Bench Drills

[JonParticipant @jon]

Made a blunder and bought a NuTool branded DP16/12 in 92 thicker column than smaller ones, havent used since. Probably had 2hrs running.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

My 'import' drill press is far superior to the cheapies in rigidity (rock solid) and features (work light, MT spindle, 16 speeds, rotating table, cranked height adjustment, dial depth gauge) and only costs about three times as much.

All imported drill presses seem to be judged by the cheapest, lowest specced model, which isn't fair.

Neil

[john fletcher 1Participant @johnfletcher1]

Years ago there was an article in Model engineer on improving a cheap bench top drilling machine. One was to remove the quill down feed bushes and make two replacement eccentric bushes, one for each side of the machine as replacements for the sloppy original pair. I made a pair carefully fitted them, the wife held them in position after I had painted them with Loctite and pushed them home. A job well done. The other mod was to stop the table flexing. Mill a flat in front of the table, do the same to the base, both to be accurately in line, drill and tap the movable table twice, say 5mm. Mount a length of quality steel with 5mm clearance holes and bolt the steel to the table. At the base fix a piece of steel such that the other piece of steel will pass through a tight sliding fit, on the base piece should be a bolt to clamp down the sliding piece . Once that is done the table is rock steady. The only down side is the machine has to be at front of the bench. I hope that is some help. One mod that the ME didn't suggest, at the evening class (remember them) I made a new column completely, the original was a piece of rolled sheet steel welded up. That stud me in good stead for at least twenty years, then a Fobco turned up cheap so I let the Alpine go. John.

[JonParticipant @jon]

Neil quite similar to my Nutool DP16/12 except my column is a lot larger dia and came with an English 3/4hp motor that set it apart from similarly others. Graham Engineering Wolvo.

Cant fault Fobcos even small ones.

[thaiguzziParticipant @thaiguzzi]

Taiwanese clone purchased NEW in 1983. Typical 16mm removable chuck, 2MT quill, 12 speed 1 HP thing.

Used in a professional enviroment between 89 and 03, drilled 1000's of holes. Drilled all the security grill windows in the workshop (all 5/8" in 1/4" steel = 100's).

Still going strong today. Replaced NOTHING except the chuck itself. Original motor, original cap start, original brgs.

Never been dismantled.

Used daily till 03, now probably weekly.

Beat that!

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Like Thor and JasonB,I bought my Nu Tool 16 speed floor standing drill many moons ago,1983,to be exact. It has a 16mm chuck but is well able to handle 1" drills. There is some play in the quill but not enough to worry me. It handles most of my needs and if I need anything better,I use the mill,but not too often do I need to.

The quality of the castings on all machines from that part of the world is not great as I found when I needed to drill a few small holes in the back of my lathe to mount a stop arrangement. The material was quite soft and sandy,nothing like old cast iron.

As regards price,I think I paid around 300 pounds at that time,but it has never given any trouble and the motor is still going strong,with the same belts ! Looking at the way prices have gone over the years,I might even be able to buy it cheaper now.

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 01/06/2018 20:06:05:

My 'import' drill press is far superior to the cheapies in rigidity (rock solid) and features (work light, MT spindle, 16 speeds, rotating table, cranked height adjustment, dial depth gauge) and only costs about three times as much.

All imported drill presses seem to be judged by the cheapest, lowest specced model, which isn't fair.

Neil

After buying a Wolf 9 speed 500W bench drill last year, sending it back within two days of purchase, and being without a bench drill before then and since, I'm encouraged by that recommendation. I see there's a slightly bigger counterpart as well sold by Machinemart.

I've got a few newbie questions about bench drills if people can bear to hear them.

I'd assumed until now that a good milling machine of comparable capacity to any given bench drill would be able to perform the task of drilling as well as or better than a bench drill. Am I wrong about this? Put another way, if someone has a fairly big milling machine already, and space is at a bit of a premium, is buying a bench drill still a good idea for certain tasks?

Secondly, I notice that the standard chucks on the bigger bench drills tend to be 3-16mm capacity, whereas smaller bench drills often have chucks whose capacity starts at 1 or 1.5mm, or even less. Can I assume that if I bought a bench drill with a 3-16mm chuck it would be a very straightforward matter to substitute a chuck that can accommodate smaller bits?

