Bench Drill Recommendations

[Mark A]

Hi,

I want to buy a bench drill. I know the general consensus is to go for an old machine, such as a Meddings or Fobco; however, the drills for sale on eBay are either too expensive or too far away for me and I can't wait for one to be listed.

Has anyone had experience with the machines from the likes of Axminster, SIP, Charnwood Fox etc.?

Many thanks,
Mark

 

[wizard]

Sorry can not recommend any drill that is cheap and new

 

[Hemsby]

Hi,

I want to buy a bench drill. I know the general consensus is to go for an old machine, such as a Meddings or Fobco; however, the drills for sale on eBay are either too expensive or too far away for me and I can't wait for one to be listed.

Has anyone had experience with the machines from the likes of Axminster, SIP, Charnwood Fox etc.?

Many thanks,
Mark

In an ideal world yes go for a Fobco, Meddings or similar these machines will take anything you throw at them but at a price.

This is a subject discussed a number of times, When I looked for a drill I thought about my intended use and decided that a second hand Clarke Metalworker for £80 would be more than ok.

You will see many negative & positive comments on these type of machines.

Over the last few months my Clarke has been more than capable of drilling wood and some metal.

Providing you only use these type of machine for this type of work, you will be ok, there are plenty to choose from and are easy to transport.

For example if a drilling machine says it has a capacity of 13 m/m in steel it means just that, "not using a 20m/m drill with a reduced shank and leaning on the handles to force the drill throu and making the belts slip" if you want a "powerfull" drill you will have to pay for an industrial type machine.

Regards,
Keith

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Also on a diy machine, if it says "capacity 13mm in steel" it means on the odd occasion not continuously.

 

[Mark A]

In an ideal world yes go for a Fobco, Meddings or similar these machines will take anything you throw at them but at a price.

This is a subject discussed a number of times, When I looked for a drill I thought about my intended use and decided that a second hand Clarke Metalworker for £80 would be more than ok.

You will see many negative & positive comments on these type of machines.

Over the last few months my Clarke has been more than capable of drilling wood and some metal.

Providing you only use these type of machine for this type of work, you will be ok, there are plenty to choose from and are easy to transport.

For example if a drilling machine says it has a capacity of 13 m/m in steel it means just that, "not using a 20m/m drill with a reduced shank and leaning on the handles to force the drill throu and making the belts slip" if you want a "powerfull" drill you will have to pay for an industrial type machine.

Regards,
Keith

Thanks for that. I will be using it to drill up to 50mm diameter holes with forstner bits. I don't envisage myself using it for metal work.

Mark

 

[wizard]

Also on a diy machine, if it says "capacity 13mm in steel" it means on the odd occasion not continuously.

That’s where I went wrong with my Clarke drill i should not have drilled the second hole! :lol:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

:lol: No show without Punch!! I knew you'd get here!

 

[Lons]

Sorry to be negative Mark but if you buy a cheap one, you'll regret it.
I did and it was a source of constant irritation. I eventually binned it and bought a secondhand (modern) Medings which is a pleasure to use. Cost me £150 but included a drill vice, a decent compessor and a press so in reality no more than £100.

Bob

 

[Hemsby]

Hi Mark,

Just got home after a nice Indian meal and saw your latest post and the comments, went to my workshop and drilled six 40m/m diameter holes 50m/m deep using a Forstner bit with my Clarke machine, like cutting throu butter, yes it was in softwood but thats mainly what I use (dont have a 50m/m diam bit)

At the end of the day "you pays your money and takes your chance"

Good Luck

Regards,
Keith

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I have a 'one up from the bottom of the range' axminster drill. For hobby use (as axminster would now rate it) it's fine although I suspect for intensive use it may be found wanting or short life span.

I can't compare it with a meddings/fobco etc but it's an order of magnitude better than a hand held drill in terms of accuracy and power. Mine has 370w and 5 speed - it will occasionally bog down with a large bit (eg hole saw) but you just need to go a little slower with less force. 5 speeds is probably ok for most jobs (I rarely change it from "3") unless drilling metal where even the slowest speed can be a little to fast for 12mm or more.

