Buying a drill press

S

S.H.Bushcraft

Joined
Sep 11, 2016
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I just found a Delta dp200 10inch drill press on Craigslist I'm looking into buying it he's selling it for $125. Is this a worthy investment for a knife making beginner ?


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It looks like the same 10" Chinese drill press you'd get anywhere, from WEN or any big box store with their own brand. So the price seems high to me. Will it work for a lot of knife making tasks? Yes. I use one often. The best thing that can be said about them is that they're better than a hand drill.
 
A drill press is like a lawn mower. They all will drill holes and cut grass. How well and easily they do it is what the difference in price, weight, and size determines. In a drill press, it is best to get a floor model, one with a heavy frame, multi-speed, and 1HP motor. As to the multi-speed, the ones with variable speed dials usually fail in a year or two. The ones where you change the belt position by hand will last decades. If you want the ultimate in VS, find a used unit with a motor that is shot and change the motor to 3 phase with a VFD for speed control. A 3/4HP motor will usually do the job for most knife size drilling.

In drill presses, the older and uglier/oilier/dirtier looking the better in most cases. Those old boys are simple, built like tanks, and easy to take apart and clean. I would bet that there are more 60 year old Craftsman drill presses still working than there are 10 year old Chinese imports.
 
I am also interested in this. I have a very small shop and space is at an ultra premium. Are there any suggestions for bench tops if the budget gets increased?
 
A good heavy benchtop unit can do a good job. The limit is how far apart the quill and the table can get. If you are trying to drill a hole in a 4" handle with a 4" long drill bit. The space between the vise and the bit will be too small on a 10" table top unit ( the vise is usually about 3-4" high). For drilling rivet holes in handles and pocket knife parts, a bench top unit is fine.
 
What Stacy said, i have a WEN benchtop and it drills holes fine. BUT I make wa handles and use 1/2" dowels and if the handle block is bigger than 4" tall i cannot use the table, so I move it and use a drill press vise stacked on surface plates. It is a pain.
 
I shopped around quite a bit before I bought a replacement drill press--I went with a floor model, but I will say the #1 bench top model I found is still selling well is a Jet https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003YJYJGA/ezdrillpresses-20#Ask

I can tell you from actual experience that this is a much better press than what you are currently looking at.
I can recommend it highly, one of my best buds got one as he is somewhat limited on space in his shop and didn't want a floor model--and he has been well pleased with this one.
 
I have a HF benchtop and it's good for some things. You have to check it before every use to make sure it's square to the bit. The table flexes if you put too much pressure on it and it will only go up to 1/2" I plan on doing some knives in the future with finger rings and it just won't handle a bit that large. I haven't tried a hole saw type bit. I have priced out some larger models and for the price of those vs a benchtop mini mill, I am going to go the mini mill route.
 
I'd keep looking, personally. I see older floor model drill presses on my local Craigslist all the time for anywhere from $100 to $250, and when you're talking about square feet, they really don't take up much more room than a table/bench top drill, but the difference in power and usability is usually worth it.

If you absolutely have your heart set on an 8" to 10" model, I see those for $50 to $75 quite often as well, and in my experience, one import table top drill press is usually just about as good as the other when it comes to making holes.
 
I have a Jet multi speed [you adjust the belts on the pulleys], the spindle is tight and the table is cast iron and solid. It is a floor model. I know there are better units out there but so far I am quite satisfied with it. Truth be known, I have not used it much for knife making as I am just a beginner there, but have used it extensively in my woodworking shop.
Hope that is helpful.
 
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