Drill Press suggestions

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I want to get a new floor standing drill press and have ~$400 to spend on it.  I was hoping to get some suggestions on some good models for that price.I have been looking around at reviews online and just wanted to know what you guys input was!Thanks.Garrett
Reply:If you can, get an old usa made one.  craige list is a great place. may have to spend a little time at it.far as new for 4 bills..   they all look the sameDaye
Reply:I agree with Daye. The $400 ones made today all look the same, and in my opinion they are all kind of squishy too.In that price range, you could pick up a really nice used one though. Of course you have to wait until one comes up for sale, but they do fairly regularly. If you were near me I'd sell you one I'm tired of tripping over for $400 that you have to disassemble into manageable chunks and still need ramps to get it into a truck. It's a big Bickford.Nice ones I'd recommend are:The variable-speed Clausing is pretty sweet and smooth.Bickford is big, heavy & sturdy, and has tons of quill travel (mine has 10")Walker-Turner is a little smaller typically, but they are extremely well-made. They made a radial type with a large work table which is a pleasure to use.Atlas are also usually (always?) small, but they are well made.Here's a picture of the Walker-Turner that will probably expire soon.And one of a BickfordThere is a huge list of older makes that you can run into and these are a few that first come to my mind. If you see one for sale, just check it out and make sure it runs smoothly and isn't all worn out. If the table has a bunch of holes drilled in it, then talk them down, hehe.
Reply:i orderd my jet from home depot.comi think it was $425 and fee shippinguntill i have the money for a Ellis this will do Attached ImagesLast edited by ed mac; 05-08-2010 at 10:01 AM.
Reply:Tyrone, that first pic is going on the market? Whats your location?
Reply:Originally Posted by gimpyrobbTyrone, that first pic is going on the market? Whats your location?
Reply:Thanks for the input guys!  After seeing those big drill presses I was trying to talk myself into getting a mill.  Eventhough I dont have room for one.  I just searched craigs list today and what do you think of these 2?The first is a Rockwell series 11-28D w/Standhttp://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/tls/1728607569.htmland the second is an Atlat 1160.http://sandiego.craigslist.org/esd/tls/1724870994.htmlAny thoughts?
Reply:The second one the post is expired.   The first one looks interesting, especially for the price.  As long as it runs I'm sure it's worth alot more than the asking price so I don't see where you'd go wrong as long as it's not so worn out that it's junk.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:I picked up a big Walker Turner at the scrap yard for 0.29$ a pound!Similar to the first pic above.It had a three phase 1725 rpm motor that I had to replace with a single phase.The only motor I had was 3400 rpm.I added a jack shaft and extended the motor mount plate,slid the motor over to it.Put four step pulleys on motor and jack shaft and kept the six step pulleys on top of the drill.24 speed drill! Works like a charm no matter what I am drilling.tractor,loader.dozer,backhoe,and all the tools to keep em movin
Reply:I ended up getting the atlas 1160.  Apparently from the stamp on it, it was origonally sold to the US Navy, down here @ Miramar.  Has property of the USN Miramar stamped onto the base plate.  I am guessing that it was made back in the 50's.  It looks similar to this Atlas 1120 drill pressSeems to be in very good shape.  At full spindle extension there is only 2-3 thousands of wiggle on a steel rod.  Since it only has 4 speeds I am planning on doing a few modifications to it to make it better for metalworking.I am going to get a 1/2 or 3/4 hp 3 phase motor and a VF drive to that I can adjust the RPM's to be much slower than the current slowest speed allows for.  Did some pricing on the VF and it looks like about 100 bucks for that and another 100 for the motor.  The guy I got it from had repainted it and everything looks very clean.I will get some pics of it this weekend if i get a chance, and a few more as I get the motor and VF installed.
Reply:Looks nice, sounds like you scored a good deal there with it in such good shape mechanically!MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:Looked around for a drill press that was reasonably sturdy after buying an el cheapo.  Ended up picking up a mill/drill.  At around 750 lb it has enough mass not to shake around too much.Being able to do small scale milling operations is definetely a bonus over just having a drill press alone, not to mention not have to find the room for 2 machines.
