Which drill press?

[davy_owen_88]

Hi folks, after stripping down my cheap and broken nutool drill to use as a fret-press I am in the market for a new pillar drill. I'm looking for a floor mounted drill press with at least a 180mm throat and it has to be accurate. A quick look through axminster turned up this and I was wondering if anyone knows whether it is any good or can advise on any other possible options?

I have about £450 to spend and I don't have transport so eBay is out unless they deliver. I also don't have the time/skills to do a renovation job no matter how good it will be and how cheap I can get it for.

All opinions/advice will be gratefully received.

Cheers, Davy

 

[Slim]

Hi Davy,

What are you going to be using it for? Do you really need to spend that much for drilling wood? I can understsnd why it would be necessary for use in an engineering capacity.

However, from what I have seen of the Axminster plus range, I am sure that would be an excelent machine.

 

[davy_owen_88]

After wasting so much money on cheap rubbish I have done a full 180 and now only buy the very best I can afford and justify, which in this case is about £450 :lol:

I really doubted that £450 would get a machine accurate enough for engineering use considering the +£1k figures asked for by the top end manufacturers so thought that it would be considered high end for woodwork use.

The main deciding factor is in the rating and in the throat size. I need it for drilling guitar bodies primarily but who knows what else I might need it to do later on.

What about the Jet JDP-17F? That is rated for 'continuous use' and has a 200mm throat. The 'guaranteed concentricity' and 'precision ball bearings throughout' kind of stand out to me, but after owning an Ax+ bandsaw and compressor for some time now I trust that they will be good...

Plus points for the Jet are that it's currently in stock and doesn't require heavy goods delivery and it leaves me with £120 to spend on other toys. :lol:

 

[Argee]

I've got the Jet. The only thing I didn't like was the supplied table. Each side is curved and rounded, so clamping across it for a temporary fence was impossible. I made a table and after several years of use it's still working perfectly. 10 speeds, easy belt-change, but, as with most floor-standing models, it will definitely need bolting down or mounting on an extended base for stability.

Ray.

 

[Gary]

Argee

I need to make a table for my Clarke drill. Do you have any tips or advice. Even better would be a link to your work in progress, there's hoping.

Gary

Or if any other members can assist with the above feel free to contact me. Cheers

 

[Argee]

Do you have any tips or advice. Even better would be a link to your work in progress, there's hoping.

Sorry, Gary, no WIP pictures, I'm afraid. When the drill press arrived it had four slots drilled in the metal table, designed for use with a press vice. These slots radiated out to the corners, so I was able to make a sub-base to bolt onto the table. Once this was done, making the actual table became simple.

The fence can be a little more complex, especially regarding the operating handles. My effort works, but is a bit fiddly. I set two metal engineers' rulers into the base, aligned to the centre of the chuck, to make set-distance positioning easier - that works fine. The fence slides on T-Track, possible because of the thickness of the base.

I think you can buy ready-mades, but from memory they tend to be quite pricey. HTH.

Ray.

 

[TonyW]

Always intended to build one - when I get my pillar drill
From memory the most difficult bit to find is the correct size T track at a reasonable price!!

Some info you may find useful/interesting:
Popular Woodworking plan
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/featu ... lpress.pdf
Another Plan
http://imaging.robarts.ca/~amulder/wood/j.dpt/
Axminster table £43
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... e=1&jump=0

Cheers
Tony

 

[colinc]

Going OT a bit but...

Always intended to build one - when I get my pillar drill
From memory the most difficult bit to find is the correct size T track at a reasonable price!!

Tony

I don't know if tee track is really necessary? Have you considered an alternative construction?

I'm sorry I don't have a photo to hand but I'll try to explain.

I made my table from two layers of 18mm birch ply. The bottom layer is the full size, the upper is in 5 bits (but 3 would do). The inner upper parts have rebates running front to back of about 9x9mm and are carefully spaced 12mm apart (I used drills as a gauge) creating tee slots. It's then edged with oak and formica top and bottom - the top trimmed layer being along the slots.

The tee nuts are homemade, just offcuts of oak shaped to slide freely in the slots with an 8mm coach bolt recessed into them with the heads ground slightly flatter. I had a stock of plastic knobs with 8mm threads to lock down the fence and stop.

The fence has a similar construction but the slot is scaled down.

Works for me and all made from bits lying around. I hope the explanation is ok. I'll try and get a photo tonight

regards

Colin

 

[ByronBlack]

Davey - I think £450 might be overkill for a drill-press for guitars. I take it all you need to use it for is drilling out the cavity and some knob holes.. or use a sander with the bobbins that you can get? I would have thought than Axi model would more than adequate.