Rgds

Terry

 

[wizard]

If you are not looking for a good drill and something that will hold its value, then it’s down to colour, just buy one you like the colour of.

 

[RogerP]

All this talk about cheapo drills being no good got me to look up prices of those that are constantly recommended.

Well, I see a Meddings bench drill costs about 1600 quid! Too rich for my wallet. Are they gold plated?

 

[wizard]

All this talk about cheapo drills being no good got me to look up prices of those that are constantly recommended.

Well, I see a Meddings bench drill costs about 1600 quid! Too rich for my wallet. Are they gold plated?

A second hand one will cost about the same price as a new cheap one, this one cost me £370.00

 

[Alexam]

You could take a look at this Zipper by Holtzman, an Autrian company. I was recommended to look at thgis by another forum member and was able to go to the UK supplier in Birmingham, who was happy to demonstrate it. I bought one,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bench-Top-Dri ... 1280531867

Alex

 

[wizard]

http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayI...=negative&interval=365&_trkparms=negative_365
feed back from one of there saws

 

[pcb1962]

If you are not looking for a good drill and something that will hold its value, then it’s down to colour, just buy one you like the colour of.

Alternatively you could consider:
Induction or brushed motor
Motor power
Speed range
Quill travel
Ease of changing speeds
Size of table and facility to angle / level
Ease of raising and lowering table (rack and pinion or just clamp)
Utility of depth stop (many are useless)
Availability of spares
Reputation of seller
Warranty length (5 years on Record Power I think)
and a few other factors I haven't thought of

 

[wizard]

If you are not looking for a good drill and something that will hold its value, then it’s down to colour, just buy one you like the colour of.

Alternatively you could consider:
Induction or brushed motor
Motor power
Speed range
Quill travel
Ease of changing speeds
Size of table and facility to angle / level
Ease of raising and lowering table (rack and pinion or just clamp)
Utility of depth stop (many are useless)
Availability of spares
Reputation of seller
Warranty length (5 years on Record Power I think)
and a few other factors I haven't thought of

That’s all very well but he just wants cheap Chinese and they are all the same apart from the colour.

 

[Lons]

All this talk about cheapo drills being no good got me to look up prices of those that are constantly recommended.

Well, I see a Meddings bench drill costs about 1600 quid! Too rich for my wallet. Are they gold plated?

Not gold plated Roger, just bomb proof, solid as a rock and very accurate which is everything that the cheapos are not. Nothing wrong with a chiwanese make of course if you don't need the above atributes :|

Neither do they have to be expensive as long as you're prepared to be patient and keep looking. Here's mine, which as I said once the compressor and vice values were deducted, cost me no more than £100. Surely a no brainer!

cheers
Bob

 

[RogerP]

All this talk about cheapo drills being no good got me to look up prices of those that are constantly recommended.

Well, I see a Meddings bench drill costs about 1600 quid! Too rich for my wallet. Are they gold plated?

Not gold plated Roger, just bomb proof, solid as a rock and very accurate which is everything that the cheapos are not. Nothing wrong with a chiwanese make of course if you don't need the above atributes :|

Neither do they have to be expensive as long as you're prepared to be patient and keep looking. Here's mine, which as I said once the compressor and vice values were deducted, cost me no more than £100. Surely a no brainer!

cheers
Bob

You were obviously extremely lucky with that buy - well done

I'm not actually in the market for a new drill as the one I have (although a chiwanese Ryobi) works well for my usage and has done fairly hard work for several years. I did upgrade the chuck. It has lever controlled continuous speed control (with a digital readout), is a size or so up from the real cheapos with longer spindle travel and much heavier build and a 550w motor.

 

[Mark A]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I've been looking for second-hand machines but unfortunately have not found anything suitable - they're either too expensive, too far away, too big or three phase.

Any thoughts on this SIP 01432

Cheers,
Mark