Reply:I think you did OK ggarner. That's a small machine, but they live forever. We have one at work that we just use to chamfer holes and such. It's quiet as a mouse and hides in small spaces when not being used. Since the table is small it can be a problem, but all you have to do is clamp a larger plate to it and you're good to go for a bigger, bulky piece.Looks like the previous owner actually painted it with care rather than just to sell too, so that's a good sign. If you outgrow it someday, something like that will be easier to sell than the current cookie-cutter import that everybody sells these days. Good on you.If anybody is near Kansas City and wants a bug ugly Bickford that works well, here's a bad picture of mine:
Reply:Thanks Tyrone!I tried and I tried to justify getting a larger one like the bickford etc, and there was even one for sale only a few miles from my house for a halfway decent price.  Problem I kept hitting is I just simply dont have the room right now.  We only have a 1.5 car garage and if I put that in there the car would be in the driveway and that would mean I would probably be sleeping in a tent in the back yard!  Eventually I would love to get one  of those when I a larger garage/shop for all my goodies
Reply:Had some time to snap some pictures this morning so here it is!Did some research and have not been able to find out any info on the 1160 model.  Looks very similar to the other 10xx models except for a little beefier.I plan on replacing the step pulley which drives the spindle.  When i compare this to all of the online manuals that i can find my spindle diameter is actually larger than the ones on these manuals.  The manuals I have found all state that the spindle has a 5/8" diameter however when I measure mine i get 15/16".  The step pulley that is currently on there is slightly larger than that (maybe 31/32") and there is a small shim sleeve inside.  The current pulley is a 5,4,3.  I have been looking online and plan on getting a replacement.  The only manufacturer I can find who makes a 15/16" shaft is Maska.  I am thinking about upgrading to a 6,5,4,3 so that I can further slow down the spindle speed.  The 15/16" pulley is going to cost me about 60 bucks, do you know of somewhere i can buy shims so that I could get a 1" diameter to fit this? Attached Images
Reply:If you're going to drive it with a VFD, I'd see how that works with just a single pulley for a while since it's variable speed anyway. You may not need anything else, and the VFD alone will make the drive system very sweet.I'm guessing that the 5/8 diameter refers to the motor shaft since that's pretty typical. Anything with a splined shaft slipping through it will be larger than 5/8 unless it's a teensy drill press.If you were me, you'd just pick up a cheap pulley (sheave?) to fit the motor and match the V-size of the existing step pulley on the quill. You can slip the pulley or adjust the motor up/down to align it with different Vs in the step pulley and experiment to see what seems to work (this assumes you go the VFD route). For the price of a couple step pulleys and add in the price of the hubs maybe, that will pay for a VFD at a surplus or eBay price, and not be near as versatile.Looks like a nice press.
Reply:tyrone shewlacesGreat Name!I remember Cheech And Chong......zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Originally Posted by tyrone shewlacesIf you're going to drive it with a VFD, I'd see how that works with just a single pulley for a while since it's variable speed anyway. You may not need anything else, and the VFD alone will make the drive system very sweet.I'm guessing that the 5/8 diameter refers to the motor shaft since that's pretty typical. Anything with a splined shaft slipping through it will be larger than 5/8 unless it's a teensy drill press.If you were me, you'd just pick up a cheap pulley (sheave?) to fit the motor and match the V-size of the existing step pulley on the quill. You can slip the pulley or adjust the motor up/down to align it with different Vs in the step pulley and experiment to see what seems to work (this assumes you go the VFD route). For the price of a couple step pulleys and add in the price of the hubs maybe, that will pay for a VFD at a surplus or eBay price, and not be near as versatile.Looks like a nice press.
Reply:Yea, 20 thou is a lot of runout. It could be a worn jaw in the chuck or something could be tweaked (bent?).There are a couple possibilities for removing the chuck. Normally the chuck is mounted in a drill spindle with a Morse taper. They hold really well but all it takes to knock it out is a tap on the back (to re-mount it you just tap on the front - preferably with a chunk of brass or something soft, and preferably NOT on the jaws). The telltale sign it is a Morse taper is that the quill has a slot through it about 4 inches or so from the working end of the spindle. Crank the quill down to its lowest point, maximum extension, and the slot will be obvious. There will probably be two slots, one on the outer quill "shell" and one through the inner spindle, which means you'll have to turn the spindle a little so they line up straight through.Anyway, the way you get the chuck out is to drive a wedge through the slot so it pushes the taper out. It should pop right out. They make "official" Morse taper wedge tools of different sizes (called a "drill drift"), but as long as a wedge fits the slot and you tap on it, it should remove the chuck.Here's a video I found that shows how it works. You can see the guy actually welded his wedge to a handle. All you need is the actual wedge.I slip the wedge in and tap it with a small hammer.Let me know if this is confusing. It should be straightforward and I'm not writing well today.The other possibility is that the chuck is mounted on an integral taper machined on the end of the spindle, but this is far less common. Let me know if you have problems.As for spindle speeds, I'd recommend that you shoot for a range of maybe 200 on the low end, which will probably not be used much, to around 1000 to 1500 on the high end. You would use about 250rpm for a 1" standard drill in steel and about 1000rpm for a 1/4" standard drill in steel. Drilling aluminum you can multiply by three. Using carbide drills (not as common and not usually necessary either) you can multiply by three again.So 625 rpm will seem pretty slow and I'd want to speed it up rather than slow it down. Maybe flip the motor pulley upside down and get it to give you the range you prefer. I would guess with a VFD, just a couple belt ranges might be useful (possibly just 1) and more than that would be unnecessary. The lower range would likely not be used very much and you'd just keep it in the high range most of the time. And note that most VFDs will go higher than 100% so you can squeeze faster rpms out too.Tell me :What are the motor pulley diameters?RPM of the motor you got?Does the VFD allow for more than 100% speeds?Last edited by tyrone shewlaces; 05-29-2010 at 12:06 PM.
