I am looking at 12" bench top drill presses and the three I see a
Craftsman, Rigid, and Ryobi.

Sorry I just noticed Rigid does not have a 12" press

I like the idea of a larger square table on the Craftsman

The ryobi does not say what size the motor is:
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...D=9876&pos=p06


I do fall under hobbyist, doing wood and welding light duty.

What would be your input, or even anything else better.

Don D.

"Don D." wrote in message
news:lE9td.176158$cJ3.16737@fed1read06...
I am looking at 12" bench top drill presses and the three I see a
Craftsman, Rigid, and Ryobi.

Sorry I just noticed Rigid does not have a 12" press

I like the idea of a larger square table on the Craftsman


My Delta has a square table also. I've build a larger table for it with
fence to make it even better for woodworking. It sells for about $180 or so.
One thing to check is how the bale height is adjusted. Batter ones have a
crank, a few of the cheaper and smaller tables require you to move it by
hand; very awkward, IMO.

Grizzly make or sell one?

Joe - V#8013 - '86 VN750 - joe @ yunx .com
Northern, NJ
http://www.autodrill.com

Born once - Die twice. Born twice - Die only once. Your choice...

Have unwanted music CDs or DVDs of any type? I can use them for our
charity. eMail me privately for details. Donation receipts available.


"Don D." wrote in message
news:lE9td.176158$cJ3.16737@fed1read06...
I am looking at 12" bench top drill presses and the three I see a
Craftsman, Rigid, and Ryobi.

Sorry I just noticed Rigid does not have a 12" press

I like the idea of a larger square table on the Craftsman

The ryobi does not say what size the motor is:

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...D=9876&pos=p06


I do fall under hobbyist, doing wood and welding light duty.

What would be your input, or even anything else better.

Don D.

"Don D." wrote in message
news:t_9td.176165$cJ3.62487@fed1read06...
What model Delta do you have? I did see them also but was not sure. I
know they are a brand name. I do have their miter saw.

Don D.

It is the 11-990 and is 5 speeds. Home Depot carried them when I bought
mine a few years ago.

Look for a second hand industrial press for the same price.

--

Greg

Might check Grizzly too. My son in law just bought one and it is a pretty
good looking machine. You might want to hurry if you go Griz, the have
warned of a general price increase after the first of the year - iron
prices.

I wouldn't worry much about table size. Larger auxilary tables are easy to
build and can be designed to be pretty versatile (tracks, fences, etc.).
One nice feature is a mechanical crank or other device to help raise and
lower the table. They can be heavy, especially if you build an aux table.

On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 20:42:10 -0700, "Don D." wrote:

I am looking at 12" bench top drill presses and the three I see a
Craftsman, Rigid, and Ryobi.

Sorry I just noticed Rigid does not have a 12" press

I like the idea of a larger square table on the Craftsman

The ryobi does not say what size the motor is:
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...D=9876&pos=p06


I do fall under hobbyist, doing wood and welding light duty.

What would be your input, or even anything else better.

Don D.


The Delta 17-965 is a floor model with a 14" square cast table, 16
speeds, and a 0.002" runout. For $100 less there's the Ridgid DP1550
with a 11" square table, slightly less power, 12 speeds, and an
impressive 0.0006" chuck runout. After buying a drill press I'm
amazed how much and how often I use it.

Don,
I've read all the replies {to this point}.

FWIW - I recommend the Grizzly 'Benchtop Radial'. {Obviously, also the
'Upright' if you have the dedicated space}. I attached mine to the corner of
the 'heavy duty' bench in the rear corner of the shop. With the swing, the
ability to extend the length of the head 'arm', as well as rotate it, I have
the ability to drill into longer pieces by placing them on the floor beside
the bench. {It just occurred to me, one could also put a portable bench
there - for a LARGE square or rectangular table !!- Thank You !!}

I agonized over the decision to get this item. It is the first item I have
bought from them. While it's finish is obviously Twainese, it seems
structurally sound. Also, I do not think of a drill press as a 'precision
instrument'. It has done everything I have asked of it, and is as I imagined
it. NOTE - the only thing I gave up in going for the 'Radial' as opposed to
the 'Regular' was the number of speeds available, the slowest of which is
approximately 500 rpm. The only 'problem' this creates is it is higher then
the recommended speed for large Forstner bits, etc. I simply feed a little
more gently, clear more frequently, keep the bits SHARP, etc.

Regards & Good Luck,
Ron Magen
Backyard Boatshop

"Don D." wrote in message
news:lE9td.176158$cJ3.16737@fed1read06...
I am looking at 12" bench top drill presses and the three I see a
Craftsman, Rigid, and Ryobi.

