Leon wrote:
I have a 30 year old Rockwell 36" bench top radial drill press. I have
had it for 30 years. I do not use it as much as I did in the
past although I did recently design, build, and post pictures of a
new DP table that I attached to the DP recently and found that I am
actually using the drill press more. I found that using adjustable
clamps and a straight piece of wood as a fence was way more trouble
than my current set up. I am thinking with more convenient and time
saving features I may use my/a DP for more than just drilling 35 mm
holes in cabinet doors.
For reference, my Rockwell DP has 4 speeds, fast, more faster,
still faster than more faster, and the more fasterest speed. Translation,
700, 1250, 2400, and 4700 rpm. First off 700 rpm is too
fast for 75% of my Forstner bits. 4700 rpm makes the DP vibrate so
badly that drilling at that speed is not an option, I think that is a
speed best used with a cotton buffing wheel. Actually most Forstner
bits over 1" in diameter should be spinning at around 250 rpm for
best results and longevity. My Rockwell has a manual table height
adjustment. I really like the clamping levers on the DP, they are
heavy and comfortable however once you loosen them you need to be
ready for the table to drop. This can be a real problem if you need
to raise the table a very short distance, it always ends up dropping
the table a bit, then you wiggle it back and forth while lifting up,
and finally clamping it in place and checking for proper height
again. If the table fence was in a particular location it now needs
to be repositioned because of the wiggling back and forth. My
Rockwell uses 2 nuts separated by a flat washer to limit down travel
of the quill. For the height nuts to stay in place I have to tighten
them against each other with a pair of pliers, they tend to work
loose and do that "Craftsman router thing" if I simply hand tighten
them. That ain't right! My Rockwell has 3.125" of quill travel.
This simply is not enough. I find that because of that limited
travel I have to readjust table height more often than not. Because
of the limited quill travel the table has to be closer to the chuck
and again more often than not the end of the lever used to feed the
quill ends up hitting the table and then I have to readjust the
table. My Rockwell being a bench top variety limits the size of
stock to be drilled, drilling into the end of a table leg would be
out of the question, if I ever had a need to do this. My Rockwell
has only "2" table adjustments, height and side to side, No Tilt.
With a radial DP you drill at an angle by tilting the top end, the
motor and head stock. Doing this however usually requires the
readjustment of the table and you lose drilling depth more and more
the farther away you get from the 90 degree setting. Because my
Rockwell is a radial design it can drill to the center of a 36" wide
panel. This is one very nice feature but I never use it. I
basically always keep the location of the chuck about 8" out. My
Rockwell had 4 speeds and changing speeds requires careful
consideration in the art of "pulley jumping". There is no "easy" way
to loosen the belt. Pinched fingers are common if you do not plan
and carefully orchestrate the maneuver.
Sooooo I think I would enjoy a DP with new/better features. I
believe that I would like to go with a more traditional DP, a floor
model. These actually have a smaller foot print then my radial style
DP. Front to back my DP is around 40" and it stands about 67" tall
on its dedicated steel and mobile stand.
So here are the features I am interested in.

1. Larger variety of speeds and in particular a low speed at or
below 250 rpm. Variable speed "seems" like a nice feature however I
have used the Powermatic DP with variable speed on two occasions and
it was very noisy. I have also noticed that every variable speed DP
that I have looked into has a low speed of 400 rpm, faster than I
want. 2. An easier and quicker to adjust quill dept adjustment, perhaps
the push button and spin variety vs. the two nut design. I hate
spinning 2 nuts up to 3" and that would be even worse with my next #3
item below. 3. Longer quill travel, I am thinking "at least" close to 5"
or
more. 4. Easier to adjust table height, I think this is going to be a
sure
thing with most any model these days.
5. Tilt table, most tilt left and right a few do that and tilt
forward. I am leaning towards the ones that tilt forward also.
6. Keyless Chuck? the Powermatic I used has one however I did not
install or remove the bit so I don't really know if this would be
better. I wonder if it would be more difficult to use as all that I
have seen require 2 hands to tighten and keeping the bit in place
"might be a problem". Very minimum I would want a chuck with a user
friendly key. 7. Laser? I really have no problem with locating "exactly
where I
want to drill a hole however locating a larger Forstner bit can be a
bit more difficult. Do the lasers afford accuracy within 1/64"?
8. Regular V-belt or the newer flat ribbed serpentine style belt? Is
vibration an issue with the 2 belt 3 pulley configuration and do
either of the style belts have less tendency of causing vibration?
9. Brand? Powermatic is out, only one style is available and it is
variable speed and about $950. Craftsman? I know, but it may be
manufactured in the same factory as all the others, perhaps. The
Craftsman does offer a keyless chuck on all but the most expensive
floor models. That may be telling me something right there. Jet? Not
enough quill travel. Steel City? This is the brand that got my
attention and interest in looking into an upgrade. Delta? The
latest 17" version seems to have it all except for the keyless chuck.
IIRC it has regular V belts and the table that tilts left, right, and
forward. Laguna? Oddly, very competitively priced but appears to be
made in the same factories as the other brands, but only had a 3.5" quill
travel. Grizzly? IIRC limited quill travel.
Rikon? I don't remember but I still have that taste in my mouth from
the 18" BS that I briefly owned. Factory help was not beneficial in
solving "my"
problems.

Any suggestions? What to look for, look out for?

Thanks.

Here's a 16-speed (220-3600 rpm), 3/4 hp, floor drill press for $190. You'll
probably have to provide your own keyless chuck.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=43378