Drill Press?

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I’m setting up a small metal fabrication shop, and looking to acquire a good all around drill press. Right now I’m looking at an Ellis EVS 9400. I really like the Ellis,  the speed range is wonderful in low speeds but only goes up to 1200 RPM. I’m also looking at a 15” Clausing (model 1770) (RPM 330-2640). Anyone know these machines? Any drill press recommendations? I would appreciate any input. Thank you.
Reply:You don't need the high speeds unless you intend to do woodworking.    I put up with a belt driven drill press but if I was doing anything commercially I would be seriously looking at a geared head drill press with at least one horsepower.  If you intend to drill any holes over half inch you need a drill head that will accept a Morse taper drill bit.  Straight shank bits in a Jacobs chuck will not transmit enough torque to do the job in a timely manner.     Either stay under a thousand dollars and get as good a belt driven press as you can afford or go full out and spend around 3 thousand for a proper unit.
Reply:I'm partial to well designed belt drives in lower end equipment, especially if they are the type that affords variable speeds.    You may have the need for the higher speeds for a couple of reasons.    The first is if you intend to make use of small diameter drill bits.   The second would be for use on any materials other than metals.   So don't discount the possibility that you may need faster speeds.    What you will probably find is that you will have ligitmate needs for two or more drill presses.   For heavy work you might want to consider investment in a good radial arm drill.   That may be over kill so consider the CLAUSING Ibarmia line of drill presses or something similar.   Even that may be over kill depending on your fabrication needs.Do be careful looking at the imports from Grizzely and such.   I purchased a Griz drill press, for home use, but went to the show room in person.     I'm glad I did!!    You have to move up the food chain fairly far till you get to what I considered to be a good quality machine.The other thing to realize is that a drill press may not get extensive use in a fab shop depending on what is being fabed.   So an initial investment in a light duty drill press might be a good idea.    Frankly for setting up a shop initially I'd go with a medium duty drill press and some sort of Bridgeport type manual mill.    A Bridgeport can be pressed into service as a drill press but more importantly it gives you a way to mill parts to a greater degree of accuracy and quality.If you can justify a bigger drill press right off the bat then certianly go for it.   On the other hand it would be a shame to tie up a lot of cash in a machine that is bigger than needed and might not be used extensively.    Since I read "setting up" to mean the start of a new business then I think that is important, that is put your cash into the items that will start to return dollars into your pockets the fastest.    Sure a dirll press is a requirement, but it certianly doesn't need to be a gold plated turkey either.In any event I would not spend big $$ on the first drill press brought into the shop.   Buy this item used or buy a good quality import.    Once the business is established then go looking for better machinery.    Bertter to invest in the machinery that you expect to build your fab shop around such as a good new welder, brake, shears and such.ThanksDave