pillar drill features

[BillK]

Above all minor features the main thing to me is how accurate is it, runout and play in the quill. I could live with the most basic of drills in favour of being accurate.

I've got a Meddings Driltru, bench model. Before that I had a giant Rexxon floor stander. The Meddings doesn't have a rack but I find the table no bother to move, being not too massive or thick I guess. I don't have to do it much anyway.
The Rexxon table could tilt although I rarely used it, it was a pain re-aligning afterwards and more than once alignment drifted. I'd rather have a solid fixed alignment.

The Meddings has parallel slots I like. And the drillhead swivels super easily. Have some jigs/fixtures that work nicely with the slots.
One thing I would've liked is a hole in the centre of the table, but that's only a slight inconvenience.

 

[stevek]

I had one of the little cheap bench top drills, a wicks branded one that cost less than £50 and it was okay for years, once you have one a pillar drill is really useful, with such a small table lifting it wasnt an issue,however what I didnt like was the lack of power, drilling mdf doors for Euro hinges it couldnt cope with and then the bearings started rumbleing terribly and it was time to go. Ive now got a Clarke Metalworker, though it has a conventional square table (I think metalwork drills often have a circular table with a gully round the ecge?) I picked it up lightly used and Im quite happy with it with it. It has quite a short quill travel, less than 3ins, and I have thought about lifting the table for drilling deeper holes, it winds up and down,but as has been said, it wanders about and Im sure would be a recipe for breaking drills, my plan for a job I have to do in the spring on some 4inch oak is to drill as deep as possible and then switch to a hand drill and finish off, then start with a Forstner bit and be happy to drill in from both sides with the pilot holes to guide me. The Clarke stuff is still Chinese I think, its okay but nothing like a Meddings etc, and if you can find one of those that hasn't been beaten to death in some factory for the past 50yrs that would definately be your best bet.
Btw, didnt liddles recently offer a copy of the futuristic looking Bosch electronic pillar drill,,I wonder what they were like?

 

[Fergie 307]

Problem with a lot of the rack and pinion setups is that the rack is only wedged between two collars fitted round the pillar, so it tends to turn. I have two like this and have simply drilled and tapped the pillar so the rack is screwed on, makes a big difference.

 

[charlieboy]

Thanks again guys for all your help - lots to think about. I can see that a solid old Meddings will always give superior quality, so I'll keep an eye on the 2nd hand market, but as I am only an occasional hobby woodworker with limited space I may have to compromise on something which is adequate, but not perfect. I have wondered about the Record Power DP25B - if anyone has any experience of that, I would be interested.

 

[Jameshow]

Should be good quality at that price.

Look out for Naerok or nutool drill S/h preferably 16mm chuck ones.

Nice drill and less the £100 usually.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283406893072
How about this one?


Cheers James