New Drill Press

[kmmcrafts]

Couple weeks ago I decided that my old $2 garage sale Delta 8" drill press had been good to me for the last 14 years and it's got a bearing that has been noisy for 2-3 years.. I finally bought a cheapy 12" WEN variable speed DP.. Now to find some time to actually open the box and set it up.. The noise on the old DP didn't bother me as much as the sloppy spindle.. not just small bits wobbled, LOL.. always had to kinda guestimate where the drill was actually going to put land when drilling.... actually got pretty good at that.. Probably not going to get to set it up until after the new year..unless the Delta quits and forces me too. LOL 

[GrampaJim]

I have been using a small (6"?) Wen drill press for 6 or 7 years with no problem.  does what I need and handles the smallest bits that I use with out any problem.

[Eplfan2011]

A small drill press is on my shopping list .... 

[Jim McDonald]

After this week, I have decided I would love a second drill press. One to make holes at speed and one--slower--for the sanding mop and Forstner bits.

[kmmcrafts]

14 minutes ago, Jim McDonald said:

After this week, I have decided I would love a second drill press. One to make holes at speed and one--slower--for the sanding mop and Forstner bits.

I've been wanting to do that for quite a few years now since I make so many clocks.. Just leave my forstner bit in one drill press and use the other for small bits. I think I'll be doing that with my new one now.. I'll set the old one with forestner bit as I normally drill a small starter hole for the tip on the forestner bit to follow along with and works well even though the spindle wobbles bad.. Small bits is a pain though. LOL

[John B]

I have 2 pedestal drills. My old one I use for sanding mops and home made drums. It's an 18 speed, but I changing belts for various jobs gets a bit beyond the joke after awhile, So I got a variable speed unit which I use for just about everything else. It has a light and and laser pointer, which is pretty useless as the drill bit points to where the hole is going to be anyhow.
A pic of my new (Newer) Pedestal. I like the free standing units as I don't have to find bench space to place them.
 

[kmmcrafts]

Yeah, my Delta has the belt swapping deal too that gets really annoying.. when swapping from mini drill bits to forstner bits and back again. It also has the pinch clamp to raise and lower the table which I also don't care a lot for.. so two things was a must for me.. I wanted the gear / crank for raising / lowering the table and I wanted variable speed so I only have to move the lever to change RPM's .. 

This is the drill I bought.. I also ( maybe mistake and wasted money) bought the keyless chuck.. For some reason I can't seem to put the key to the delta in the key spot.. I always put it in my pocket or set it down somewhere.. real pain this time of year here as it's cold in the morning but by mid-day I'm ditching my jacket with the chuck key in the pocket when I come in for lunch.. go back out and need to change bits and can't find the key anywhere..  Some folks say the keyless chucks are junk.. but I've never had any issue out of my keyless chuck cordless hand drill. If nothing else I guess I can always put the key chuck back on if I don't like the keyless one.. I would think I'd be fine for drilling wood, I'm not drilling thick iron or concrete with a small benchtop press anyway. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-5-Amp-12-in-Variable-Speed-Cast-Iron-Benchtop-Drill-Press-with-Laser-Work-Light-and-5-8-in-Chuck-Capacity-4214T/316951776

Edited November 12, 2022 by kmmcrafts

[BadBob]

I have three drill presses.

I use a huge Central Machinery from harbor freight for large bits and sanding. The chuck on this one will not hold anything much smaller than 1/4".

A bench top Grizzly that I use for small bits. I have three chucks for this one. The original chuck would not hold bits much smaller than 1/4". I replaced it with a Southbend chuck that worked well for all but the smallest bits. I replaced it with Wen keyless chuck, which has worked great for me and will hold even smaller bits.

My third drill press is a Dremmel that has an ancient Craftsman rotary tool mounted in it. It gets used for the tiny bits.

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by BadBob

[kmmcrafts]

I have the Dremmel plunge router with a WEN rotary tool mounted for those small bits but it doesn't work well for me.. There is just enough slop in the thing to make holes on an angle instead of straight, lol.. Works awesome in thin stock like 1/4 or less.. but the slop and the uprights is enough when doing thicker wood is enough to drill outside of a line on the back side.. also the little WEN motor really has to be spinning fast to be able to go through thick stock which in turn burns up the bits 

[Norm Fengstad]

I use the Seyco drill for scroll entry holes and have a small cheap Craftsman press drill that I bought new some thirty years ago. It works ok but small and will go out of alignment.

[Gene Howe]

Just gathering info and repurposing some tools to begin scrolling. My stash of tools includes a couple Shopsmiths, a couple dremels and plunge bases as well as a DeWalt 788. for small bits, I have a micro chuck that fits inside the Shopsmith drill chuck. (I thought it was called a pin vise but, was informed that wasn't the correct term.) IDK if any of the Dremel chucks will close tight enough on the smaller, wire sized, bits. I hope so, as using the Shopsmith drill press is a hassle. 

[John B]

5 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Just gathering info and repurposing some tools to begin scrolling. My stash of tools includes a couple Shopsmiths, a couple dremels and plunge bases as well as a DeWalt 788. for small bits, I have a micro chuck that fits inside the Shopsmith drill chuck. (I thought it was called a pin vise but, was informed that wasn't the correct term.) IDK if any of the Dremel chucks will close tight enough on the smaller, wire sized, bits. I hope so, as using the Shopsmith drill press is a hassle. 

