What do you think of this drill press?

[Dave Monk]

I am needing a new drill press and this caught my eye. Thought it would be nice for drilling fretwork. I would appreciate your input.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Dave Monk

[WayneMahler]

Looks like a nice drill press. Not very familiar with Grizzly. You would need to build a pretty big table to take advantage of the travel it offers. 

[Dave Monk]

25 minutes ago, WayneMahler said:

Looks like a nice drill press. Not very familiar with Grizzly. You would need to build a pretty big table to take advantage of the travel it offers. 

I agree. A large table would be a must.  I don't need that much travel very often and when I do I have a Seyco drill.  It's always hard to decide on what piece of equipment to buy.

 

[WayneMahler]

42 minutes ago, Dave Monk said:

I agree. A large table would be a must.  I don't need that much travel very often and when I do I have a Seyco drill.  It's always hard to decide on what piece of equipment to buy.

 

Dave

I just bought a new drill press. I got the Jet 716000 JWDP-12 Drill Press , variable speed and plenty of power to work with. I got mine from Zoro.com . They had the best price around. Might want to take a look at it, since you the seyco drill, you would need a large table. I really like mine. 

[Scrappile]

Dave,,, Grizzly has a good reputation... I have one of their Band saws, love it.   To me a very important consideration on a drill press for a scroller is will the chuck tighten all the way down...I mean I have a Jet... the chuck will tighten down to hold all the small drill bits...  I drill all the time with #70 bits because the chuck closes all the way.   Alot of them do not... Please check that or you will be disappointed...   

Edited May 11, 2021 by Scrappile

[Dave Monk]

9 minutes ago, WayneMahler said:

Dave

I just bought a new drill press. I got the Jet 716000 JWDP-12 Drill Press , variable speed and plenty of power to work with. I got mine from Zoro.com . They had the best price around. Might want to take a look at it, since you the seyco drill, you would need a large table. I really like mine. 

How small of a bit will it hold?

[Dave Monk]

8 minutes ago, Scrappile said:

Dave,,, Grizzly has a good reputation... I have one of their Band saws, love it.   To me a very important consideration on a drill press for a scroller is will the chuck tighten all the way down...I mean I have a Jet... the chuck will tighten down to hold all the small drill bits...  I drill all the time with #70 bits because the chuck closes all the way.   Alot of them do not... Please check that our or you will be disappointed...   

I would love to have one that would hold a #70.

[Rockytime]

That's a radial drill press. Just curious why you would want it.

[WayneMahler]

9 hours ago, Dave Monk said:

How small of a bit will it hold?

1/16th through 5/8ths. I use an adapter for scrolling.

[BadBob]

I have a Grizzly drill press. I like it. Over the years I have bought a lot of things from Grizzly. Their customer service is top notch and you can get parts from them.

[TAIrving]

That looks like a great drill press.  I have a different drill press and am now thinking about getting a dremel router base or maybe a StewMac.  The problem is getting to those holes in the middle of a larger piece.  I note the discrepancy between a scroll saw that will handle work pieces up to 21" and a drill press that will only handle pieces up to 9".  Ask yourself if the drill press will be able to drill the holes in the middle of the largest fretwork piece you will ever want to do.  

[kmmcrafts]

I'm curious what type of use they use these radio press's for.. There seems to be quite a few different models.. I've looked at them before and considered purchasing one. What baffles me is while the head is radio unless you build a huge table for it you'll be drilling out in the air as the table looks tiny already.. then ad that the head will extend out several inches. 

Also in my opinion.. it could be a chore changing set ups on it. Looks like the head also can be adjusted to angle drill.. just seems like a lot of movement in the head which could be handy.. but could also be problematic. The more moving / adjustable parts could equal less precise.. as you can tell, I know very little about these and have never seen one in person to really check out the build and quality. 

BTW, I still have not bought a drill press and I posted I was looking for a new one two years ago, LOL.. so I'm looking forward to what is said in this topic as well as what you choose to buy. I also haven't took the plunge on the miter saw yet or the table saw either.. Thinking this should be the time to do so before inflation happens to get worst.. LOL 

[Rolf]

We had a massive one in our machine shop. I maybe saw it used once (in 30 years)

most of the precision work was done on the Bridgeport milling machines.

But it had huge throat and the ability to rotate the head to drill angled holes eliminated the need for making a fixture for just one or two angled holes. 

This one would need an auxiliary table. and I would use a Wixey to set the angle. It would be great if you were doing a lot of beveled inlays.

It is the drill press version of the EX style saw where the table stays level giving you much more control.

