Im thinking of buying a Drill Press and am wondering if I need to go the
extra bucks and shop space to purchase a floor model or whether a nice
12" benchtop would be sufficient. Aside from the obvious fitting
something 4 feet tall on the floor model, what can you do with one of
these that you can't with a bench top model?

TIA.

Mike W.

"Mike W." wrote in message
.. .
Im thinking of buying a Drill Press and am wondering if I need to go the
extra bucks and shop space to purchase a floor model or whether a nice 12"
benchtop would be sufficient. Aside from the obvious fitting something 4
feet tall on the floor model, what can you do with one of these that you
can't with a bench top model?

Depends on your use - - - and how much money and space you have. I've used
the 12" benchtop for about five years now.. I've yet to find a need for
more size of power. Your needs may be much different. Mine is no longer on
the top of a bench though, but rather a cabinet on wheels that also holds my
pancake compressor.

This question comes up a lot and to me, the answer is clear. Floor model.
Most of the benchtop drill presses you see these days are small. Not just in
height but in capacity. Used to be, benchtop drill presses were the same as
the floor models except with a shorter column. In most installations I have
seen, benchtops don't save any space over a floormount. Reason being that
you have to get them up to reasonable working height. Many (most?) people
end up building a cabinet for them to sit on. This usually ends up with a
larger footprint than the floor models. The often stated justification for
the cabinet with benchtop drillpress on top is that the cabinet affords
storage of bits, ect. A better solution, in my opinion, is to have a
floormount drill and build a cabinet that rests on wheels that just
straddles the base and at a height that would allow the table to be lowered
to a height that will accommodate the majority of work. This way, you have
storage, have not really taken up any more room than a benchtop would and,
if you did need the full capacity of the drillpress, you could roll the
cabinet out of the way, do the job and roll it back.

"Mike W." wrote in message
.. .
Im thinking of buying a Drill Press and am wondering if I need to go the
extra bucks and shop space to purchase a floor model or whether a nice
12" benchtop would be sufficient. Aside from the obvious fitting
something 4 feet tall on the floor model, what can you do with one of
these that you can't with a bench top model?

TIA.

Mike W.

I'll go a step further: shops where I've seen a benchtop model have
lost benchtop space.

Sure, you're SUPPOSED to be able to put them away when they're
off-line. But most guys just leave them set up and work around them.

I got a floor model.

Bill

"Mike W." wrote in message
.. .
Im thinking of buying a Drill Press and am wondering if I need to go the
extra bucks and shop space to purchase a floor model or whether a nice 12"
benchtop would be sufficient. Aside from the obvious fitting something 4
feet tall on the floor model, what can you do with one of these that you
can't with a bench top model?

TIA.

Mike W.

I bought a 3/4 HP Jet bench top drill press twenty years ago. It spent a
year on a bench, the last 19 years on a stand I built for it!
The problem for me was the bench got in the way for some operations. A floor
model will give you a bit more room to work. Plus I rather give up a bit of
floor space than bench space. You are giving up the room for it either way.
Greg

I have a benchtop model. I think that the arguments for benchtop vs floor
are a bit misleading. The fact that most benchtops are lower-end machines
and you simply have to move to the floor models to get some advanced
features.

There is one really good reason for getting a benchtop.... It's what you can
afford. I have a 14" Delta benchtop which has met 98% of my needs for the
last decade. A modest drill press is way better than no drill press and is
good enough for most applications. I would like a floor model, and I will
probably get one some day, but it's really just a "want" and not a "need" at
all. The features that I would look for in an upgrade would be:

1. Longer stroke (4"+)
2. Less runout (overall quality upgrade)
2. Larger capacity (column to quill)

in that order.

I have wanted to drill vertically maybe once or twice. It's just not that
big of a deal for me. If the high-end features were commonly available in a
benchtop, I would consider another one.

-Steve




wrote in message
oups.com...
I'll go a step further: shops where I've seen a benchtop model have
lost benchtop space.

Sure, you're SUPPOSED to be able to put them away when they're
off-line. But most guys just leave them set up and work around them.

