Thread: Pedestal Drill - buying guide for used equipment

I've got way too many hand drills of different flavours, but I am currently looking to get a pedestal drill for the shed. New is out of price range, so looking at used items.

Chasing advice on what to look out for when evaluating old iron.
My price range would be sub $400, which is most of the modern non branded stuff out there in the usual getting spots. Need to weed out the worth buying from the 'avoid like all hell'.

My list so far is:
-Overall condition- paint/cracks in castings, electrical condition etc
-Pulley condition, belt condition
-Bearing noise in motor / spindle
-runout/wandering of the bit

... ?

Hi Commander_Keen,

My list so far is:
-Overall condition- paint/cracks in castings, electrical condition etc
-Pulley condition, belt condition
-Bearing noise in motor / spindle
-runout/wandering of the bit

Depends upon whether you just want to use it now or refurbish it first !

Don't buy anything (regardless of brand name) unless it has a rotary table and a column rack.

The rotary table enables you to swing the work on two axis and accurately position it under the drill point, even when in a vice, as it should be. Fixed tables cannot do this.

A rack is essential to raise and lower the table accurately and easily. No rack means you can't do this.

Some supposedly superior brand names can't do either of those functions.

So those criteria are two important items to consider IMHO. The rest comes down to chuck size/type, speed ranges, rigidity, column diameter, and motor HP. You don't need a lot of speed ranges, but you do need a gutsy motor. 3/4 HP is about right.

Obviously there should be no play in the quill or bearings and the chuck jaws should be in good shape.

Cheers Rob

Originally Posted by nearnexus

The rotary table enables you to swing the work on two axis and accurately position it under the drill point, even when in a vice, as it should be. Fixed tables cannot do this.
A rack is essential to raise and lower the table accurately and easily. No rack means you can't do this.

I don't think either of these are deal breakers.
The first thing I did when I bought my last DP was to remove the rack and fitter an "easy riser", recently I removed that and fitted an electrical table riser.
The DP table has rotary movement but I have never used the rotary aspect as I use a X-Y vice, or a DP table with a series of threaded holes that are as flexible as a rotary table.

Good info indeed. I'll be looking at one tomorrow, pics weren't clear, so will suss it out when there.
Seems to be a decent looking bit of gear, a bit of schmutz on it from a lack of use, but I think I can see a handle under the table for tilt function.

Originally Posted by BaronJ

Hi Commander_Keen,



Depends upon whether you just want to use it now or refurbish it first !

I have just acquired a GMF 8" / 200mm bench grinder on pedestal, so that will need a bit of love first. Bearings seem OK, but paint is a bit shot in places, and a bit of rust to deal with. But bonus nachos- has the heavy duty tool rest post and full set of tin shields... unlike my other grinder.

The thing that I am now more aware of is speed - my Waldown has a gap in the speeds where it jumps from around 650rpm to 1200(?)rpm. Not a deal breaker but if the choice was between two and one had a good spread of speeds and the other had a hole in the range...
Ideally they increase in an exponential manner starting somewhere around 100-150rpm, with 100rpm good for large hole saws and ranging up to small drill bits (say 3mm) at a few thousand rpm.

Michael

Originally Posted by Michael G

The thing that I am now more aware of is speed - my Waldown has a gap in the speeds where it jumps from around 650rpm to 1200(?)rpm. Not a deal breaker but if the choice was between two and one had a good spread of speeds and the other had a hole in the range...
Ideally they increase in an exponential manner starting somewhere around 100-150rpm, with 100rpm good for large hole saws and ranging up to small drill bits (say 3mm) at a few thousand rpm.

Michael

That’s an excellent point, but I love my Waldowns for their rigidity, accuracy and ease of refurbishment.
Fitting a 3 phase motor and a VFD works really well on these machines and that will solve your speed gap

Originally Posted by Michael G

The thing that I am now more aware of is speed - my Waldown has a gap in the speeds where it jumps from around 650rpm to 1200(?)rpm. Not a deal breaker but if the choice was between two and one had a good spread of speeds and the other had a hole in the range...

Michael

I'm one of those guys that leaves the drill press in bottom gear all the time. I never use it for woodwork and slow is good for metal drilling.

To each their own method I guess.

The main thing with these machines is to ALWAYS wear safety glasses. With the grunt they have, any overloaded/stuck drill is going to snap like a carrot or disintegrate. Had a piece of drill bit stuck half an inch into my arm through heavy overalls on one occasion when a medium sized drill let go.

Same as wallys that use them without a drill vice or clamping down the work - seriously dangerous.

That's why you must have a drill press with a viable/easily useable centering system.

Cheers Rob

Originally Posted by nearnexus

I'm one of those guys that leaves the drill press in bottom gear all the time. I never use it for woodwork and slow is good for metal drilling.

For what I do in the first instance it depends on the number and depth of the holes.
Slow speeds on smaller bits means slooooow drilling and my lack of patiences leads me to break more bits.

Basic DPs have speed ranges from 280 to about 2400 rp
280 rpm is a bit too fast for things like hole saws and Forstner bits, which I use in Al, and painfully slow for bits smaller than about 4 mm.
My DP has a 160 to 3000 rpm speed range but I leave it on a pulley set that gives me enough working power across the 130 to 1300 rpm range with the vector drive VFD.
This deals with everything apart from >25 mm MT bits.
If I'm drilling a lot of say 3mm holes I will still change the pulleys to get give me a bit more speed.

So I picked up the old girl this afternoon. A ‘84 vintage ‘sharp industrial machines’ pedestal drill press. 16 speeds, 150-3600Rpm. Has the table adjustment for height, tilt and swing and a 16mm chuck. Paid 160 clams, a square deal in my book.

I gave it a wipe down to get he old hard oil off the post, and removed the dead mouse from the other housing.
Oiled and greased what I could and it works well.

Only bother is the rack gear on the post is a bit warped. It is a flat section that is free to swivel around the post as the table twists left to right. The lifting and lowering action is a bit rough, but all is stable and fine when the table is clamped down.

IMG_0677.JPG

IMG_0674.JPG

Hi Commander_Keen,

The bend in that rack looks as if the table has been well overloaded at some time.

Either overloaded, or the handle was cranked while the table was locked to the post.
Because the teeth on the rack do not extend to the end of the rack, I can’t unwind it out of the geared table collar. So I’ll need to try get the post disassembled to get the rack off, and somehow straightened.
Chances are, I’ll run out of motivation before it becomes a deal breaker.
I’ll heave it up onto the bench this weekend and see what transpires.

Originally Posted by Commander_Keen

Either overloaded, or the handle was cranked while the table was locked to the post.
Because the teeth on the rack do not extend to the end of the rack, I can’t unwind it out of the geared table collar. So I’ll need to try get the post disassembled to get the rack off, and somehow straightened.
Chances are, I’ll run out of motivation before it becomes a deal breaker.
I’ll heave it up onto the bench this weekend and see what transpires.

Mine is only half height. I have seen those racks broken at times, mainly from having them too tight in the top and bottom retaining rings when swinging the plate/rest side to side. It should straighten out OK with a bit of TLC.

I have also seen the cast iron table clamp broken off (they are hollow) where some dill brain has tried to use the quill as a bearing press.

Cheers Rob