[Jim Bridger]

I'm still a newbie here, but I think I'm ready to breakdown and buy a drill press. The more work I play around with the more frustrated I get simply using a hand drill. My question is what are people's recommendations for a reasonably priced bench top drill press. I'd prefer to stay within a budget, but obviously interested in whether the $150-200 types presses I see for sale can last and perform accurately. I'm a hobbyist but at the same time the reason I even picked up learning to weld was to help in fixing things on the farm we run.

[JayWal]

I'm still a newbie here, but I think I'm ready to breakdown and buy a drill press. The more work I play around with the more frustrated I get simply using a hand drill. My question is what are people's recommendations for a reasonably priced bench top drill press. I'd prefer to stay within a budget, but obviously interested in whether the $150-200 types presses I see for sale can last and perform accurately. I'm a hobbyist but at the same time the reason I even picked up learning to weld was to help in fixing things on the farm we run.

Its definetly a good investment, it'll save you a lot of money in drill bits. Best way to drill steel is slow speed with a steady consistent heavy down pressure. Which is really hard to do with a hand drill. The right speed and feed rate, along with keeping the drill bit cool can get you hundreds of holes without needing to sharpen.



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[Oscar]

Which drill press you get heavily depends on

• the side of the part you intend to drill
• the diameter of the hole you intend to drill
• and/or how quickly you want to drill the part.

Larger drill presses obviously have larger tables to mount parts, and have more powerful motors to drill quicker, or to be able to drill out larger diameter holes, so long as you can adjust the speed to the proper RPM. I've gotten by on one of those standard bench top drill presses since I don't need to drill quickly, nor are my parts all that large. But do keep in mind, that the larger the diameter of the hole the "exponentially" more power you need to drill without having to resort to doing multiple-steps prior to the final size. You can drill a 3/4" hole with a 1/2 HP benchtop drill press; you just can't do it in one, or even ten steps, LOL. You'll have to do like 16 steps to keep enlarging the hole little by little until you end up with a 11/16" hole that you can then swap to a 3/4" drill bit (if you could even get it to fit into the appropriate chuck. But take a 3/4 HP+ floor-mounted drill press, and you can make much shorter work of any drilling procedure.

That being said, my next drill press will be this 1.5HP beast, which I can pick up at Northern Tool about 2 hours away.
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools ... _200659141

Closest competitor is a Grizzly with a 1.5HP motor for over $750 shipped. I have a Smithy Midas 1220LTD lathe/mill, and it's sturdy, but even it only has a 3/4 HP motor.