Personally, I would go with Axi or Jet and use the rest of the cash on some nice tonewood. I noticed that you have a bandsaw and router - that should cover most of your operations?

 

[engineer one]

how about the rexon one where the head moves back and forwards over the pillar?? i think delta also do something similar.

other wise, why not check out your local model engineering society and see whether any of them have a decent one for sale?

paul :wink:

 

[davy_owen_88]

I went ahead and ordered the Jet. The £120 quid saving really did it for me in the end. The only two things pushing me towards the axi was the larger table (easily solved as shown by Ray) and the larger throat. The throat on the Jet is still sufficient for my needs so the £120 was better spent else where.

Byron, whilst I use the drill press mainly for hogging out material and for the volume/tone/tuners/bridge etc. I also need it to be up to the task for any precision work that I need to do. For example, on the last guitar I built I had the need to make some bubinga control knobs. I had a very kind forum member (greggy) turn me some suitable dowels and I set about my task. Within about 15 minutes I had my crappy nutool drill press in pieces on the floor turning it into a fret-press and the idea was scrapped.

I don't want to purchase another machine/tool where it is a chore to use and even when I struggle through the results are poor - I've learned my lesson the hard way and won't be buying another hobby rated machine, even if it is intended for hobby use.

Anyway, thanks everyone for all the comments. The Jet should be here tomorrow so I will let you all know how it fares. Just got to find a clear and flat piece of floor for it to go on... It's a shame axminster doesn't sell that

Paul, I looked into the radial drills but just couldn't find one suitable for heavy use. Most, such as the perform and rexon models were all hobby rated.

 

[ByronBlack]

Davey, I don't think you'll go wrong with the Jet. I'm a big fan of their products, everyone i've owned or tried has been excellent.

 

[davy_owen_88]

Well today a very nice guy from TNT delivered the Jet drill. Got it all cleaned up, assembled and bolted to the floor as suggested but immediately I noticed excessive vibration upon starting it up. You can see the motor shaking very clearly and it's much louder that it should be. I tightened up every nut/screw I could find but that didn't help. I increased the speed to about 700ish and put more tension on the belts which helped a little but the idle noise is still driving me crazy.

It is bolted to a concrete floor which I'm sure isn't helping to dampen any vibrations but surely it shouldn't be this bad? Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to help with this issue? It's a heavy pipper so I would like to avoid taking it apart again just to put it onto something softer but I will if that is what it takes.

Cheers, Davy

 

[Argee]

I couldn't bolt mine to the floor, as it slopes from left to right. I bolted two oak members to the base, to which I fitted adjustable feet, in order that the drill stood upright. If you look at the picture I posted, you can just see the rear lefthand adjustable foot. The feet have rubber bases and I've never had any vibration problems with that configuration.

Ray.

 

[davy_owen_88]

Cheers, Argee, I think I will have to do something similar tomorrow. The noise really does travel through the whole house and it's noisier than my bandsaw and dust extractor put together.

When your machine is running, can you see the motor, or the cables shaking? Is that normal or is it just mine?

 

[Argee]

When your machine is running, can you see the motor, or the cables shaking? Is that normal or is it just mine?

No shaking visible whatsoever on mine - it's like a sewing machine and quiet too. Sounds like yours needs looking at.

Ray.

 

[engineer one]

almost certainly something is out of balance again.

check the pulleys and their connection to see that they are running smoothly, if not send back jobbie i am afraid.

try it without the pulleys connected, see what happens with just the motor
running, this will narrow down the problems.

did the machine come with the pulleys fixed and attached?? if so check that they are actually properly attached and in balance. in particular are they loose on the shafts??

the noise is not normal,and it should not shake rattle or roll.
fixing to the floor will only compound the problem, you will always need some kind of dampening or suspension but it does not sound right.


paul :wink:

 

[davy_owen_88]

Thanks for the advice Paul, I took off the belt and the pulley that was attached to the motor but the noise and vibration is still there. The vibration isn't as bad but the noise is worse.

As mentioned I think this is going to have to go back. Not really looking forward to it though because it was a struggle getting the bloody thing onto the column so getting it off is going to be even harder.

 

[OLD]

Sounds like a faulty motor or contactor, could your supplier arrange to have it serviced on site it would be better for all partys.

 

[ByronBlack]

wowsers! That is definitly not right - I would send the link to axminster and see if you could get an engineer out, Jet stuff should be quality checked before dispatched.