[sdiy] Drill Press Recommendations?

[Roy J. Tellason]

On Monday 15 September 2008 01:14, Tom Arnold wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 11:56:24PM -0500, Sam Ecoff wrote:
> > I'm in the market for a drill press, but admittedly don't know what I
> > should be looking for feature-wise. I'm interested in a drill press
> > for making front panels, but also for woodworking projects (and
> > possibly the occasional rack rail). Given the modest amount of time
> > I'll spend using it, I probably don't want to spend over $400 for it,
> > but would certainly consider a cheaper benchtop model if anyone has a
> > recommendation.
>
> I have a cheap chinese made drill press. It cost $39 and works fine except
> for one minor quirk that its hard to get the chuck to stay swedged on the
> shaft so sometimes it'll fall off esp when you use a very large drillbit
> that causes the chuck to extend upward internally.
>
> That being said, it was -$39- so I cannot complain too much.

Where did you find one at that price?

> You will find most of the less expensive power tools come from china
> anyway. All the various companies just import them badged appropriatly.
>
> Sears is a good choice. They run specials quite often and they are probably
> nearby anywhere you are located and parts are readily available.  Lets call
> them tier 1 chinese importers.  Quite a lot of additional quality
> inspections and tighter specs on the imported tools.  Note that this doesnt
> make them a Better Tool, it only means what is pictured on the box is
> pretty close to whats inside.
>
> Harbor Freight has cheap tools.  I'll call them Tier 3. They buy pretty
> much what the company overseas makes and they ignore it right up until you
> complain, they make up for this with goo support.

Gotta make sure you clean that goo off,  though...   :-)

> Grizzly Industrial has been extremely good to me.  I'll call them Tier 2.
> They go so far as to spec the paint colour of their tools, and they seem to
> have higher QC standards compared to Harbor Freight, but the tool is
> substantially the same.  Where they are much better is in stocking parts
> and that 3cm thick colour catalog they send out.  I've been very impressed
> with their router bits I have to say.
>
> Lowes/Home Depot both have House Brand tools of the same nature.  Usually a
> little more expensive then Harbor Freight or Grizzley, but they are closer
> and exchanging one that is unusably bad is easier.  They arn't exactly what
> I'd call Tier 1 as they have almost no parts in stock and support is
> lacking, and its been hit or miss calling the "manufacturer" for parts, but
> convenience is a gain.
>
> There are tons of other Harbor Freight class companies online.  Northern
> Tool comes to mind.  Many many others.  Also there are traveling tool shows
> you can look for where you can be extremely cheap like I was with my
> drillpress.

HF,  Grizzly,  those traveling shows,  and many other companies are all 
selling _the same tools_,  all of which are made in the same factories in 
China.  The differences are as you noted in the support available and the 
availability of spare parts,  plus some like Grizzly come with more in the 
way of accessories.  Stop in to the yahoo DIY-CNC group and ask,  they'll 
tell you...


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