I got a floor model.

Bill

"Greg O" wrote in message
...

"Mike W." wrote in message
.. .
Im thinking of buying a Drill Press and am wondering if I need to go the
extra bucks and shop space to purchase a floor model or whether a nice
12" benchtop would be sufficient. Aside from the obvious fitting
something 4 feet tall on the floor model, what can you do with one of
these that you can't with a bench top model?

TIA.

Mike W.

I bought a 3/4 HP Jet bench top drill press twenty years ago. It spent a
year on a bench, the last 19 years on a stand I built for it!
The problem for me was the bench got in the way for some operations. A
floor model will give you a bit more room to work. Plus I rather give up a
bit of floor space than bench space. You are giving up the room for it
either way.
Greg

I too have a very old benchtop drill press (AMT) but for the last 15 years
or so it's sat on a custom cabinet I built for it which houses -- among
other things -- all of the accessories I'd need to store somewhere else if I
had a floor model. It doesn't take extra space, it actually saves space.

Norm

My(floor model) drillpress has a cabinet that straddles the base. It is high
enough to store whatever I need but low enough that the table can come down
to the usual working heights. If more capacity of the drill is needed, I
just pull out the cabinet.
"Norm Dresner" wrote in message
news:_8esf.197230$qk4.171369@bgtnsc05-

I too have a very old benchtop drill press (AMT) but for the last 15 years
or so it's sat on a custom cabinet I built for it which houses -- among
other things -- all of the accessories I'd need to store somewhere else if
I
had a floor model. It doesn't take extra space, it actually saves space.

Norm

Floor model is not really safe unless bolted to something.
Wilson
"Norm Dresner" wrote in message
...
"Greg O" wrote in message
...

"Mike W." wrote in message
.. .
Im thinking of buying a Drill Press and am wondering if I need to go the
extra bucks and shop space to purchase a floor model or whether a nice
12" benchtop would be sufficient. Aside from the obvious fitting
something 4 feet tall on the floor model, what can you do with one of
these that you can't with a bench top model?

TIA.

Mike W.

I bought a 3/4 HP Jet bench top drill press twenty years ago. It spent a
year on a bench, the last 19 years on a stand I built for it!
The problem for me was the bench got in the way for some operations. A
floor model will give you a bit more room to work. Plus I rather give up
a bit of floor space than bench space. You are giving up the room for it
either way.
Greg

I too have a very old benchtop drill press (AMT) but for the last 15 years
or so it's sat on a custom cabinet I built for it which houses -- among
other things -- all of the accessories I'd need to store somewhere else if
I had a floor model. It doesn't take extra space, it actually saves
space.

Norm

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 02:44:43 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Mike
W." quickly quoth:

Im thinking of buying a Drill Press and am wondering if I need to go the
extra bucks and shop space to purchase a floor model or whether a nice
12" benchtop would be sufficient. Aside from the obvious fitting
something 4 feet tall on the floor model, what can you do with one of
these that you can't with a bench top model?

You can do all sorts of things with the longer model, like
drilling into the ends of table/chair legs and lamp posts.
They're also heavier duty (for the most part.) I regret the
purchase of the little $40 8" HF "drill press-like thing" a
few years ago. I'll replace it with a 16" floor model some
day soon. They tend to be stronger, have longer quill travel
and better chucks, etc.

Everyone I've talked to (who isn't a tiny model maker) regrets
their choice of benchtop model over floor model, and most have
replaced the short stuff.


----------------------------------------------------------------
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* laugh at themselves, for they * Comprehensive Website Dev.
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On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 19:41:27 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
"Wilson" quickly quoth:

Floor model is not really safe unless bolted to something.

Working with machine tools is inherently dangerous, Wilson.
Sell or give away your entire shop now, while you still can!


----------------------------------------------------------------
* Blessed are those who can * Humorous T-shirts Online
* laugh at themselves, for they * Comprehensive Website Dev.
* shall never cease to be amused * http://www.diversify.com
----------------------------------------------------------------

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 12:11:43 -0800, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 19:41:27 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
"Wilson" quickly quoth:

Floor model is not really safe unless bolted to something.

