Bench/pillar drill recommendation

[Slidgeman]

Hi all,

Can anyone recommend a decent bench/pillar drill for basic woodworking? Nothing too expensive but nothing too cheap.

Thanx,

Doug.

 

[wizard]

You will get better value for money if you buy something old

 

[Slidgeman]

Hi Wizard,

When you say buy something old, not sure how old this Clarke Metalworker pedestal drill CDP151B is, but its got a starting bid of £20 on ebay with a few days to go. Any good??????????

Cheers,

Doug.

 

[Slidgeman]

or this Kerrys industries Q&S drillmaster pedestal drill which has a £1 bid at the min with 3 days to go.

 

[SteveW1000]

I would go for the Kerry Drillmaster, has a decent chuck and would probably outlast you. Haven't looked at Clarkes drills for a while, the problems they use to have were they had a no name chuck where the key didn't fit well and you could only buy them from them. And the handles you use to wind the bitk down would come loose from the hub. The Kerry probably has a Jacobs chuck where you can get replacement key from any good tool shop.

Steve

 

[beech1948]

The critical measure is how deep will the drill permit the drill bit to go.

Modern cheap drills usually only permit 50mm, older eg my meddings will go to 80mm. Some older, heavier and industrial will go to 100mm eg Elliot Progress.

I would guess the Clark only goes to 50mm and if you want it there is a depth based decision to be made.

Al

 

[Hemsby]

Hi Wizard,

When you say buy something old, not sure how old this Clarke Metalworker pedestal drill CDP151B is, but its got a starting bid of £20 on ebay with a few days to go. Any good??????????

Cheers,

Doug.

Hi,

I bought a Clarke Metalworker CDP200B from Ebay in January for £90, 12 speeds with 80mm spindle travel, having been used to expensive industrial drills I was surprised with the quality of the Clarke for the price.

I looked for ages for a second hand drill most for sale were quite restricted on their capacity dimensions.

If the main use is going to be with wood and some metal I would say something like the Clarke will be fine. I think the main considerations are, will the speeds available, Spindle travel and the dimensions of the throat and height from the chuck to table suit your requirements.

The age of the machine should not a major consideration there is very little to go wrong with a pillar drill, New drill chucks are cheap to buy & easy to fit. A little surface rust never hurt anybody!!!

Hope this helps,

Regards
Keith

 

[RogerP]

The older. higher quality drills are great if you can find one still in good condition that doesn't need a complete overhaul, you have the means to collect and transport it (they're heavy - you'll need a friend to help and maybe a crane) and also it's not so far away as to cost a packet in fuel for the round trip.

I considered all this but ended up buying new with delivery next day. The driver put the machine where I wanted it in the workshop - I plugged it in and was up and running.

 

[wizard]

I had a Clarke from new and it fell to pieces and the chuck would not grip.

 

[DTR]

I had a Clarke from new and it fell to pieces and the chuck would not grip.

I have a second hand, entry level Clarke and I've never had a problem with it.

 

[wizard]

I had a Clarke from new and it fell to pieces and the chuck would not grip.

I have a second hand, entry level Clarke and I've never had a problem with it.

do you ever use it :lol:

 

[DTR]

I had a Clarke from new and it fell to pieces and the chuck would not grip.

I have a second hand, entry level Clarke and I've never had a problem with it.

do you ever use it :lol:

Yes :lol:

 

[wizard]

The thread on one handle was striped from new so i had to weld it in, the motor had no power, when the belts were not slipping everything else was. The whole thing shacked so i had to make a top bracket for it. it was not the cheap one, was glad to see the back of it. my over 50 year old meddings never lets me down.

 

[wizard]

this is a pillar drill

 

[Hemsby]

I used to own a number of pillar drills Fobco, Meddings, Ajax and Herbert all bought new, some costing me several thousands of pounds each and there was the odd one that even in that price range turned out to be a "wrong un". That's life.

For most home users some of the cheap mass produced drills will providing they are used within their capacity will give many years of service.

Now retired my second hand Clarke Metalworker is used everyday with no problems.

It is horses for courses

Regards

Keith

 

[wizard]

Its all down to how much you intend to use it and how hard you use it. My meddings would go on forever used every day in a factory, a cheap drill would only last a few months used every day then it would only be good for scrap. A diy drill will only be used a few times a year just to do a bodge job, so you can buy a cheap drill and if it falls apart you lose about £200.00 pounds or less. With me if i no longer need it i hope i will make a good profit on my £380.00 drill that will be as good as the day i bought it. when i started my hobby i never thought i would be wearing out all my nice new shiny tools and buying lots of old ones, well i have learnt the hard way.

 

[Hemsby]

Its all down to how much you intend to use it and how hard you use it. My meddings would go on forever used every day in a factory, a cheap drill would only last a few months used every day then it would only be good for scrap. A diy drill will only be used a few times a year just to do a bodge job, so you can buy a cheap drill and if it falls apart you lose about £200.00 pounds or less. With me if i no longer need it i hope i will make a good profit on my £380.00 drill that will be as good as the day i bought it. when i started my hobby i never thought i would be wearing out all my nice new shiny tools and buying lots of old ones, well i have learnt the hard way.

Hi,

Looking at your photo's it would seem that you are into pretty heavy stuff , large drill with a very substantial vice, hydraulic press, shot blast cabinet. Without doubt the type of drill you have is clearly a good choice for you and something like a Clarke would be of little or no use.

The original post by Doug was for a drill suitable for basic woodwork and something like yours I feel would be overkill, with its size & weight.

I doubt very much that something like a Clarke would give any problems providing it was used for normal home woodwork use.

Regards,

Keith

 

[wizard]

mine is just for home hoby use ok nay be a tad over the top

 

[DTR]

And the handles you use to wind the bitk down would come loose from the hub.

Come to think of it, I did have this problem with my Clarke. I put some plumber's tape around the threads and put them back in, they've been fine since.

I should also mention that I seldom use my Clarke for woodwork, it's mostly metalwork.

 

[wizard]

On my hub one thread was completely striped and there was a nut screwed on the end of one leaver. It should never have left the factory like that. it looks like a common problem.