Drill Press

[CUTIGER 3]

Going to try putting together some knife kits and then grinding my own knives

. Need some help deciding on a drill press. Looking at the Delta 10" 1/4 hp or 12" 1/3 hp press. Will these do the job now and down the road? Thanks

 

[Chuck Gedraitis Knives]

I have a 12" delta and it works great, no problems in the two years that I 've had it. I use it with drum sanders, and a milling machine vise for milling, and it is even precise enough to drill square holes with it.

 

[sharpsteel]

Boy........ this might be something you could save a bunch of money on ( and perhaps get higher quality, to boot) by acquiring used. I bought a 15 speed Craftsman drill press with a replacement Baldor 3/4 h.p. motor for $90 at an estate sale and found a homemade 1700rpm grinder/buffer at the same sale for $25. I bought a 1 hp Westinghouse DC motor for $50 and a buncha smaller fractional hp ones for less at auctions. I found a hunky (well it says 600va [seems hunky to me} on it) variac to control them with, like this also. Oh sorry, a variac is a speed controller. I'm assuming that you have access to these kind of sales events. Here in Chicago they happen weekly.

I've bought many of my tools this way, second hand - had great luck with Lufkin, Brown & Sharpe, and Starret measuring tools circa WWII. I'm a bit thrifty (all right I'm cheap) and many new tools just don't feel right to me. I do love my Mititoyo digital calipers but they were a gift from a model maker friend, so those don't count.

I come from the school of consumerism that says you buy the best you can afford where you need the best. My Craftsman (guaranteed forever) wrenches and sockets are money in the bank. Sure Snap-Ons are prettier but I don't believe they twist better. I don't scrimp on drills or files but golfballs make pretty good filehandles for me.

Also I find that more powerful motors are less likely to stall and I think this makes them a bit safer to use. On a grinder I'd use the biggest one my wiring would allow.

 

[CUTIGER 3]

Thanks for the input. I've been checking the sale papers and classified ads but, no luck yet. I've looked at the Craftsman but, the Delta's are cheaper at Home Depot. Thanks again.

 

If you are interested Harbor Freight Tools has a 5 speed 1/3 HP for $49.99 currently. It's a good buy, and a good worker. But , then so is my Craftsman.

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Curtis Wilson