Working with machine tools is inherently dangerous, Wilson.
Sell or give away your entire shop now, while you still can!

I don't have anything bolted down in my shop. With the hydronic heat
tubes in the floor, I haven't been enthusiastic about trying. I suppose
I could borrow the thermal imaging camera from the fire department and
find the heat tubes but...c'mon, a drill press tip over, with that huge
base? I'm not seeing it, unless I'd do something astonishingly unwise
like clamp something large, heavy, and way off-center without support or
something.

That does seem to be the case now. Used to be, if you bought a bench
drillpress, the only difference between that an a floor mode was the length
of the column. No, they are fully scaled down.

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...

Everyone I've talked to (who isn't a tiny model maker) regrets
their choice of benchtop model over floor model, and most have
replaced the short stuff.


----------------------------------------------------------------
* Blessed are those who can * Humorous T-shirts Online
* laugh at themselves, for they * Comprehensive Website Dev.
* shall never cease to be amused * http://www.diversify.com
----------------------------------------------------------------

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 03:24:32 GMT, "CW" wrote:

Many (most?) people
end up building a cabinet for them to sit on. This usually ends up with a
larger footprint than the floor models. The often stated justification for
the cabinet with benchtop drillpress on top is that the cabinet affords
storage of bits, ect.

*If* the benchtop meets your needs, then you don't have to
stop with a bit storage cabinet. My Delta Shopmaster shares space on
top of a 25x20 cabinet with a Jet Mortiser. The top flips over to
bring up a Ryobi 12" thickness planer. The cabinet is high enough to
allow storage at the bottom, under all the equipment regardless of
what is on top. It's on wheels and is much more stable than an
unattached floormount drill press.
25x20 floorspace for three useful tools. You have to plan all
the clearances so you can actually use the tools, but it can be done.
I use a 2-car garage for 2 cars and woodworking, so I really need to
minimize footprints and have everything on wheels.

-- chuck

=====
Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others.
=====
{remove curly brackets for email}

"Dave Hinz" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 12:11:43 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 19:41:27 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
"Wilson" quickly quoth:

Floor model is not really safe unless bolted to something.

Working with machine tools is inherently dangerous, Wilson.
Sell or give away your entire shop now, while you still can!

I don't have anything bolted down in my shop. With the hydronic heat
tubes in the floor, I haven't been enthusiastic about trying. I suppose
I could borrow the thermal imaging camera from the fire department and
find the heat tubes but...c'mon, a drill press tip over, with that huge
base? I'm not seeing it, unless I'd do something astonishingly unwise
like clamp something large, heavy, and way off-center without support or
something.


Besides, if you really wanted to bolt it down, you could make up your own
little peice of floor.

I work with gym equipment. A lot of it is unweildy due to its design. So we
just bolt on a peice of plywood to the bottom of the unit. I have done this
lots of time.

I can not remember doing it to a drill press though. Although it would be
quite simple to do so if necessary.

Larry Jaques wrote:

You can do all sorts of things with the longer model, like
drilling into the ends of table/chair legs and lamp posts.

I can do that by swinging the drill press head around and clamping the
workpiece to the side of the cabinet the drill press sits on.

They're also heavier duty (for the most part.)

I bought mine about 15 years ago - it is a heavy one, albeit a Taiwan
clone. I'd call it a floor model with a short pillar :-).


Everyone I've talked to (who isn't a tiny model maker) regrets
their choice of benchtop model over floor model, and most have
replaced the short stuff.


Well, I make tiny models (RR), but I also make furniture. I can't
remember an occasion when I wished I'd bought a floor model. I do wish
mine had a longer stroke, but it's as long as most of the good quality
floor models out there.

All that said, if we're talking about one of the lightweight cheap bench
drill presses (that may be all you can buy nowadays), I'd definitely go
with a floor model instead.

--
It's turtles, all the way down