Here's what I use. A 1/4" Jacobs chuck. it holds the finest bit. You can find them on most old 1/4" electric drills. Just thread the correct size bolt into the chuck, cu the head off and place in the chuck of the drill press.

[Scrappile]

The main thing I like about my Jet DP the chuck closes all the way.  

[BadBob]

23 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I have the Dremmel plunge router with a WEN rotary tool mounted for those small bits but it doesn't work well for me.. There is just enough slop in the thing to make holes on an angle instead of straight, lol.. Works awesome in thin stock like 1/4 or less.. but the slop and the uprights is enough when doing thicker wood is enough to drill outside of a line on the back side.. also the little WEN motor really has to be spinning fast to be able to go through thick stock which in turn burns up the bits 

Same here; I rarely use the rotary tool for drilling. I would only use it for a bit that would not fit in the actual drill press.

[BadBob]

I had tried three different "mini chucks" of the type you mount in the drill chuck. All three chuck wobble so bad they were unusable.

[BadBob]

21 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

My stash of tools includes a couple Shopsmiths

Shopsmith here also. I have had mine since about 1981. I have upgraded several times since then. I have almost enough parts to build two more.

[Sycamore67]

My drill press will go down to 1/32".   However for small bits, I prefer to use a Dremel.  I do not have the Dremel drill press accessory but have looked at it.

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, Sycamore67 said:

My drill press will go down to 1/32".   However for small bits, I prefer to use a Dremel.  I do not have the Dremel drill press accessory but have looked at it.

Will the Dremel brand tool have enough torque / power to drill through 3/4 hardwoods without running crazy RPM's?  I have the cheap WEN knock off of the Dremel..That's the issue I have with those small tools is there is no power until you run 7000 rpm's and then you burn through instead of drilling through.. discolors the wood around the hole too.. Not a great choice for vein cutting.. I can see where they work well for stack cutting 2-3 pieces of 1/8" plywood etc.. but worthless drilling through 3/4" cherry or other hardwoods. Thought about the Seyco scrollers drill but I've heard similar with those..  Being production minded I consistently stack cut or consistently cut 1/2 - 3/4" thick material so the Dremel tool for me isn't what it is for others.  

[munzieb]

I bought the same Wen a few years ago and I do like it. I built a stand for it and storage for other drills and bits. I  like the 6" throat depth for drilling out scroll patterns patterns. I also drill out jewerly beads and stones for my wife that require high speeds and the speed adjustment makes it very easy. Recently, I invested in the wen table and it is a god sent and cheap at $50. I couldn't build one for that price and be that accurate. I had only one issue. I had one of the lasers fail. I contacted the mfg and they sent a replacement but it was a major project to route the wires through the works of the unit to mount it. Adjusting wasn't that hard. 

[Jim McDonald]

7 hours ago, Sycamore67 said:

My drill press will go down to 1/32".   However for small bits, I prefer to use a Dremel.  I do not have the Dremel drill press accessory but have looked at it.

I have a Dremel drill press--save your money.

Doesn't have much of a throat, so you are very limited on size.

[BadBob]

20 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Will the Dremel brand tool have enough torque / power to drill through 3/4 hardwoods without running crazy RPM's?

Probably not. It depends on how patient you are.

[BadBob]

15 hours ago, Jim McDonald said:

I have a Dremel drill press--save your money.

Mine is nearly 40 years old. I would not buy it today.

 

[OCtoolguy]

On 11/13/2022 at 3:45 AM, BadBob said:

I had tried three different "mini chucks" of the type you mount in the drill chuck. All three chuck wobble so bad they were unusable.

Me too.

[Wichman]

On 11/13/2022 at 4:45 AM, BadBob said:

I had tried three different "mini chucks" of the type you mount in the drill chuck. All three chuck wobble so bad they were unusable.

I have two of the mini chucks, got the second one when the first had too much wobble, then I saw a post, could have been here, that stated you could rotate the faces to eliminate the wobble. Tried it and viola one of the three faces has no wobble, this is with a #72 drill bit ( .025" ) , next is too mark the drill press chuck and the mini chuck with the correct alignment.

[Wichman]

On 11/13/2022 at 7:29 AM, kmmcrafts said:

Will the Dremel brand tool have enough torque / power to drill through 3/4 hardwoods without running crazy RPM's?  I have the cheap WEN knock off of the Dremel..That's the issue I have with those small tools is there is no power until you run 7000 rpm's and then you burn through instead of drilling through.. discolors the wood around the hole too.. Not a great choice for vein cutting.. I can see where they work well for stack cutting 2-3 pieces of 1/8" plywood etc.. but worthless drilling through 3/4" cherry or other hardwoods. Thought about the Seyco scrollers drill but I've heard similar with those..  Being production minded I consistently stack cut or consistently cut 1/2 - 3/4" thick material so the Dremel tool for me isn't what it is for others.  

I use a cordless Dremel attached to the plunge router attachment, it has the torque and the speed to drill through 3/4 hardwood. To reduce the chance of burning I drill the depth in quarters. Same thing with the drill press, if you ramp up the speed to get a clean exit, there is a tendency to burn, so drill a 1/4" pull up, and so on.