Recommendation? Home depot power tool help!

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DXDesigns

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Jan 8, 2018
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Appreciate any advice on choosing the right equipment...

I am looking to purchase a Drill Press and possibly a band saw from Home Depot, I know, not my first choice, but I have a gift card that I need to use.

Is it better to spend more on a quality Drill press and forego the band saw? The band saw would only be to cut bar stock, but I have an angle grinder that can do that. I have a "Custom" Pheer 454 being built, thanks Jose! So I'm thinking to just get a decent stand up drill press...?

Anyone have a Drill Press from HD that they particularly like?

Any advice would be welcomed, thanks
 
If you have to buy from HD, I'd probably spend the money on a good Milwaukee porta-band and then get or fab a stand for it.

They don't have any good quality metal cutting bandsaws that I'm aware of, and most of the drills there are crap, serviceable, but not really any better than the ones at Harbor Freight or Northern Tool.

I'd save up for an older, American made drill press, keep an eye on craigslist. The only good quality drills made anymore are very $$$, but you can find a real good old one usually for $100-200, and can get by with any one from HF until then.
 
kn4wd said:
I got a Ryobi from home depot and had zero problems with it
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I'm not saying they wont work, just that none of them are remotely high end, heavy duty, or precision. They're all fine for drilling pin holes for full tang knives, useless for making high end folders.
 
I've got a 16" beaver and a 15" Canadian blower and forge. Both weigh a ton, both have very good spindles (the Canadian won't quiver the needle on my mitutoyo 10ths test indicator with a gauge pin in the chuck) and both are a joy to use. And I've got $225 in the pair, both Craigslist finds. I'd highly recommend waiting for a deal.
Powermatic, Rockwell, Delta, and Clausing are good quality and reasonably affordable and easy to find.
 
DXDesigns said:
Appreciate any advice on choosing the right equipment...

I am looking to purchase a Drill Press and possibly a band saw from Home Depot, I know, not my first choice, but I have a gift card that I need to use.

Is it better to spend more on a quality Drill press and forego the band saw? The band saw would only be to cut bar stock, but I have an angle grinder that can do that. I have a "Custom" Pheer 454 being built, thanks Jose! So I'm thinking to just get a decent stand up drill press...?

Anyone have a Drill Press from HD that they particularly like?

Any advice would be welcomed, thanks
Click to expand...

HD has a much better selection on line than they do in the store and you can probably get anything you buy online delivered free to your local HD.
Jim A
 
I think the portaband is the best piece of knife making gear that can be acquired from HD. It will trim and split scales and liners too.
 
I agree with the others here. I would spend the gift card in a portaband, and look for a good American made drill press on the used market. I got a dewalt portaband a couple years ago and don’t know how I lived without it. I keep a variety of blades on hand and use of for everything, cutting bar, rough profiling, splitting handle blocks into scales, cutting pins and bolster stock, all kinds of stuff. For me the big three are a 2x72, a portaband, and a good quality drill press.

If you still had money left over or want a few more options, a 9 inch or 12 inch disc sander is another excellent tool for flattening blades, tangs, scales and blocks. A 9 inch allows the use of any type of sandpaper sheet, while a 12 inch needs PSA discs but offers more surface area. It’s another tool I didn’t know I needed until I had one. Aside from that, small items that we always need are things like different sizes and shapes of files, drill bits, a shopvac for cleanup, better shop lighting is huge, respirators ear plugs, goggles and face shields. And clamps, none of us ever have enough clamps. I have all kinds of spring clamps, bar clamps, C clamps etc, and still never seem to have enough.
 
Thanks so much for all of the great information guys - I ended up buying the Milwaukee Portaband, with the Swag work rest/base V4, a WEN 17" stand up floor drill press, and I found it for $50 cheaper, they matched it and also took another $50 off as they match plus 10%, I bought grinders, rotary tool kit, scroll saw, a rotary bench sander 1/4"-3", various Nicholson file kits, respirators, etc... It was around $2200 for everything. I am also ordering an Evenheat KF 18, with Tap controller, the idea of sending out knives for HT is expensive.
 
Ex
DAMNENG said:
HD has a much better selection on line than they do in the store and you can probably get anything you buy online delivered free to your local HD.
Jim A
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yes, this is exactly what I did.. Ordered everything online, free shipping to the store, and no sales tax in Oregon
 
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