Pillar Drill Help

[the_g_ster]

All,

I am after a decent pillar drill that will be good for:

-Not too big so can be stowed away
-Has some kind of depth stop so I can do things like use forstner bits for drilling out inserts for kitchen door hinges to accurate depths
-Is pretty accurate so can so some fine slot cutting and recesses etc.

Anybody got any ideas? Not looking to spend the earth or go down the green route, but happy to pay what I know will work well.

Happy new year to you all too.

G

 

[Gary]

Accurate and not too big. Is this asking too much?

 

[WellsWood]

Hmm... powerful enough to run fostner bits and light enough to stow away :? now that might be a tall order.
I suppose you could put something like this on a rolling cabinet, but it'd have to be pretty hefty to ensure the whole thing wasn't top heavy. I just gave away my old bench top drill because I never used it, it was about as heavy as I would have wanted to move around regularly, which is exactly what I used to do with it. I never tried, but I don't think it would have coped with Forstners or anything big enough for kitchen hinges. I fear you may have to forgo the "stowability" if it is to fulfill your needs regards power and accuracy.

 

[wizer]

Oddly I was given the same drill press as Mark mentioned above for xmas and hope to make a rolling cart for it tomorrow.

Interesting that this can't cope with forstners, I didn't realise that #-o

 

[WellsWood]

Interesting that this can't cope with forstners, I didn't realise that #-o

Don't panic, I meant the one I gave away couldn't cope with big stuff, not the one I still have which is very similar to the Axy you got for Xmas. Congrats on that by the way.

 

[Digit]

I got a bench mounted pillar drill for Christmas as well.
Darn thing was too tall to fit on my bench without hitting the roof! I cut four inches off the pillar. :lol:

Roy.

 

[wizer]

Ahh ok Mark, cheers. Hope you had a good xmas mate

 

[motownmartin]

I got a bench mounted pillar drill for Christmas as well.
Darn thing was too tall to fit on my bench without hitting the roof! I cut four inches off the pillar. :lol:

Roy.

Which one did you get Roy, I have got to get one myself so would love to know what model other peeps have got and their capabilities.

 

[Digit]

The 450 Watt Nu Tool. I've got two now, one in the metal workshop and one in the wood shop, about £120, depending where you buy.
The first one is now 3 yrs old and still going strong, never had a bit of trouble from either.
Will easily swing one and a quarter inch Forstner cutter in hardwood or five/eight drill in steel, speed change pretty quick, and a decent chuck.

Roy.

 

[TheTiddles]

I have one of these http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axmi ... -33259.htm which was about £80. I wanted to do a load of mortices and thought that a morticer will make a pretty good pillar drill but a pillar drill with a mortice attachment is useless.

As with all cheap tools it needs a little attention, I made a new table for it, fitted it onto a bench hook style base which I can just about move around if I wanted to, it comes complete with the drill chuck too. I will upgrade it further with an incra T-Track plus rail and a few bits and bobs when I have time. The best move was checking all the bolts over, tightening those that were slightly loose, adding locking washers etc... with that done I can thoroughly recommend it as drill and as a morticer, it's obvously a compromise but in my opinion it does very well, especially considering its price

Aidan

 

[OPJ]

I've had one of these for almost two-years now and I'm please with it. It seems to handle forstner bits very well (as long as you slow the speed down for the appropriate size) although, to be honest, I don't think I need one quite as tall as this, but oh well.

I haven't had any serious problems with it (apart from breaking the original plastic guard! :roll: ) but it started making excess noise/vibration a while ago when running on faster speeds and I need to take the chuck out and find out why. It certainly wasn't doing this when I first received it - quiet as a mouse.

I'd also second making an MDF sub-table to give you some real support.Don't trust the scale when it comes to tilting the table to a specific angle (it's 3mm out) - always use a square.