Drill press

[Mark]

Hello all
I have been looking for a drill press. The two I have been looking at are the Skil 3320-01($129.00) and the Wen 4210($136.00).
All thoughts and input is appreciated.
Thanks Mark

[DWSudekum]

There are several things you will need to answer for yourself.
1) what are you going to use it for?  Is it for casual use or are your going to use it for production?
2) are you going to do anything like milling or things like that with it?
3) are you just going to be drilling wood or both wood and metal?
4) does it have sufficient height between the table and the drill for what you plan to do?
5) does it have the power to drill what you need to drill?
6) can your drill press drill on an angle?

I have a 1956 Duncan drill press ( pre craftsman ) and it does what I need it to do .... mostly  I a limited in the height of what I can drill however that generally is not an issue as I drill mostly wood and plastics.  The two that you have chosen are comparable, one is american designed but built overseas the other is Chinese built and designed / copied?  What about the Craftsman Model # ZJ4113Z for $128.00 it too is comparable to the others.

DW

[sawdust703]

have you looked at the Ryobi drill press? Mine is a bench top, & I built a stand for it. It has plenty of clearance, adjustable speeds by moving the belt to different pulleys. Laser, & a work light. the table tilts both ways. And reasonably priced, with decent customer service. I haven't had any problems with mine, & I've had it 4 years. The chuck is tight enough, it holds the tiny bits I use for entry holes in scroll patterns. Some guys i know with other brands have had to invest in the mini chuck for the smaller bits to go in the bigger chuck of the press.

[Mark]

Did some more looking at the Craftsman and Ryobi which just about eliminated the Skil and Wen.
Primary use is for drilling pilot holes for blades. This is not an everyday thing so not heavy use.
Probably the hardest wood I use is Oak and Walnut but most of the time it is just Baltic Birch.
Thank you for the feed back
Mark
 

[dirtrider73068]

I went to harbor freight and bought my drill press there. Its the small bench top model don't remeber what size but it does what I need. Helps when you have lots of holes to drill and holding a drill gets heavy. Think I spent about 80 bucks on it. Catch it on sale or use the coupons they have makes it cheaper. I have also used it on other materials and don't have any issues. Only one was the chuck come off but it was easy to put back on.

[jerry1939]

I bought a bench top from Menards and have no complaints.  Have had poor luck with anything made by Wen, but that was years ago.  Don't know if they have their act together now.

jerry

[puzzleguy]

I own a couple - a commerial Delta i bought from a Boces auction and a very old Sears and roebuck
I got out of the paper about 35 years ago -the sears is my retirement drill press ( smaller and easy to move )
guess the big stuff gets sold in a few years when we move -I do like the small one -but probably not the best for repeatedly drilling
holes for hours on end like the delta

[Erewhon]

I have a Ryobi its about 4 years old, done very little work and not impressed. My advice is turn side handle and bring drill press down about half way, take drill chuck in hand and see how much play in the sharft by movin' it from side to side. Never been able to fix mine and is hard to drill holes spot on.

Kev.