Mine's a greeny blue Axminster pedestal machine, with a supposed capacity of 19mm in steel. Drilled all at once, anything over about 10mm in steel showed definite signs of triangularity. 13mm was about the limit provided you started at about 6mm and crept up to final size in 1mm steps. It had no trouble drilling in wood, but the end of the bit described a small circle making it difficult to start on target. I'm surprised I put up with it for so long. Recently it began to growl, so I replaced the 4 bearings at the front of the machine (2 under the drive pulley, 2 on the quill). WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!
All the slop has gone, virtually run out free even at drill tip, runs at 3000 rpm for small drills without sounding like it might self destruct (1800 was about the limit before). Much better performance in steel (although the table mounting is too flexible to drill 19mm). Amazing what £25 of bearings will do! So, the machining of the cast iron is not too bad, but the bearings were absolute CR*P. Why didn't I do this before!
I've stopped wishing I had something better, so worth a punt if you're not happy with your Asian Drill press. I might even touch up the paint!
All the slop has gone, virtually run out free even at drill tip, runs at 3000 rpm for small drills without sounding like it might self destruct (1800 was about the limit before). Much better performance in steel (although the table mounting is too flexible to drill 19mm). Amazing what £25 of bearings will do! So, the machining of the cast iron is not too bad, but the bearings were absolute CR*P. Why didn't I do this before!
I've stopped wishing I had something better, so worth a punt if you're not happy with your Asian Drill press. I might even touch up the paint!
