Bench Drill

[Alexam]

I know that these have been discussed before, but I would like to know if there is a great deal of variation in manufacturers.

I am looking to buy a sub-ish £100 bench drill, but there area many manufacturers and I am new to woodworking. Hobby and home use.

Can anyone comment of the likes of Draper - Clarke - Sealey and Sip for reliability please. Or any others that I should consider?

Alex

 

[MMUK]

You'd be better off looking at a second hand professional one. Preferably one with a cast casing like a Boxford or Grafton.

 

[wizard]

" Draper - Clarke - Sealey and Sip" all rubbish buy second hand

 

[Alexam]

" Draper - Clarke - Sealey and Sip" all rubbish buy second hand

Thanks, you obviously know your drills. However, if buying new, can you recommend anything please?
Alex

 

[Alexam]

You'd be better off looking at a second hand professional one. Preferably one with a cast casing like a Boxford or Grafton.

Thanks again for replying. Have tried looking but not much around that looks as if it is cared for. Will keep looking.

Alex

 

[wizard]

meddings or fobco off ebay a good new drill will cost a fortune.

 

[deema]

Have a look at a Startrite Mercury, 5 or 10 speed. Perfectly adequate for wood work, good cast iron frame and not a bad quil.if your into precision metal work, or wooden clock making a Medings is the thing.

Check the runout of the quil before buying. Parts are still available for the Mercury drill....but expensive. You can pick up non running drills for spares which is a better bet of eBay for pennies. I have done this myself.

 

[nicguthrie]

Some of the models of the Axminster own brand drills have very good reputations. I have one myself and it's heavy, powerful and accurate. Not as cheap as a second hand one could be, but also unlikely to need much trouble shooting or hunting for spare parts.

 

[alan895]

Some of the models of the Axminster own brand drills have very good reputations. I have one myself and it's heavy, powerful and accurate. Not as cheap as a second hand one could be, but also unlikely to need much trouble shooting or hunting for spare parts.

Yes I bought a radial pillar drill from their eBay store earlier this year for half the price of a new one, only thing wrong with it was some minor cosmetic damage but its a very good accurate machine. Its worth keeping an eye on their eBay shop because the odd bargain comes up every now and then, more so this time of year.

 

[02sheslop]

I'd also reccomend Axminster. They're a bit pricey but they've never let me down on delivery or selling me lemons.

I feel most cheap tools are much a likeness at in same price ranges, often different manufacturers sell the same exact models but painted different. I got this exact drill from B&Q a few years ago and I think it's alright. It has problems but nothing that can't be worked around. But it'd still be worth going into somewhere like MachineMart or Axminster to take a look.

 

[Alexam]

I'd also reccomend Axminster. They're a bit pricey but they've never let me down on delivery or selling me lemons.

I feel most cheap tools are much a likeness at in same price ranges, often different manufacturers sell the same exact models but painted different. I got this exact drill from B&Q a few years ago and I think it's alright. It has problems but nothing that can't be worked around. But it'd still be worth going into somewhere like MachineMart or Axminster to take a look.

Thanks for the info,

I am still looking around and the Clark was one of the considerations. For the amount it will be used, I feel the around £100 is enough, as we have other bits to buy as well, particularly a suitable Band Saw, which will do all the things I need (I hope)
Alex

 

[RogerP]

The big old professional drills are great - once you've spent time restoring them and hunting down illusive parts. They are also large and heavy.

Maybe not for high precision engineering but for the average woodworker the midrange pillar drills are quite accurate enough.

I have a Ryobi EDP-5530L which I bought when they were on special offer a couple of years or so ago. I don't know if they are still available.

I upgraded the chuck and arbour to 1-16mm. The run-out is too little for me to measure, the power is adequate and the variable speeds a boon. I didn't have to spend loads of time taking it to pieces and giving it an overhaul. - I just plugged it in.

It's does me fine.

