Recommend a drill press for £300 ish

[MikeJhn]

Playing devils advocate, I know one or two well known online woodworkers who will swear by not having a custom drill press table. Simply so you can move it up and down easy and just cut into a loose bit of wood. I guess when they need a fence they just clamp a bit of wood on the back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj3_hR7UvQs

I wouldn't know, I don't quite yet own a drill press

There are far more well known woodworkers who show how to build a drill press table rather than say not to have one.

Mike

 

[pike]

Playing devils advocate, I know one or two well known online woodworkers who will swear by not having a custom drill press table. Simply so you can move it up and down easy and just cut into a loose bit of wood. I guess when they need a fence they just clamp a bit of wood on the back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj3_hR7UvQs

I wouldn't know, I don't quite yet own a drill press

There are far more well known woodworkers who show how to build a drill press table rather than say not to have one.

Mike

Which is why I said I was playing devils advocate

 

[user22161]

The drills I'm looking at are 750W. That fox is 450W. I wonder if that's all there is too it for stalling.

I'm sure it's just under powered for what I've been doing, can't see a new motor being faulty. I'll sell it when I get back to the UK in March. 750W a better bet.

 

[Bodgers]

Playing devils advocate, I know one or two well known online woodworkers who will swear by not having a custom drill press table. Simply so you can move it up and down easy and just cut into a loose bit of wood. I guess when they need a fence they just clamp a bit of wood on the back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj3_hR7UvQs

I wouldn't know, I don't quite yet own a drill press

I don't think he ever uses a fence. He just punch marks each hole and the bit naturally follows.

 

[custard]

Playing devils advocate, I know one or two well known online woodworkers who will swear by not having a custom drill press table. Simply so you can move it up and down easy and just cut into a loose bit of wood. I guess when they need a fence they just clamp a bit of wood on the back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj3_hR7UvQs

I wouldn't know, I don't quite yet own a drill press

Yes, that's how I do it. I've thought about building a drill press table but I've never found a design that delivers something extra and important beyond what I can already cobble together in two minutes flat from bits of scrap.

 

[Jacob]

Me ditto, though I also have an old 6" Record junior vice attached to a block on the board on the drill press table. It comes in handy e.g. I put a length of 4x4" in it, as a support for inconveniently shaped items being drilled, etc

 

[Phil Pascoe]

For convenience (working from a chair a lot of the time) the base of mine (bench mounted) is parallel to the bench and swings around over the vice which is a big 3 ton Record on a swivel base so I can hold all sorts and sizes of things firmly and accurately for drilling. It also allows the table to be swung out over the front of the bench, which can be useful.

 

[graduate_owner]

I bought an Axminster floor standing 12 speed model a few months back, reduced to £200 from about £300. I tested with a dti and was not happy with the run out so I contacted Axminster, who agreed the run out was excessive. It seems the chuck was the main prob!em so they sent a replacement ( catalogue price £75) which was a definite improvement. It is not perfect but now quite useable and I am fairly pleased with it and it is a world apart from my old £60 NuTool bench drill which is seriously poor. My main reason for buying was I had Axminster vouchers to use up.
I am sure it does not compare with a Fobco, Meddings or Elliot and I would have searched for one of those if it wasn't for the vouchers.
It is nice to have new kit though, doesn't need new parts or repairing, just ready to use.

So, overall, an Axminster ( or similar clone) might just suit you fine, but personally I would keep a look out for a nice Fobco etc, even if you have to go over budget for a really nice one.

 

[pike]

I'm guessing it was hobby rated? I've seen those ones in the store and decided to wait for the new trade ones. Hoping they are a significant improvement..

I bought an Axminster floor standing 12 speed model a few months back, reduced to £200 from about £300. I tested with a dti and was not happy with the run out so I contacted Axminster, who agreed the run out was excessive. It seems the chuck was the main prob!em so they sent a replacement ( catalogue price £75) which was a definite improvement. It is not perfect but now quite useable and I am fairly pleased with it and it is a world apart from my old £60 NuTool bench drill which is seriously poor. My main reason for buying was I had Axminster vouchers to use up.
I am sure it does not compare with a Fobco, Meddings or Elliot and I would have searched for one of those if it wasn't for the vouchers.
It is nice to have new kit though, doesn't need new parts or repairing, just ready to use.

So, overall, an Axminster ( or similar clone) might just suit you fine, but personally I would keep a look out for a nice Fobco etc, even if you have to go over budget for a really nice one.

 

[graduate_owner]

Hi Pike, yes it is a hobby rated drill, and I suppose it is a nice piece of kit if you keep the hobby rating in mind when judging it. Also for £200 ( and an upgraded chuck retailing at £70-£80) it was a good buy, and as I said, I wanted to use my Axminster vouchers, but I know it is not in the same league as Meddings etc.
When it comes to hobby rated kit, Axminster suggest maximum usage of 100 hours per year as a guideline. There are some tools where I think that would be a bit of a limitation, lathes for example. However my usage of a pillar drill is not likely to be that sort of figure. I appreciate this is only a guideline on usage, but helpful all the same. I think the main issue is accuracy and this dill is acceptable. If I want better accuracy, or heavier duty work, then I can turn to my milling machine, so that is another reason why the drill suits me, although I would have searched for a Meddings, Fobco, Elliot or similar if it had not been for the vouchers and the £100 discount. People needing metalworking accuracy or continuous usage should, I think, avoid the hobby tools.

Edit - this hobby drill was advertised as having genuine NSK bearings and a highly accurate chuck, as are some of the trade rated ones.

K

 

[pike]

Yeah they say that thing about bearings on both hobby and trade. Remains to be seen if the new trade are more accurate. I'll find out when it arrives

 

[MikeJhn]

I recently won a Sealey 147F on e-bay and am very pleasantly surprised by its accuracy and lack of run out on the spindle, I would think this is a clone one way or another from or too the Axminster AHDP16F, the spindle on the Sealey is adjustable for run out on the left side, does the Axminster also have this facility?

Mike

 

[graduate_owner]

I didn't read anything about bearing adjustment in the handbook for mine, but mine is a discontinued model.

K

 

[pike]

I recently won a Sealey 147F on e-bay and am very pleasantly surprised by its accuracy and lack of run out on the spindle, I would think this is a clone one way or another from or too the Axminster AHDP16F, the spindle on the Sealey is adjustable for run out on the left side, does the Axminster also have this facility?

Mike

Is that the right model number? Can't find anything online.

How is it adjustable?

 

[MikeJhn]

Sorry its a http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuilder.a ... uctid=6767 on the left side it has a nut with a bolt sticking through it, undo the nut and screw in the bolt into the spindle, this takes up any slack that may exist.

Mike

 

[pike]

Cheers Mike. Sounds good, I wonder if that's standard for most drills or not.

 

[Distinterior]

Cheers Mike. Sounds good, I wonder if that's standard for most drills or not.

I have a real cheap Titan drill press from Screwfix and it has the same adjuster as the one linked/mentioned above.
The machine itself is of very poor quality and that adjuster is absolutely hopeless. It does nothing to reduce the play in the quill which at maximum plunge, slops around all over the place.

I will be replacing my Titan and will be taking a better more detailed look at the latest offerings from Axminster.

 

[pike]

The Axminster blurb for the new trade drills says "So happy are we with the accuracy of these drills, we would recommend them to the metal worker as well as the wood workshop."