I've long wanted a nice floor-standing drill press, but haven't ever had an
absolute requirement for one, so I've been making do without. Now, I may be
needing a floor-standing drill press for a particular job.

(More about the job in another post. But for now, know that I'll be
enlarging a lot of holes from 1/2" diameter to 5/8" diameter in 1/4" thick,
type 316, stainless steel plate.)

Does anyone have any recommendations (or models to avoid)?

I'm probably looking for a unit in the $500 range, although I may be able to
go higher. Large swing is not critical for this job, but obviously, I'd want
as much capacity as possible for future jobs. A square table is required,
and I'd prefer parallel t-slots like a milling table, rather than the radial
ones that are common on smaller units.

It would be really, REALLY nice if it had an R8 spindle, but I suspect
that's not likely outside of mill/drill machines. Any other features I
should be looking to get/avoid?

Also, it can't be something too rare or exotic (i.e., long time to
order/receive, as I will need it within a couple of weeks).

Thanks,
Michael

Most low-end floor presses have pitiful bearings and the import models
often "feature" unbalanced motors and pulleys which cause lots of
vibration. Next time you're in a store, grab the chuck on any floor or
bench drill press and pull on it horizontally. Most will move anywhere
from .01 to .03 inches! A mill-drill is far superior for drilling metal
if you don't need a lot of chuck to table space. They have better
bearings, a cast iron table, and the X-Y-Z feeds can be very handy.

The downside of mill-drills is they're heavy and usually cost more than
$500.

DeepDiver wrote:

I've long wanted a nice floor-standing drill press, but haven't ever had an
absolute requirement for one, so I've been making do without. Now, I may be
needing a floor-standing drill press for a particular job.

(More about the job in another post. But for now, know that I'll be
enlarging a lot of holes from 1/2" diameter to 5/8" diameter in 1/4" thick,
type 316, stainless steel plate.)

Does anyone have any recommendations (or models to avoid)?

I'm probably looking for a unit in the $500 range, although I may be able to
go higher. Large swing is not critical for this job, but obviously, I'd want
as much capacity as possible for future jobs. A square table is required,
and I'd prefer parallel t-slots like a milling table, rather than the radial
ones that are common on smaller units.

It would be really, REALLY nice if it had an R8 spindle, but I suspect
that's not likely outside of mill/drill machines. Any other features I
should be looking to get/avoid?

Also, it can't be something too rare or exotic (i.e., long time to
order/receive, as I will need it within a couple of weeks).

Thanks,
Michael

Michael,
I have to agree with Tim, most of the import stuff is genuine junk for metal
work... I'll even add to his assessment about horzontal play...most of them
don't have any kind of friction lock on the spindle and vertical play is
even worse. That make 'em real drill bit busters when the bit grabs, the
spindle goes down .200 and the.. snap...

A mill drill is really what you want you'll get your R8 collet, and most of
them at least have a friction clamp on the spindle that will add enough drag
to keep them from busting bits.
If you are going to go with a drill press, try and find a used American
machine like a Delta or Rockwell from the 50's-60's even a Craftsman of that
vintage is a pretty good machine
Too bad you are on such a short clock, both mill-drills and drill presses
show up on evilBay quite regularly.

Are you hep to www.craigslist.org and are you close to a city in the list,
lot's of amazing stuff shows up.

Dave


"DeepDiver" wrote in message
...
I've long wanted a nice floor-standing drill press, but haven't ever had
an absolute requirement for one, so I've been making do without. Now, I
may be needing a floor-standing drill press for a particular job.

(More about the job in another post. But for now, know that I'll be
enlarging a lot of holes from 1/2" diameter to 5/8" diameter in 1/4"
thick, type 316, stainless steel plate.)

Does anyone have any recommendations (or models to avoid)?

I'm probably looking for a unit in the $500 range, although I may be able
to go higher. Large swing is not critical for this job, but obviously, I'd
want as much capacity as possible for future jobs. A square table is
required, and I'd prefer parallel t-slots like a milling table, rather
than the radial ones that are common on smaller units.

It would be really, REALLY nice if it had an R8 spindle, but I suspect
that's not likely outside of mill/drill machines. Any other features I
should be looking to get/avoid?

Also, it can't be something too rare or exotic (i.e., long time to
order/receive, as I will need it within a couple of weeks).

Thanks,
Michael

"Tim Killian" wrote in message
...
A mill-drill is far superior for drilling metal

Hi Tim,

Thanks for responding. I agree that a mill-drill is superior. Just so you
know, I have a 9x20 lathe and one of those tiny micro-mills (usually
referred to as a mini-mill). I wanted larger machines for both (particularly
the mill since the one I have is so limited), but I was/am seriously
constrained by space (primary problem) and money (secondary problem). I will
be buying larger machines in the future, but not anytime soon.