 

[bernienufc]

I need one for small amount of light work so could not justify a large spend, brought a silverlink one for £60 new with 3 yr warranty inc delivery so fingers crossed, should do what i want

 

[graduate_owner]

I have a little Clarke bench drill which was bought as a present. It drills holes, yes, but it stalls easily and the chuck is showing it's quality of build. It's OK(just) but if I was buying one now I'd definitely go for a good second hand make. If you really need one now, and don't see anything on the used market then I suppose you're stuck with a cheapie, in which case follow the advice in the previous postings.
I'd love a Meddings or a Fobco though.

K

 

[Alexam]

As said, I do not want an old drill to restore. It's not that I ignor advice, but restoring old machines that weigh a great deal is not for me. I will probably pop my clogs in the next ten years and I don't want to spend one of those restoring some old equipment.

That said, is anyone else able to comment on a reasonable make of drill that is up to £150 for woodwork and for the bench?

Alex

 

[DTR]

I'll stick my head above the parapet and say I like my Clarke drill (second hand at that!). It does what I ask of it. Yes there is a little play in the quill but I don't find it a major inconvenience. Brad point bits and forstner bits are guided by the centre point anyway. Even drilling steel isn't a prblem as long as it is centre-popped accurately. I did have some slippage problems while drilling large holes in steel, but I found that the grub screw fixing the pulley to the spindle had come loose. Once I tightened that I had no more problems.

I only have three very minor criticisms: one, there is only 50mm of travel. Two, the parallel clamping slots don't mix well with the clamp I use for drilling metal (diagonal slots would have been better). Three, the screw holding the pulley cover was a bit of a faff. I replaced that with a little turned knob.

Whatever you go for, I recommend that for drilling wood you make a large wooden table, with a sliding fence, to mount on the standard cast table.

Of course in an ideal world I'd love a big vintage Boxford, but needs and wants. Hope this hasn't muddied the waters too much.

 

[Alexam]

I'll stick my head above the parapet and say I like my Clarke drill (second hand at that!). It does what I ask of it. Yes there is a little play in the quill but I don't find it a major inconvenience. Brad point bits and forstner bits are guided by the centre point anyway. Even drilling steel isn't a prblem as long as it is centre-popped accurately. I did have some slippage problems while drilling large holes in steel, but I found that the grub screw fixing the pulley to the spindle had come loose. Once I tightened that I had no more problems.

I only have three very minor criticisms: one, there is only 50mm of travel. Two, the parallel clamping slots don't mix well with the clamp I use for drilling metal (diagonal slots would have been better). Three, the screw holding the pulley cover was a bit of a faff. I replaced that with a little turned knob.

Whatever you go for, I recommend that for drilling wood you make a large wooden table, with a sliding fence, to mount on the standard cast table.

Of course in an ideal world I'd love a big vintage Boxford, but needs and wants. Hope this hasn't muddied the waters too much.

Cheers again Dave,

Its mainly for woodwork and the table top sounds a good idea.

Alex

 

[graduate_owner]

Also be aware that cheapie drills can be inaccurate because of flexing of the column, and the fact that the column may not be at 90 deg to the table. I've found a few issues like these with mine.

K

 

[Terry - Somerset]

There seems to be some consistency of advice from the more experienced when it comes to pillar drills - buy an old meddings, fobco etc. Whilst I am sure they are far better and will outlast both me and a typical £100 - 150 new offering, as a newbie I came to the conclusion 18 months ago that I would prefer to buy new as:

- I had no experience of buying second hand equipment and would not know what to look for
- even quality advice from this forum would be of fairly limited help given limited woodworking experience (40 years ago!)
- new has warranty and spares availability if bought from a decent supplier

My reasonable new cheap pillar drill (Axminster) is an order of magnitude improvement in precision and power over my handheld rechargeable.

If after experience with the new machine it doesn't do what I need I can sell and upgrade - probably with a loss of around £50 for a looked after 1 or 2 year old machine.