Sorry I just noticed Rigid does not have a 12" press

I like the idea of a larger square table on the Craftsman

Look for a second hand industrial press for the same price.

Just make sure you can get parts for it ahead of time!
--


Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
http://www.autodrill.com
http://www.multi-spindle-heads.com

I looked at the Delta 11-990 and was not impressed having a 1/3 hp. I think
even the craftsman has a 2/3 hp. I did like that delta showed what speed
with what size bit and to what material. Not that I would look and use it.
If I had the room I would do a floor model, but I work in a 2 car garage and
I only get half and a small pad outside. ( can't wait to move next year or
so and have my private doghouse (shop)
Just being patient.
Don D.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
om...

"Don D." wrote in message
news:t_9td.176165$cJ3.62487@fed1read06...
What model Delta do you have? I did see them also but was not sure. I
know they are a brand name. I do have their miter saw.

Don D.

It is the 11-990 and is 5 speeds. Home Depot carried them when I bought
mine a few years ago.

"Don D." wrote in message
news:3mutd.176901$cJ3.99374@fed1read06...
I looked at the Delta 11-990 and was not impressed having a 1/3 hp. I think
even the craftsman has a 2/3 hp.

Read carefully. "max developed horsepower" It varies with the models. Look
how they describe the 20" machine: "3/4 rated hp, 2 max. dev. hp'

Now look at the specs for the Craftsman 12" DP
Amps 6.0
Horsepower 0.72 hp
Horsepower, Maximum Developed 2/3 hp

These numbers don't add up to me. The .72 hp comes out to 4.466 amps @
120V Where to they come up with the other numbers?

Now take a close look at the pictures of the two machines side by side.
Sure looks like they come from the same factory eh?



You may be interested in the 3.5 hp saws too!. I do know that I've never
strained or stalled the Delta with anything I've done so far. .

Don D. wrote:

I am looking at 12" bench top drill presses and the three I see a
Craftsman, Rigid, and Ryobi.

If you can manage the space and the cash, go floor model if at all possible.
I got a benchtop, kept it for about a year or two, then traded for a floor
model. I wish I had skipped the intermediate step. I lost a lot of money
selling the original DP for a song, just to get it out of my shed.

My theory behind a benchtop was that I would never need the full travel of a
big press anyway, but I found that the little DP just didn't offer enough
travel to get the job done. The bottom 5" or so of the travel were useless
due to the table mechanism, and anything that needed to have the table
lower than that involved stacking a bunch of crap on the base and trying to
cobble together some hack solution to drill into a piece that required an
extra 3/4" beyond what the table could give me. I don't need this extra
travel very often, but when I need it, it sure is nice to have.

On floor models, I would probably not buy another Craftsman. I get along
with mine fine, but it's a question of living with some pretty serious
shortcomings that aren't quite serious enough to actually prevent me from
doing anything.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/

have been doing thinking after reading comments, and I may think about
floor models... HD has Rigid and then Craftsman. We have a tool peddler
(Wholesale Tool Outlet) here in town again till X-mas and he has a 16 speed
3/4hp 5/8 chuck for 120.00 and Radial arm drill press (no info, said it is
like the sears with a cheaper motor) for 230.00
I do plan on doing drilling in 3/16 - 1/4 steel plate and 1/8 sq tubing for
re-assembling
take down projects.
Bigger may be better.
Brands of you choice with in reason in price?
Don D.

"Silvan" wrote in message
...
Don D. wrote:

I am looking at 12" bench top drill presses and the three I see a
Craftsman, Rigid, and Ryobi.

If you can manage the space and the cash, go floor model if at all
possible.
I got a benchtop, kept it for about a year or two, then traded for a floor
model. I wish I had skipped the intermediate step. I lost a lot of money
selling the original DP for a song, just to get it out of my shed.

My theory behind a benchtop was that I would never need the full travel of
a
big press anyway, but I found that the little DP just didn't offer enough
travel to get the job done. The bottom 5" or so of the travel were
useless
due to the table mechanism, and anything that needed to have the table
lower than that involved stacking a bunch of crap on the base and trying
to
cobble together some hack solution to drill into a piece that required an
extra 3/4" beyond what the table could give me. I don't need this extra
travel very often, but when I need it, it sure is nice to have.

On floor models, I would probably not buy another Craftsman. I get along
with mine fine, but it's a question of living with some pretty serious
shortcomings that aren't quite serious enough to actually prevent me from
doing anything.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/