Reply:I got the chuck off.  It happens to be one of those that has the integral taper on the end of the spindle with a locking ring.  I bought what were supposed to be the correct sized jacobs chuck removal wedges, but of course they were too small and did not fit around the shaft of the chuck/taper.  I ended up twisting the locking collar downwards until it popped off the chuck.  Afterwords I measured the runout on the actual clean taper surface and found that the taper must be bent because there was a .007 runout on the taper its self.  Luckily I found a guy selling the exact quill/spindle assembly on ebay and scooped it up.  He said it was in perfect shape, and from the looks of the pictures it has minimal usage.  He said if i was not satisfied he would give me a refund, so I took him up on the offer.The motor I got is 1725 rpm 1/2 hp Baldor with a 1/2" shaftTo the best of me recall the motor pulley has sizes 1,2,3, and 4"The vfd does allow for faster than 100% speeds.According to the atlas owners manual the possible speeds out of the box are:580, 760,1000, 1300, 1800, 2440, 3300, 4000, 5200.According to some info I got on OWWM the 1160 was apparently part of a 4 head large production table that someone must have thrown a base on to get it to its current form.Thanks for the info on removing the chuck.  I had to sort through all these old manuals and crap before I was able to figure out how to do it.  I have the motor and vf in the garage now so hopefully I can get the motor installed and everything up and running soon!
Reply:1" is awfully small for a step pulley. I'll assume you have 2,3, &4 on the motor pulley, and 3,4, &5 on the spindle.With those sizes, my figuring for a 1725 motor comes up to 690, 1293 and 2300 for spindle RPMs. This would be with pulley combinations of motor/pulley respectively 2/5, 3/4 and 4/3. That's not a bad range and you could probably just use the VFD and two of the pulley combos to achieve plenty of speeds. The VFD will make it sweet, as will a nice straight spindle.The "out of the box" speeds listed must be something else, some other configuration. Sounds like a 4-step pulley arrangement with an intermediate countershaft rather than motor direct to pulley. I'd just disregard that info and work with what's on the table.1/2 hp will not be great for hogging out large holes, but that's not something you'd do on that little drill press anyway. And you can still drill large holes, you just have to be ginger with the feed pressure. I do a ton of hole drilling and (relatively) rarely go much larger than 1/2" diameter and 1/2hp is plenty good for that, so hopefully the scale of your work is similar to what I do. It probably is.When you get things coming together and need some help homing in on the actual ranges you want the press to have, let me know if you want some help figuring it out. When I get a chance I'll write up a little seat-of-the-pants guide for the correct RPMs to use for various size drill bits. But basically you should do fine if you can get a total RPM range of as low as 250 minimum up to 2500. Faster might come in handy now and then, but only for very small drills in soft materials so it's not a big deal. The faster RPM just takes less time to drill a hole, but it still only takes a few seconds at 2500 rpm anyway so there's no need to go overboard trying to get really high spindle speeds. Optimizing speed is for production shops and not a concern for home one-off projects, or even small production runs.
Reply:Thanks for all your help man!For some of those out of the box speeds they talk about having the pulleys out of line with one another instead of straight across I guess to get more possibilities. so instead of having 2" and 5" you would have 2" and 4" or something like this i think.I will def. keep you updated as this thing comes together. I probably wont have a chance to start working on it until Tues because I have a bunch of stuff going on for the holiday weekend.Once again thanks for all your help!