There is another consideration: for this job, I need to be enlarging the
holes in base plates that have already been welded to posts that are up to
4-1/2 feet tall (I'm correcting someone else's mistake). The holes are 1"
away from the post so there's no way to drill them from the top; they will
have to be inverted and drilled from the bottom, which means I need more
than 4-1/2 feet clearance under the workpiece. That pretty much rules out
the typical bench-top mill-drill (unless I want to custom fabricate a really
tall stand for it).

So I think I'm stuck with the floor-standing drill press idea. But if any of
you have any better ideas, my mind is still open!

Regards,
Michael

I had a Jet 17MF once (floor model 17" swing) and I thought it was
well worth $275 which is what I paid. It had less than .001" runout in
the spindle, and the vibration and overall fit and finish were acceptable.
In short, it worked fine. I think if you look carefully at what you're
getting, the larger import floor model DPs can be fine. You might want to
look at something I wrote once:

http://www.tinyisland.com/htbdrillp.txt

GWE

"DeepDiver" wrote in message
...
There is another consideration: for this job, I need to be enlarging the
holes in base plates that have already been welded to posts that are up to
4-1/2 feet tall (I'm correcting someone else's mistake). The holes are 1"
away from the post so there's no way to drill them from the top; they will
have to be inverted and drilled from the bottom, which means I need more
than 4-1/2 feet clearance under the workpiece. That pretty much rules out
the typical bench-top mill-drill (unless I want to custom fabricate a
really
tall stand for it).

So I think I'm stuck with the floor-standing drill press idea. But if any
of
you have any better ideas, my mind is still open!

Lay the pipe down on its side. Get a cheap bench drillpress and C-clamp the
table to the baseplate so your hole will be where you want it.

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 15:13:58 -0700, Tim Killian
wrote:

Most low-end floor presses have pitiful bearings and the import models
often "feature" unbalanced motors and pulleys which cause lots of
vibration. Next time you're in a store, grab the chuck on any floor or
bench drill press and pull on it horizontally. Most will move anywhere
from .01 to .03 inches! A mill-drill is far superior for drilling metal
if you don't need a lot of chuck to table space. They have better
bearings, a cast iron table, and the X-Y-Z feeds can be very handy.

The downside of mill-drills is they're heavy and usually cost more than
$500.


Pick up one of the Gorton small mills, like the 016-A Makes one hell
of a drill press and you CAN mill with it G

They do weigh about 1500 lbs though....

Gunner


DeepDiver wrote:

I've long wanted a nice floor-standing drill press, but haven't ever had an
absolute requirement for one, so I've been making do without. Now, I may be
needing a floor-standing drill press for a particular job.

(More about the job in another post. But for now, know that I'll be
enlarging a lot of holes from 1/2" diameter to 5/8" diameter in 1/4" thick,
type 316, stainless steel plate.)

Does anyone have any recommendations (or models to avoid)?

I'm probably looking for a unit in the $500 range, although I may be able to
go higher. Large swing is not critical for this job, but obviously, I'd want
as much capacity as possible for future jobs. A square table is required,
and I'd prefer parallel t-slots like a milling table, rather than the radial
ones that are common on smaller units.

It would be really, REALLY nice if it had an R8 spindle, but I suspect
that's not likely outside of mill/drill machines. Any other features I
should be looking to get/avoid?

Also, it can't be something too rare or exotic (i.e., long time to
order/receive, as I will need it within a couple of weeks).

Thanks,
Michael




Lathe Dementia. Recognized as one of the major sub-strains of the
all-consuming virus, Packratitis. Usual symptoms easily recognized
and normally is contracted for life. Can be very contagious.
michael

"DeepDiver" wrote in message
...
There is another consideration: for this job, I need to be enlarging the
holes in base plates that have already been welded to posts that are up to
4-1/2 feet tall (I'm correcting someone else's mistake). The holes are 1"
away from the post so there's no way to drill them from the top; they will
have to be inverted and drilled from the bottom, which means I need more
than 4-1/2 feet clearance under the workpiece. That pretty much rules out
the typical bench-top mill-drill (unless I want to custom fabricate a
really tall stand for it).

So I think I'm stuck with the floor-standing drill press idea. But if any
of you have any better ideas, my mind is still open!

Regards,
Michael
How about a mag drill with a rota broch type bit. You might even be able to
rent one.

just a thought

Andrew

The 16" Delta isn't much more than the Chinese boats [Junk]G. Mine
has .0004" runout and is stout enough to do some light milling.
Bugs

"Bugs" wrote in message
oups.com...
The 16" Delta isn't much more than the Chinese boats [Junk]G.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. But I've read that the Delta drill presses
are made in China, and generally of slightly lesser quality than Jet.

I've also read that Jet's drill presses used to be made in Taiwan. Is that
still the case?

.....
have to be inverted and drilled from the bottom, which means I need more
than 4-1/2 feet clearance under the workpiece. That pretty much rules out
the typical bench-top mill-drill (unless I want to custom fabricate a
really
tall stand for it).


If you get a mill/drill with a round column, you can swing
the head around to the backside. That would give you plenty
of clearance, but no table to work with. So you really
don't need a taller stand, just a way to hold the part.

Wayne D.