First, I want to commend Skarie in Baltimore who took care of their
customer. They sent out the service tech with a new drill head, which
he prechecked for run out, and changed out my old one. Said if this
one wasn't satisfactory, there were other options. Gonna give it a
shot.

Reading the thread in reply to my original post, I think I'm gonna
clarify a few things.

rant mode begin

My main issue here is that Delta Machinery, who used to be a premier
manufacturer of ww'g stuff is going downhill fast. They don't take
care of their customers, have customer service staff who doesn't know
their products, and their tools are becoming junk. But, they still
charge a premium price.

This drill press is top of their line (unless they have some sort of
industrial, mucho dinero stuff) but repeatedly comes out with major
and/or minor flaws. I have read much more negative about it than
positive (from owners). Stuff like bolts not being tightened is
ridiculous. Stuff like a cheap chuck on an $850 machine is ridiculous.


The demand for low prices has driven first the cheap incidentals to
China, and now about everything. Problem is, the "cost savings" aren't
being passed on to the consumer and the quality of supposedly premium
stuff sucketh.

(I gotta get to work, so ' kept it short and "sweet".)

rant mode end

Renata

Renata wrote:
The demand for low prices has driven first the cheap incidentals to
China, and now about everything. Problem is, the "cost savings" aren't
being passed on to the consumer and the quality of supposedly premium
stuff sucketh.
Renata

I agree, this is one of the main problems with all this "value
engineering".

Although I think we need to keep in mind that every year the costs of
steel, copper, and fuel
rise, and generally the prices of tools stay level. So, we are
partially benefiting from the cost reductions.

But I agree wholeheartedly that a tool like an $850 drill press should
not have so many problems.
I mean, if you buy a $40 harbor freight drill press, then you should
expect quality to be a crapshoot, and you
should expect some fiddling.. but not on a premium tool that is
supposedly top of the line.

I would much rather pay 10 or 20 % more for a tool and not have to deal
with the annoying things like a switch wearing out, plastic parts
breaking, etc.