Drill Press or Mini Mill? Where to buy?

Spark

Spark

HPIC - Hatas gonna Hate
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I've been looking to get into some home projects, including building some firearms and such, and it seems that a Drill press is in my future. After doing some research, I'm not sure that I want a HF drill press since they seem to have problems with accuracy, not to mention quality.

Then doing further research, it looks like I might just skip the press and move on to getting a Mini Mill / Drill since it can do both jobs.

Where should I look for a good quality mill or drill press? I wasn't impressed with the Sears Craftsman presses that I saw in the store, and certainly wasn't impressed with the HF ones. LittleMachineShop says that Grizzly and HF are made by the same factory - which was suprising given the price difference.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Hi Kevin,
I use a small 10'' Jet drill press that I bought new 10 years ago and I use it every day, been a good one and way better then most of the other imports. Also, I will have to say Grizzly machines are better then HF, I've used both. Most of these machine are built in the same factories but to different quality / price points. A mill/drill would be nice to have but I would still want a drill press also. I also have a large Grizzly Shop Fox drill press that I use for larger stuff, it's smooth, quite and works really well. I have a Sherline mini mill that's made in the good old USA that works wonderfull for around $600 and is a nice well made machine. I don't want to start anything with the Harbor fraight guys, you can't bet the price but you can beat the quality.
 
I was looking at Grizzly's since the video here: http://technicalvideorental.com/rental_72.html
seems to use one, but now I'm leery after finding out that they are interchangeable with the HF ones. I'll check out Blueridge as well. Sometimes I wish I'd taken shop classes when I had the chance!
 
Grizzly has several different price points in drill presses, the cheapest ones are made in China, the better ones are made in Taiwan. I bought a Shop Fox from Grizzly severl years ago and it was there best at the time, a bit more money but well worth it. I still would go with a Jet above all other far eastern imports.
 
If you're going to be doing gun work it has to be pretty precise so I'd get more than just a drill press.
A mill/drill is time consuming to change over from milling to drilling(a few minutes), but you do have the dual feature, the thing is, you don't want to get any mill with the words micro or mini in it. They just don't do the job.

Years ago I bought a 2HP mill/drill from jet, it was the largest before going to a knee mill which I just couldn't afford at that time. It's about 800# with stand, and I wish to hell I'd have held off longer and gotten ANY knee mill.
Also, after I got the Jet mill/drill, I found the exact same thing in a HF catalog for several hundred dollars less. The only difference was the color.

They make smaller knee mills now that are imported, if you don't want to look for a used American made one.

With the knee mill the work is locked in place and the head is locked in place, you just crank the work up to the head.
With the mill/drill, you have to loosen the head and move it up or down switching from milling to drilling etc. that allows the head to get out of line with the workpiece, plus they just aren't as tough or precise as a knee mill.

If you do go with a mill/drill, get the biggest one you can find, 1 1/2-2HP.

I believe you can get a smaller knee mill for near the price of a large mill/drill now.

Edited to add: You can get these at Harbor Freight for way less money than Jet(plus no freight), and if you need parts and HF doesn't have them, just go here.
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/default.php

Or call Grizzly and get the parts. They all carry the same machines, it's just that HF costs way less in freight.

If you get a plain drill press, get a keyless chuck from Grizzly and the arbor to go with it. They're pretty precise for import stuff. But one of each, a mill and a drill press would be the way to go.
Even a floor mounted drill press is not that much, especially for a man of your means.

Then you might need a good belt grinder and......................................................;)
 
I use a Enco brand drill/mill. It looks much like a Jet. It is one of the bigger ones. I like it very well, but it gets old switching from a mill setup to a drill setup. I opted to get a smaller drill press,also, to save time.
 
Thanks Mike!

I'm kinda reluctant to get one right now anyhow since I really don't have any space at the shop for it, and I'd have to stick it in the basement at home - something I'm not relishing trying to do if it weighs 1000lbs!

Thanks for the advice man. Sounds like I'm better off waiting for the mill until I have space for it.
 
Wow that is a piece of tooling there! It looks like it came straight out of a WWII bomber factory
 
A large knee mill is by far the best way to go but if you're doing small work and space is a problem, the little 28 lb Sherline is better than no mill at all and way better than all the import mini mills. I do everything as far as knives go from autos to slotting gaurds for bowies with mine. I will get a larger mill one day but I've been using this little one for 6 or 7 years now fulltime without a problem. Also the Jet machines I've used seem to be better made than the cheaper imports and there is a difference between the Chinese and Taiwan machines, unless the Chinese have gotten better in the last few years.

Mike, good advise on the keyless chuck, best thing I've done to my drill press :thumbup:
 
There's no arguing with the results Sunfish man is getting with whatever tools he's using!

But that Clausing would sure make a nice addition to anyone's shop. Like Higgy said, someone here should buy that thing. A knifemaker or gunsmith would likely never need anything bigger.

Regarding the precision of drill presses, always remember that it's nearly impossible to make holes that are either to size, or even truly round. For a round hole at the right size, you generally have to drill undersize and use a reamer to finish it off.
 
I would like very much to have that Clausing, it's the perfact size for the small shop and much better than any of the new imports. Yes, someone from here would do good to get that mill :thumbup:
 
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