that work equally well on drills. Oil = no water = no rust. Minimal effort to keep the thing maintained pays off well in terms of longevity.
Robert
Reverse Engineer
Much more so than my big floor drill press. (I haven't bolted that one down either)
The only advantages the big one has over the little HF is:
1) The big one can run at much slower RPM so you have a better chance of getting your hands out of the way if something goes wrong
2) The chuck can handle larger bits (inversely, the HF model can handle smaller wire-gauge sized bits for drilling PCBs and the big one can not)
3) It uses a standard sized light bulb (I use an LED bulb so I don't accidentally burn myself)
4) It doesn't take up room on the bench
5) There is quite a bit more distance between the chuck/table for drilling larger enclosures or chassis... I think I've only had an issue with this once, and in that case I just swung the table out of the way and used the base instead.
I thought I would like the crank-style table lift better but it's much quicker to loosen the handle and slide the table up and down by hand.
I think you might also have a hard time fitting a cross-slide vise on the smaller one, if that's something you ever wanted to do... the vise would cost more than the drill press though.
Technically sure, the Porter-Cable model is obviously higher quality, but is it worth 10 - 15 times more? Nah, I don't think so. If it ever breaks I'll gladly go back to the HF drill press without a second thought or regret.
