Pillar drill

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Well, for my £263 I’d be on the look out for a good example of the wonderful Startrite Mercury drill secondhand. Or a Meddings if I were to get really lucky) I’d buy a cheap clock and stand and either a really good quality drill or a bit of silver steel. The clock and silver steel being used to check the runout of the quill (you should do this in any drill you buy). I’d end up with a far better built drill, probably a few pounds still in my pocket and an asset that appreciates in value rather than losing me money.
 
I had for a number of years a Wicks branded version of those cheap small piller drills which I think was perhaps 350w and whilst it was a very useful tool it could not cope with a forstner bit drilling hinges in MDF no matter how slowly I took it, maybe better quality bits might have helped but it was going to struggle.
Steve.
 
As previously suggested look at local auctions for an old one, I recently purchased an Amolco, (A Mole & Co) for £10 plus 15% commission, cleaned off the surface rust and stripped down the quill and oiled all moving parts and it's brilliant and no play at all. so real bargains are out there.
 
For what it's worth I have the PBD40 and have had no issues. It does everything I need or want, I got it on offer (happens reasonably often on Amazon) you will find at least two other threads about it with more info if you are looking to buy new rather than refurb something.

Regards

Padster
 
Im a bit of a drill hoarder my main drill is a floor standing Axminster AWFSRD550 with adjustable throat from 220-420 mm very handy its radial head and head tilt 90°L 45°R 5speed , A Scheppach DP60 digital speed and depth great for repetive hole boring, A parkside cheepo which i used to carry in the van very handy when a bit more power was needed with deckings , A mini drill in a stand for circuit boards and any mini drilling needed . But if i could only have one it would be the Axminister but the bench mounted version so verstile see if its still available
 
Afternoon all. My first post!!

Could I ask for some guidance? I have a dated draper puller drill that I inherited off my father. It’s a good few years old and I was looking to replace.

There are so many about and all look similar to what I have. I see that Bosch market a drill that has good reviews- but I’m not sure it’s either over engineered for what I want or simply not a woodworkers tool.


Bosch Home and Garden Bench Drill PBD 40 (710 W,) on Amazon doe about 263.

Advice and guidance would be gratefully received.

Dick
If you are looking for a good quality pillar drill I can recommend you look at finding a good second hand Meddings drill. Search around and I am sure one will turn up, I waited and found one like new and is a wonderful tool. It cost the same as a new foreign Chinese pillar drill but this is progress. I had previously bought a new foreign pillar drill and it was by far the worst tool I had ever owned. Failing this I would also recommend a good quality drill stand, one that takes an electric drill, such as those made by Wolfcraft. These are heavy bits of kit, very solid and a good way of using an older drill. You have to use one that has the manual speed settings on the drill switch. A good drill stand is portable so you can move it to your job and put on floor out of the way when not needed.
Regards
 
If you are looking for a good quality pillar drill I can recommend you look at finding a good second hand Meddings drill. Search around and I am sure one will turn up, I waited and found one like new and is a wonderful tool. It cost the same as a new foreign Chinese pillar drill but this is progress. I had previously bought a new foreign pillar drill and it was by far the worst tool I had ever owned. Failing this I would also recommend a good quality drill stand, one that takes an electric drill, such as those made by Wolfcraft. These are heavy bits of kit, very solid and a good way of using an older drill. You have to use one that has the manual speed settings on the drill switch. A good drill stand is portable so you can move it to your job and put on floor out of the way when not needed.
Regards
I may be able to help in this regard…
 
Looks good very simalar to a sealey drill.
also sold by Draper, who can still supply spare parts, or did about 18 months ago. They also did a heavy duty version, which is the one I have. Bigger all round. Identifiable by having a square table and with a split in the front of the casting to adjust the quill clearance. Not the highest quality but does a good job. I think I paid £125 for mine about 10 years ago. Had an almost new Jacobs 16mm chuck fitted, probably cost more than I paid for the whole thing.
 
I think the best thing to do, when it comes to Far Eastern machines such as this, is assume nothing and trust nobody; we all know that products are prodigiously made under different badges, or simply copied, often with varying specifications and quality. Therefore base your decisions upon what it is actually labelled, rather than upon what it may appear similar to.
 
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