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Rolf

[Scrappile]

One thing I found out,,, I use my drill press to drill the holes for the scroll sawing.... Last year the spring broke that raises the quill  back up after the hole is drilled.... It so like a mainspring in a clock....type spring.. I thought, gee that didn't last long, and then I got to thinking how many holes I have drilled doing fretwork... Most drill presses don't get that kind of use... So I am going to buy a spare, maybe two to have on hand...

[Dave Monk]

14 hours ago, Rockytime said:

That's a radial drill press. Just curious why you would want it.

For drilling in the center of larger fret work.

 

[Dave Monk]

1 hour ago, Scrappile said:

One thing I found out,,, I use my drill press to drill the holes for the scroll sawing.... Last year the spring broke that raises the quill  back up after the hole is drilled.... It so like a mainspring in a clock....type spring.. I thought, gee that didn't last long, and then I got to thinking how many holes I have drilled doing fretwork... Most drill presses don't get that kind of use... So I am going to buy a spare, maybe two to have on hand...

What model do you have that it can hold a #70 drill bit?  I currently have a small Craftsman. The spring broke about a year ago and I replaced it. It broke again about a month ago and I can't find one anywhere. It looks the same as a Rikon and they are not available either. Currently I have a rubber band doing a half assed job. The darn thing has no power either so I just need to decide on what I want to get. 

[Dave Monk]

3 hours ago, Rolf said:

We had a massive one in our machine shop. I maybe saw it used once (in 30 years)

most of the precision work was done on the Bridgeport milling machines.

But it had huge throat and the ability to rotate the head to drill angled holes eliminated the need for making a fixture for just one or two angled holes. 

This one would need an auxiliary table. and I would use a Wixey to set the angle. It would be great if you were doing a lot of beveled inlays.

It is the drill press version of the EX style saw where the table stays level giving you much more control.

 

I do a heck of a lot of inlays. I usually have my bevel on my saw set at about 1.4 degrees. I usually use about a #63 drill bit for my entry holes.  In the past I have tried to drill at an angle but it seems that I get enough drift in the drill bit that it isn't worth it.

[FrankEV]

That is a good DP, but for just drilling fretwork holes...WHY would you want to spend that much money?

My upside down dremel DP works great  (subject of another post if you want to know, PM me).   Betwenn one of the small Dremel rotary tools and their DP....less then a hundred dollars.  Holds small bits nicely, takes up very little space and works well for drilling blade holes for fretwork. 

 

[kmmcrafts]

My current drill press is a old Delta 8" that I picked up at a garage sale back in 2008 for $2.. It was listed as for parts because it was missing the chuck key,  Lucky for me I happen to have a couple extra universal 4 way key. It's had a bad bearing in it for a couple years now, LOL.. It's not worth putting a new bearing in it as the bearing cost more than I paid for the drill press.. The whole thing is pretty worn out, lots of slop in it.. maybe from the bearing. I like it but I do have one complaint.. I raise and lower the table a lot.. and it doesn't have any gear crank type deal to raise or lower the table.. only a pinch clamp thing.. and it's kind of a annoyance to change the table height. 

It looks just about like this cheapy one from Grizzly https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-8-baby-benchtop-drill-press/g0925 I'd buy this one in a heart beat if it had a gear system to change the table.. I don't need any thing huge or fancy If I need precision holes my CNC router works well for that, LOL 2 x 2 foot work area.. I just don't do a lot of large work.. and the larger projects seem to get turned over to the CNC or Laser to do anyway now. I contemplated buying the cheap WEN drill press.. https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-10-in-Drill-Press-with-Laser-4210T/308605494Worth the extra $50-60 for the crank to move the table.. LOL It is just a cheap press.. but my $2 press has paid for itself and it also is a cheap press..  

Edited May 11, 2021 by kmmcrafts

[rustynail]

Grizzly is a good company.. I have had different Grizzly tools and have been happy with them.

[Scrappile]

1 hour ago, Dave Monk said:

What model do you have that it can hold a #70 drill bit?  I currently have a small Craftsman. The spring broke about a year ago and I replaced it. It broke again about a month ago and I can't find one anywhere. It looks the same as a Rikon and they are not available either. Currently I have a rubber band doing a half assed job. The darn thing has no power either so I just need to decide on what I want to get. 

Mine is a Jet JDP-17DX Wood Woodworker's model.  The wood worker part is it has a bigger table..  I looked at the chuck.  The only marking on it are 1-16mm JT3.  May mean it 1mm and opens to 16mm.  I think the JT3 may have to do it has 3 jaws some chucks have 4 jaws..  If 1mm is as far as it suppose to close,,,, something has to wrong with mine,,, I drill with a #70 bit often.... I believe that is somewhat smaller than like around .65mm

[Rockytime]

JT3 is the size of the taper that goes into the spindle. A common taper for smaller drills. 

