Delta 12" drill press

adammichael

adammichael

Joined
Sep 13, 2004
Messages
1,553
Anyone here have any exp. with the Delta 12" drill press? It runs about $200.
I have a poc Ryobi and i want to replace it with something better. I dont have room for a floor standing drill press.

Thanks everyone
 
Got a friend who has one and hates it. I have an atlas drill press that is older than my father, (I think it was his grandfather's) it is awesome, except that it weighs about 150 #'s, Upgrade, you wont be sorry. Check ebay for some old ones.
 
I've got one thats probably 3-4 years old now. Its been a good machine, nothing exceptional, but a solid machine. Everything on it is nice and tight, and pretty square. I didn't have to do anything special to get it that way, just assembled it and went to work.
Its built fairly sturdy,don't have many problems with flex, vibration, or any of that when your drilling small to medium holes that are square to your work. Also seems to have plenty of power to keep the bit turning, generally the bit slips in the chuck before the belt or motor quit going.
Table is nice and flat. I don't have inspection plates or anything, but have laid precision ground stock across it at different angles, and it looks pretty good.
All in all I'd say its a good machine for the money. You get some chatter if you try to run too big of a bit in it, and there is some flex here and there if you get to working at angles, but for general knife work it suits me well. Have used it to make several folders and get along just fine.
 
Someone had a shootout article on bench drills online a few years ago. They tested a few benchtop imports. The Delta you mention was in that article, but the Grizzly press was the winner. Unfortunately, Grizzly does not sell that drillpress anymore. However, KBC does, and its only a couple hundred bucks. In other words, Mike, I don't hold the Delta in very high regard (or any American company that slaps their name on imports for that matter). I mean, call a spade a spade. In the world of imports, there are better Asian imports out there. I'm not arguing semantics, either. That Grizzly drill was pretty good for an import. :)
 
jhiggins said:
Someone had a shootout article on bench drills online a few years ago. They tested a few benchtop imports. The Delta you mention was in that article, but the Grizzly press was the winner. Unfortunately, Grizzly does not sell that drillpress anymore. However, KBC does, and its only a couple hundred bucks. In other words, Mike, I don't hold the Delta in very high regard (or any American company that slaps their name on imports for that matter). I mean, call a spade a spade. In the world of imports, there are better Asian imports out there. I'm not arguing semantics, either. That Grizzly drill was pretty good for an import. :)
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What is KBC? I did a search for it and didnt find anything related to machines.
Do they have a website?

Thanks Jeff

By the way, the cd's will be going out this week.
 
I've been using a Delta drill press for years with no gripes.
They're good solid built machines.
Stinks that they're made in Chinlee now but what aint.
 
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