clive griffiths
Established Member
I am looking to buy a new drill press , possibly a scheppack around £200 or the axminster around£400, need something with enough power to drill up to 40mm forstner etc.
drill press
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KingAether
Eternal noob
£200 can easily find you a meddings or startrite, a little more for a fobco, if you're willing to have a little patience with the used market; any of which will be miles ahead of anything scheppech will produce and likely last a lot longer
If your definitely maxing at 40mm then anything with 500w motor should suffice provided it has a good range of speed change. I think you might struggle to get a new machine for your budget so second-hand would probably give you a better machine so long as you're prepared to sort out any issues it may have.
As in most cases we all wish we had bought a better spec so my tips are min 650 watt motor, 12 speed, 16mm chuck, large table fully adjustable, 80mm chuck travel.
Before buying - check the machines rack and pinion for movement throughout its travel. Make sure there is a means to take out any play by a proper means of an adjuster, without compromising the smoothness of operating this, through it's travel. Even new woodworking pillar drills can suffer from play meaning it's ability to drill accurately will be affected.
As in most cases we all wish we had bought a better spec so my tips are min 650 watt motor, 12 speed, 16mm chuck, large table fully adjustable, 80mm chuck travel.
Before buying - check the machines rack and pinion for movement throughout its travel. Make sure there is a means to take out any play by a proper means of an adjuster, without compromising the smoothness of operating this, through it's travel. Even new woodworking pillar drills can suffer from play meaning it's ability to drill accurately will be affected.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
clive griffiths
Established Member
I had a look on the all ads and there is a nice looking fobco just the size I would be looking for, only problem it is up in wilmslow, will have a good think on that one.
clive griffiths
Established Member
Back again, Anyone with info on optimum drills.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Sachakins
The most wasted of days is one without woodwork
If you mean drill twist bits you will not go far wrong with Dormer. One of the very best and can be used on wood or ferrous material. Fisch are good for wood twist drill bits, Augers and Forstner type bits.
Hi Chippy - Optimum is a brand name.
Hi Clive - they are made by Stuermer - to the best of my knowledge they have a decent reputation and I know they go up to some fairly serious level machinery in the range. Made in China with Steurmer quality control. Low level drills look similar to many others though - I know rexxon was at one point the main manufacturer of most brand name pillar drills, don't know exactly where these are made in CH though.
Brochure here if you haven't seen, they obviously blow their own trumpet in a Germanic way
https://www.stuermer-machines.com/fileadmin/stuermerPage/kataloge_en/OPTIMUM_catalogue_2021_EN.pdf
I have been to Stuermer in Hallstadt - v impressive set-up.
If I'm still right, the Steurmer UK importer is Excel machine Tools in Bedworth.
Hope that helps, I've never used one in anger, but do know of them
Cheers
clive griffiths
Established Member
Hi Nick, Chippy and Mike.
Thanks for all the info, I have been looking at the d17 if it is powerfull enough for my needs, now here comes the crunch i looked at prices and a company called Zoro tools are nearly £100 cheaper ,what am I missing?
Thanks for all the info, I have been looking at the d17 if it is powerfull enough for my needs, now here comes the crunch i looked at prices and a company called Zoro tools are nearly £100 cheaper ,what am I missing?
I can't explain the difference in price. However, one UK vendor I saw (not Zoro Tools UK), had a picture of a B17 Pro in the webpage for the D17 Pro. The B series drills do not include the digital speed control and could be about £100 less expensive than the D series. I would ask the vendor to confirm the model before ordering.
clive griffiths
Established Member
Just been looking at the reviews and does not look to good (Icould be wrong)
I would agree you want something where the spindle can be adjusted to take out play. Be careful though many just have an adjuster that pushes the key further into the keyway. This will appear to tighten things up but doesn't actually compensate for wear as such. I have an old Sealey machine and this actually has a split in the casting with adjusters so you can accurately control the fit of the quill. Has almost exactly the spec mentioned earlier but with a 1.5hp motor. Think I got it for £125, dirty great floor standing thing that weighs about 150kg. It had spent all its life in a commercial carpentry shop, but really designed as a metal working machine so very little wear on it despite being over twenty years old. Only things I needed to do was to replace the clock spring, and I have used a metal project box to move the switch from the side to the front. So well worth looking at second hand stuff. Also worth checking your local auction house, they often do specialist machinery sales. You can pick up some real bargains, not just second hand but new stuff from companies that have gone bust and having their stock sold off.
clive griffiths
Established Member
meddings three phase to single, how much work is there.
Thanks.
Thanks.
KingAether
Eternal noob
Very little. A 1ph .5hp motor will be cheap enough and a power switch is £5 from ebay if you don't need to match. If its dual phase a VFD would be good for a pillar drill for speed control
The specification of the Optimum looks good with for the smaller drills a maximum guaranteed concentricity of 30 micron, or just over a thou. Put a decent Chuck into it and you should have an excellent drill……if it meets the spec. The better drills are down to 15 micron concentricity.
Spindles if designed properly do not need adjustment to take out wobble, that IMO is just a sign of totally inferior design, poor selection of material and or manufacturing. The better drills have no adjustment.
Spindles if designed properly do not need adjustment to take out wobble, that IMO is just a sign of totally inferior design, poor selection of material and or manufacturing. The better drills have no adjustment.
I have no complaints about my B23 Pro and would buy it again. The quick release chuck that came with the drill attaches to the spindle with a MT2 taper and the belts are easy to change on the pulleys for speed adjustment. Even the Vario version that was available at the time (but not in stock) still needed belt/pulley changes when the speed control range for a particular configuration was not adequate.
clive griffiths
Established Member
I have been to have a look at a meddings this morning,in very good condition and just came out of our local b.a. works that is closing down, probably a bit on the heavy side for me but still a good machine.
Hi Mike I have still got my eye on the optimum but not with (zorro tools).
Hi Mike I have still got my eye on the optimum but not with (zorro tools).
If it’s a MF4 or 5 it will be a superb drill if it’s in good condition. I have the MF4 after trying a few drills, the runout is less than 10 micron which makes it a superbly capable metalworking drill.
If your looking to spend c£400 or a little more, have a think about a small secondhand mill with quill. A compound table is really useful and you will be able to do metalwork as well. OK woodwork isn’t going to do it many favours, but for hobby use and with a little care, shouldnt be a problem.
If your looking to spend c£400 or a little more, have a think about a small secondhand mill with quill. A compound table is really useful and you will be able to do metalwork as well. OK woodwork isn’t going to do it many favours, but for hobby use and with a little care, shouldnt be a problem.