[Jim Finn]

3 hours ago, Dave Monk said:

I do a heck of a lot of inlays. I usually have my bevel on my saw set at about 1.4 degrees. I usually use about a #63 drill bit for my entry holes.  In the past I have tried to drill at an angle but it seems that I get enough drift in the drill bit that it isn't worth it.

As you know, I also do a LOT of inlays.  To make my starter holes I use a small "Radial" drill press with a small (Black and Decker) rotary tool with a 1/16" bit.  (Smaller bits flex too much to suit me.) Takes up very little space on my bench.  

     I do have a drill press from Grizzly that I use a lot in making toys.  I chose it  (it is no longer offered at Grizzly) because it has 12 speeds and some are very slow.  Slow enough to spin my 6" hole saw slow enough. That is why I choose it.  Mine is a bench top drill press but I wished I had purchased a floor model. I realized that the taller unit  uses the same amount of floor space, in my small shop, as mine does.  I have had this one since 2010 and only had one issue.  I had to replace the switch and Grizzly had one at a reasonable cost.  I have tried to use bits smaller than 1/16" in it but they snapped off quickly. I still do not do fretwork.

 

[Rockytime]

48 minutes ago, Jim Finn said:

As you know, I also do a LOT of inlays.  To make my starter holes I use a small "Radial" drill press with a small (Black and Decker) rotary tool with a 1/16" bit.  (Smaller bits flex too much to suit me.) Takes up very little space on my bench.  

     I do have a drill press from Grizzly that I use a lot in making toys.  I chose it  (it is no longer offered at Grizzly) because it has 12 speeds and some are very slow.  Slow enough to spin my 6" hole saw slow enough. That is why I choose it.  Mine is a bench top drill press but I wished I had purchased a floor model. I realized that the taller unit  uses the same amount of floor space, in my small shop, as mine does.  I have had this one since 2010 and only had one issue.  I had to replace the switch and Grizzly had one at a reasonable cost.  I have tried to use bits smaller than 1/16" in it but they snapped off quickly. I still do not do fretwork.

 

Hi Jim, could you post a picture of the small radial drill. I'd love to see it. I'm a tool junkie!

[Ceric ME]

 

3 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

My current drill press is a old Delta 8" that I picked up at a garage sale back in 2008 for $2.. It was listed as for parts because it was missing the chuck key,  Lucky for me I happen to have a couple extra universal 4 way key. It's had a bad bearing in it for a couple years now, LOL.. It's not worth putting a new bearing in it as the bearing cost more than I paid for the drill press.. The whole thing is pretty worn out, lots of slop in it.. maybe from the bearing. I like it but I do have one complaint.. I raise and lower the table a lot.. and it doesn't have any gear crank type deal to raise or lower the table.. only a pinch clamp thing.. and it's kind of a annoyance to change the table height. 

It looks just about like this cheapy one from Grizzly https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-8-baby-benchtop-drill-press/g0925 I'd buy this one in a heart beat if it had a gear system to change the table.. I don't need any thing huge or fancy If I need precision holes my CNC router works well for that, LOL 2 x 2 foot work area.. I just don't do a lot of large work.. and the larger projects seem to get turned over to the CNC or Laser to do anyway now. I contemplated buying the cheap WEN drill press.. https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-10-in-Drill-Press-with-Laser-4210T/308605494Worth the extra $50-60 for the crank to move the table.. LOL It is just a cheap press.. but my $2 press has paid for itself and it also is a cheap press..  

I've have this Wen Drill Press (I received it for Christmas part of the reason I was able to get my scroll saw)
https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-10-in-Variable-Speed-Drill-Press-4212/204853908

Having the adjustable speed on the side is nice.  The laser eats batteries.  You can adjust how far down it goes.  I have a cheap vice for it and clamp that goes in the table for long wood I've drilled.  The chuck is rated for 1 - 13mm but, I've put a bit in it that is .66mm wide and it was secure.

I can't tell you about the longevity.  I've been quiet impressed for the cost.

(It also has a little RPM Gauge on the front which is nice when trying to adjust to a recommended speed.  Though I've mostly just keep it at the lowest for wood now.)

I did "upgrade" it with a sewing light (Magnetic light with a stem) so I could see the drilling area better.

 

If I ever need to by another there are some scenarios where to be nice to be able to bring the head out from the table.  Though maybe by that time I might get to big for my britches (and shop) go actively see about scoring a Lathe.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Ceric ME