Reply:Hey Garrett.I did a little writeup for quick figuring of RPMs of different diameters. It may help you when figuring what ranges to shoot for.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=42061Note that the numbers given are for HSS in mild steel. You will likely drill other materials like plastic and aluminum, so faster RPMs are good for small bits. However, 1500 rpm will still drill a fast ,small hole it soft material, so though you should arrange some fast speeds if you can, it's not a big deal if you max out at even 2000rpm.This stuff is taken to molecular science by some, but in reality it's just carving away the excess and it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to do good work. Lucky for me.
Reply:Well i finally got the rebuild completed the other day so thought I would update you guys.I had an issue with the new baldar motor not fitting the origonal mounting brackets so I took the time to fab up a new one that would also hold the VFD.  It was sort of a pain since I did not have a DP to drill the holes in it and had to use a hand held drill and then step up to the size i needed.  The new mounting plate was made from 3/8" alu plate that I cut to size and then made all the holes to line it up.I had to use some washers to space the motor off a bit since i did not have anything to countersink the the carriage bolts with.I still need to finalize the wiring, maybe with a small box or something to put the connections in since it looks kinda crappy right now.Here is a close up of the VFD mounted These are the new thumb screws after I drilled out the stripped ones and retapped them for the 3/8" threads
Reply:And here is the old chuck mounted on the new quill i got off ebayThe throwout is now at .002 which i am quite happy with.And here is the depth gauge after i cleaned it up and put it back togetherAnyone have suggestions on what to do with the wire nuts etc?I drilled some test holes in 3/8" al plate and drilled a 1/2" hole with the speed turned down to about 100 rpm on the VFD which gave me ~40 rpm and there still seemed to be quite a bit of torque so I am quite happy.  When I get some more time I will get out my 1" bit and see how it handles with just a small pilot hole.Now i need to weld up a stand to set this baby on.  I would guess it weighs around 150lbs so its quite a pain to move around for such a small drill press.I am also probably going to eventually replace the spindle pulley because the wobble it has annoys me.  It works fine but its a little off center and just tends to bug me! HAHAThanks for the schooling on drill bit speed Tyrone! That will come in very useful and is pretty handy to remember off the top of your head!Last edited by ggarner; 06-15-2010 at 03:14 AM.Looks like a great bit of work on a nice old machine.  This machine is also used by wood workers. Here's another source link if you want one.http://www.owwm.org/Rufus
Reply:Originally Posted by ggarnerI want to get a new floor standing drill press and have ~$400 to spend on it.  I was hoping to get some suggestions on some good models for that price.I have been looking around at reviews online and just wanted to know what you guys input was!Thanks.Garrett
Reply:Originally Posted by ed maci orderd my jet from home depot.comi think it was $425 and fee shippinguntill i have the money for a Ellis this will do
Reply:Wow that turned out nice. I'm envious of your VFD. I have considered putting one on a machine now & then but have never tried it yet. That must be sweet.Looks like there isn't really a cavity anywhere to tuck those wires in. If you wanted it to look more tidy, maybe you could eliminate the wire nuts and slip on a piece of shrink tubing, solder, then place & shrink the tubing. Once that's done, you could get some of that split, corrugated-looking wire wrap stuff and slip it over the wiring to tuck the wiring into that. One option anyway.As for your pulley wobble, you may find that you only need a couple ranges or maybe even just one with your VFD, thus no need for four steps and making things a bit less expensive. If you only need one range, it might be nice to replace what's there with a cog belt pulley setup. For some reason they always seem to be a little smoother (less vibration), but that could just be memory playing tricks on me too. Anyway, worth considering.Another thought is that if you do want a couple ranges and the shafts are long enough for that long step pulley, you may be able to buy singles of whatever size you desire and just install two on each shaft, if that makes sense.Anyways, good job. Congratulations on you.
Reply:???  Why use a VFD and 3ph motor would a DC motor and controller work just as well?
Reply:That is a very good suggestion Tyrone!  My biggest problem is the shaft size is 15/16" which is sort of an oddball size.  I like the idea on the shrinkwrap and the flex conduit!The VFD works great and I would highly suggest it to anyone.Jay O: I went with a VFD and a 3 phase motor because of cost.  I got a new 1/2hp 3ph motor on ebay for only $125 and the VFD was $110 new.  Where as a comparable DC motor and DC controller/converter was a lot more money.  For example we got a dayton DC controller/converter from Grainger for a different setup and to control a motor up to 1/2hp we had to shell out $650 just for the controller.  So that was def not in my budget.  Granted that was for a reversible controller but still I did not find anything in comparable in the price range i was looking at around the same time.
Reply:where did you buy the vfd?tractor,loader.dozer,backhoe,and all the tools to keep em movin
Reply:Originally Posted by 1-800minerwhere did you buy the vfd?