About to buy a drill press: Brands?
 

Ok I looked at the two local places, and Canadian Tire sells Jobmate (8") and Mastercraft (10") while Home Depot sells Delta (8") and Ryobi (10") brands. My instinct when looking at them was that the Ryobi was noticably beefier than the Delta. They are the same price everywhere: $80CAD for the 8" and $150CAD for the 10" ones.

Any experience with these? I think that Bill said the Jobmate was a wobbly bastard...

i suggest the largest one you can afford tbh. www.harborfreight.com has some nice ones. I bought a $40 1/3 HP 5 inch throat drill press and it certainly is useful, but a 10 inch throat would be even more useful.

I'd get killed on shipping (and import taxes) to Canada. But I am going to go check on a used tools store I have heard about as well a few other stores today.

go to sears and get a craftsman. Craftsman make some of the best tools. Think about it lifetime warranty on a great tool.

I will take the Ryobi...no question.... even at double the cost, they are the best for what you pay for them.

Craftsman quality has gone into the toilet these last 5-10 years. Craftsman got bought out, from what I remember, and they have gone for profit over quality since then.

Sears is trying to make a buck against the specialist megastores like Home Depot and such. They aren't doing it with high quality or huge selection; I can tell you that.

Ok I might as well just close this thread because I am going with #rotor's recommendation. If anyone knows about drill presses it's him :)

Don't just blindly follow my lead...... :)

look at what's on the shelf, and then decide for yourself.

My recommendation should only get the recommended one a much harsher look.
Be critical, look for faults... that is the only sure way to get good quality. I spoke from past experience, not necessarily in drill-presses, but things like grinders and power-saws. Ryobi has not once faultered with me, so they deserve a good word. In my case, availbility of said brand was much more of a problem, that's Why I would jump at one whenever I can get one...

Hard to belive but all the makes that were mentioned are manufactured by the same company(the electronics anyway). And most are refurbs done by Ryobi.

So IMO one is just as good as the other.

Stay away from HF if possible.
Go with sears only because you can take it in and get a replacement.

Ive owned many a drill press in my life and you get the same quality in the imports as you do the "supposed" USA made.

Its way cheaper to import parts for large companies than to set up big $$ dedicated equipement to manu. everything themselves.
Damn chinese rule the world in that aspect. They got us all by the balls!

pHaestus your going to start making blocks now? Truthfully, if your going to make a #rotor style block you won't get as good temps as you would with a CNC milled waterblock like the Cascade.

I need a drill press for many projects. I am gonna make a second loop for cooling VRMS, NB, GPU, HDDs, and PSU though. Hard to beat the multipin blocks of the #rotor type for price/performance in this application (esp if I use aluminum)

Were is that damn flame thrower when you need it!:mad: :p :D

I am rather confident, that even if price was not an issue, I would still be a hard contender to beat. As matter of fact, having my block made with CNC will not yield me a 1/100'th of a degree either way. I mean what is a CNC, nothing other than a rich-boy's hand-mill :D

and I'll be using the exact same drill-bits for the job too,

OK OK!!! so I might not be able to stand around with a beer in my hand, While the chips are flying....:p

LOL, is it possible to make stuff like jets with a drill press?

you need a laser for that... I think....:cool:
jets are not really required, just some small holes in a midplate, over the core is what will do the trick. The secret being the channels between the holes in the base plate, giving the incoming stream of cold liquid a way to get out of the way.

My philosophy of using only 2 inlets, and sweeping across the block from one side to the other, is based on the principle of each hole, being a virtual chamber in itself, with 4 little nozzles.... as the channel is much narrower than the diameter of the hole it enters, the turbulence generated by the liquid being squeezed through it are in abundance where I need it most. This is however not how I got to my particular design.... I went about it completely the other way, actually.

CNC is superior for the jets for a one peice setup. Thats how Cathar does the Cascade. I have failed to make a good set of jets with the laser I have at work. Next best option is the little metal pipes that you insert into the middle peice etc.. Non of which is important for your blocks though.

Truthfully drill presses seam really easy to work but I dont think they will be. With a drill press is it easy to make really narrow channels?

Channels? No, not at all easy. If it was we would all have bought $100 drill presses instead of $500+ mills. ;)

Awww drill press for me.


#rotor is this the Ryobi you were talking about?
http://www.ryobitools.com/product/pr...at=1&toolcat=7

Drill Press
 

On first use a new drill press, I can detect a slight shaft vibration. The holes are true. The unit had to be assembled and the part I am concerned about is having tapped the chuck onto the shaft with a rubber mallet as instructed.

The vibration is barely noticable and as I said, it doesn't seem to impair performance.

Anyone know if I should worry about this?

Thanks
bub...

It is possible that it is the belt, I know that was a problem on someones round column mill.

Jon

Did you heat the chuck before installing it?

I have had them fall off of the conical fitting and onto my hand before.... not fun... ever.

The vibration may also be a loose conical bearing, or some shavings somewhere where they shouldnt be. I had to clean out my drill press before using it because of this problem. Tighten everything up and be sure the belt is good and tight.

also almost all press drill have slight to almost none existent sideway movement wich is why they make bad mini-mill the only way to resolve it is to see if its modable by adding a new collumn and bearring
http://www.pathcom.com/~vhchan/cnc/cnc.html