In article
,
Kenneth James wrote:

I am looking for a replacement for a chinese bench drill. It's not
bad, provided you can live with spindle runout that can be measured
with a yardstick. I'm gonna move on up to a floor model. 18+ inches,
1000- dollars. I have no real heartburn with decent chinese if the
quality is ok and the price is good. I'd prefer American, old or new,
but price is likely to be a problem on new; and availibility and
serviceability a probem on old stuff. I am in the Savannah, Ga area.
Any ideas or recomendations? Currently leaning towards "Dayton" brand
presses. Seems to be Grainger's house brand. Chinese of course. Any
experiences?

First rule is to get something with a Morse Taper spindle (versus Jacobs
Taper, or (shudder) a spindle with a chuck attachment thread). This
will eliminate all the Happy Harry Homeowner wobble-drills, even if the
maker is Chinese.

This rule actually is universal. I once spent a few hours at a used
machine tool place measuring runout on all the floor drill presses they
had, so twenty units if I recall. All the units with other than Morse
Taper were terrible, regardless of make and model.

Joe Gwinn