Thread: Which pedestal drill press should I buy?

Hi All,

I am looking to build a CNC machine from aluminium and MDF and I need to get myself a pedestal drill press.

I have heard that the Taiwanese made ones are a lot better than the Chinese ones with the price to match so I am looking for guidance.

I have up to $800 to spend but could stretch that a bit further for the right one. I figure that this will last me for 10 years so a few hundred extra now is not a big deal.

What is the best I can get for this kind of money that will suit hobby / backyard woodworking and aluminium drilling?

Ideally I would be able to get it from Melbourne so I can look at it prior to purchasing.

Thanks.

Your question is a little open ended as you have not said what size holes you wish to drill, how often you think it will be used or the thicknesses of the materials. $800 will buy a reasonable drill press from someone like Hare & Forbes - http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Ben...lling-Machines.
Taiwanese is usually better quality than Chinese, but there are good and bad of everything.
It would also allow you to buy a good second hand unit. Waldown are much favoured on the forum; other brands generally well regarded are Tough and Servian. Whether second hand will suit depends as much on what you want it to do as what is available at the time and your confidence in selecting good from bad. Potential bargains are old 3 phase units - you would need to fit a VFD but most members don't see that as a disadvantage.
The one thing I would suggest is steering clear of drills being sold though your local hardware store. As has been pointed out before for other similar questions you get what you pay for so a $129 drill press will be of pretty basic quality.

Michael

One of the major differences between DPs that are less than $800 is quill travel.
Standard quill travel is about 80 mm but the bigger drills have 100 mm or more travel and this is really useful to have
The other significant difference is bigger motors.

Originally Posted by BrentonSpear

Hi All,

I am looking to build a CNC machine from aluminium and MDF and I need to get myself a pedestal drill press.

I have heard that the Taiwanese made ones are a lot better than the Chinese ones with the price to match so I am looking for guidance.

I have up to $800 to spend but could stretch that a bit further for the right one. I figure that this will last me for 10 years so a few hundred extra now is not a big deal.

What is the best I can get for this kind of money that will suit hobby / backyard woodworking and aluminium drilling?

Ideally I would be able to get it from Melbourne so I can look at it prior to purchasing.

Thanks.

do you need to buy the drill new or you don't mind second hand ? i have some surplus good quality drill that I can part with . PM me if you are interested.
cheers
Peter

Another vote for an old Waldown - nice heavy construction. They're an Australian brand too, so you can still get help from them, with old instructions/drawings and maybe spare parts if you're lucky. Here's what they've been selling for on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_f...mplete=1&rt=nc

If you want a new drill press, then Trade Tools have a good range of Taiwanese machines, and while they are very big in Queensland, they do have a Victorian store at Dandenong. I have owned and used one of their drill presses since the late 80's. Well worth a look if you are anywhere near. Alan.

Nearly all the imported stuff has gone up in price recently due to our weakening dollar.

Lots of variables, if you have 415v 3 phase power, I'd go looking for an Arboga around the auctions, they come up all the time and go for less than your $800 budget. Old Waldown's are beautiful to use, heavy, solid, smooth running and just all round nice to use. I wouldn't buy any of the current new drill presses. Maybe consider a decent second hand mill drill, if it was the right price.

Alternatively, keep an eye one the Grays Auctions in your area.

Ray

PS.. Just for fun, I did an ebay search for Arboga... here's one for $7000 ( outch) http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ARBOGA-A2...item3cee7bae44

Saber 1100W-drill-press_main.jpgMy choice would fall with a Taiwanese manufactured drill press

Most Taiwanese model drill presses I have gone over seem to offer in general.

A minimum spindle movement

The motor is usually of a good standard

The motor and belt tension systems work fairly well

The table height change mechanism components are usually not plastic

The tables are made from a decent thickness material and sport decent T slots

The spindle winding arms are solid -the better ones have a single cast arm

These are features I would look for.Total tools have one in the Saber their house brand .I can't think how much it was.< edit> the table model pictured in $599 and the floor model $999.The floor model is the one that has the T slot table and has a 20 mill capacity over the the table model 16mm.Both have keyless chucks. I like the one piece spindle winding arm as the arms on the other types can fall out over the years.

Grahame

I agree with Grahame. I was looking for one of those super duper old drill press for month to no avail.
Either overpriced or need a crane to move it, or interstate ... anyway, no luck. And I have 3ph in the workshop, if you don't, you are even more restricted.

Finally gave up on those and concentrated on new taiwanese.
Found this one http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/D152 second hand from a fencing factory that closed down for half the new price.
It was two years old and was a few blocks away from Hares and Forbes so decided to take it to them for a check.
They were very accommodating and found a factory defect that made it noisy.
Had to pay for the parts but not for the labour because it was just out of warranty apparently (?)
Anyway, very happy with this thing. Heavy, powerful 1.5hp motor, long stroke, heavy duty lift for the table, a bit stiff to rotate the table but manageable.
I took out the original chuck and bought a bigger keyless chuck that works like a charm. Speed is slow enough to use a broach adaptor for big holes
They make one even bigger than this but the price new is something like $1,200

Even at the H &F $869 price that drill press compares very favorably with the total tools equivalent model being some $130 cheaper for the same features.

Grahame

hare and forbes have a sale on form the 19th-21st if you where going to get a drill from there.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the great advice.

The H&F drill press is the one I was looking at.

Are they definitely having a sale this month?

Thanks,

Brenton

Originally Posted by BrentonSpear

Hi everyone,
Thanks for all the great advice.
The H&F drill press is the one I was looking at.
Are they definitely having a sale this month?
Thanks,
Brenton

Yes they are having a 3 day sale 19-21 March

Better still if you join up as a member you can get the sale prices from today until the end of the sale (21st)

I spent $420 today marked down from $495.

Originally Posted by BobL

Yes they are having a 3 day sale 19-21 March

Better still if you join up as a member you can get the sale prices from today until the end of the sale (21st)

I spent $420 today marked down from $495.

Hmmm. I registered but I don't see any sale price on that drill press