Lastly, and a long shot this one, does anyone know of a manufacturer who sells a bench drill that has the handle for raising and lowering the column on the left hand side as opposed to the right hand side? I ask because a permanent injury to my right arm in a road accident many years ago means I have to use my left arm for pulling down on levers, whether they're on the left or right, and when the lever is on the right, the position I have to adopt relative to the machine when pulling down isn't exactly optimal from the point of view of either visibility or safety.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Bill Phinn on 04/06/2018 18:04:10:

if someone has a fairly big milling machine already, and space is at a bit of a premium, is buying a bench drill still a good idea for certain tasks?

Secondly, I notice that the standard chucks on the bigger bench drills tend to be 3-16mm capacity, whereas smaller bench drills often have chucks whose capacity starts at 1 or 1.5mm, or even less. Can I assume that if I bought a bench drill with a 3-16mm chuck it would be a very straightforward matter to substitute a chuck that can accommodate smaller bits?

Lastly, and a long shot this one, does anyone know of a manufacturer who sells a bench drill that has the handle for raising and lowering the column on the left hand side as opposed to the right hand side?

1 I would be lost without separate mill and drill!

2 Get one with an MT2 socket in the quill, I usually heve a small chuck fitted but can easily swap in a big one, or even a tiny one.

3 Look carefully, you may find one where the spindle passes right through and could be extended on the left side to move the lever across..

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 04/06/2018 18:37:45:

3 Look carefully, you may find one where the spindle passes right through and could be extended on the left side to move the lever across..

Thanks! I did wonder about that possibility, but had the feeling the straight through type might be as rare as hens' teeth.

ETA: Where I said "column" in my earlier post, I meant quill.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 04/06/2018 18:45:25

Edited By Bill Phinn on 04/06/2018 18:45:50

[MeunierParticipant @meunier]

When Bill P mentioned 'column' above, I twitched. In prep for moving house in the next couple of months, today dismantled my old 'Progress' pillar drill. after unbolting from floor, two of us wiggle-walked it out and lowered to the ground. Took head assy off with a grunt, then the column and table together. Was reminded of an earlier post about tricking apprentices when I described being sent to the stores for a 'long weight'. the column is solid steel 46ins long by 2.75ins dia. Everything else save the spindle is cast iron 0.3 to 0.4ins thick. It was already ancient when bought in '70s but still going strong.
DaveD

[VicParticipant @vic]

Yes, my Progress No 1 has a solid steel column as well. They bought a Jet bench drill at work and the column was steel tube with a wall thickness of about 3-4mm… The finish on the table looked like it had been fly cut – badly.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

I was pleased with my Naerok when I bought it about 30 years ago and for light drilling and woodwork it was fine. Heavier drilling in steel exposed its limitations, the table would flex if not drilling over the main support and the quill was not as solid as it ought to be. I gave it to a friend whose demands were not as exacting as mine, we were both pleased, he traded up from a pistol drill and I found a Meddings MF4 on eBay at a good price £174. Once again I took another step up the learning curve, the table is very heavy and the optional lifting rack is near essential for a machine that is used for a new setup every time, of course mine did not have this option. Perusing eBay I came across an MF4 that had a broken foot casting and was quite beaten up but the table was in good nick and had the lusted after lifting rack, my bid of £50 won the machine and the offer to transport it to near Burton on Trent which is somewhat nearer than Liverpool where it was when I won it. A trip to the yard near burton and dimantling it into bite sized parts I loaded it into my car. Fitting the rack and table onto my machine has given me a very solid and usable machine for not too much money, I think they used to sell for about £1500 so I feel it wasn't bad value. 10 speeds from 80 to 4000rpm make it quite a flexible machine with enough power to drill 7/8" in steel. Some spares are still available from Meddings and the Tufnol gears in the gearbox are vulnerable if changing gear is attempted without stopping the machine. I would recommend one of these machines if the price and condition are right. Looking round my local Axminster showroom they have some quite purposeful looking machines but a good solid machine is going to cost a few bob. The posts on this forum show time and time again that buying the absolute cheapest imported machines will often disappoint but spend a bit more and you can get a very satisfactory machine for a very acceptable price or carefully search for an old machine in good nick.

Mike

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