Bench Drill / Drill press recommendations

Flanging_Fred · April 2016

I think I need to get myself a drill press, I keep find situations where one would be useful and I then have to go see my dad who has one but he's a couple of hours away.

I don't need anything fancy and it won't need to be used all the time, so occasional use only. Cheaper the better but not something that's going to fall apart and one that I can change speeds/torque on.

Are the basic level axeminster ones any good?

Advice and any recommendations please.

Sporky · April 2016

I've not used the Axminsters but I have a few other things from them, and all are worth the asking price.

For pedalmaking I got by for years with a cheapo Draper benchtop, then as I started working with larger enclosures I went to a floorstanding Draper, then that was converted to wood work and I got a variable speed Sealey for metalwork which is great.

Adam_MD · April 2016

I bought one of these for drilling pedal enclosures in January and it's been excellent.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B002QRYEBQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1459527233&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=silverline+pillar+drill&dpPl=1&dpID=41Jc2T3kr1L&ref=plSrch

I was never happy when using a hand drill I always had at least one hole that wasn't quite in the right place and scrapped more enclosures than I'd like to admit. Now it's dead easy and very quick to drill an enclosure and haven't scrapped any since I got it.

Sporky · April 2016

I might have been unlucky, but my experience of Silverline stuff is that it's not worth the paper it's made from.

equalsql · April 2016

Best bang for the buck is (IMHO) the Record Power DP16B

I bought a Fox to save a few quid... a stupid decision on my part.

Sambostar · April 2016

Sporky said:

I might have been unlucky, but my experience of Silverline stuff is that it's not worth the paper it's made from.

Is the run out on the chuck really bad then?

Adam_MD · April 2016

Sporky;1023300" said:
I might have been unlucky, but my experience of Silverline stuff is that it's not worth the paper it's made from.

I only drill 4 or 5 enclosures a month and it's been great so far. I picked it up in a sale at the start of the year for £45 and the results have been much better than drilling them by hand. I didn't want to spend a lot more on something which is used so infrequently.

Danielsguitars · April 2016

Get an old pillar drill off eBay.
Mine is built like a tank and it cost me £60 a couple of years ago.

They're better than all the modern stuff imo

tabbycat · April 2016

i haven't got room or funds for a drill press as much as i would like one, but it recently occured to me that i might be able to use my router with a hss bit to do enclosures, if i got my set up jig sorted out.
i haven't tried it on enclusures yet but i made a solid hinged frame to hold screen printing frames this week and i drilled all the holes for that using the router so they were perfectly vertical and on the same horizontal. worked a treat and goes in a small suitcase box under the sink when not needed. an option.

Chalky · April 2016

customkits;1023408" said:
Get an old pillar drill off eBay.
Mine is built like a tank and it cost me £60 a couple of years ago.

They're better than all the modern stuff imo

Same here - my old pillar drill is huge, has a footprint of about 8"x12" but makes very light work of whatever I ask it. For £65, it will outlast me.

Sporky · April 2016

Certainly machinery doesn't hold its value well, so you can get some real bargains used.

Though there were some funny stories on the UK Workshop forum about people buying used industrial stuff, only to find that it was too big and heavy to get into their workshops. One chap had a lathe sink 6" into the tarmac of his drive.

axisus · April 2016

The problem with the smaller ones (from my experience) is that the drill is too close to the post to reach into a guitar body and drill the bridge post holes.

Sambostar · April 2016

Agree with that, you need a huge floor standing drill just to be able to have enough throat clearance to drill ferrules or string holes.

I just use a drill stand, it's OK but I burnt out all my Metabo's and Bosch's and it won't house my Makita as it's too small. The Silverline drill I got for £13 odd has so much out in the chuck it makes it ridiculous, but if you let it owner it does drill straight.

Obviously metal and other bits and bobs a pillar drill would still be handy. You can modify the stand with handrail fittings to allow enough throat to fit your body through.

Remember there are all sorts of jigs and frame you can makes for a drill stand as well as being able to flip the mount and mount it on an overhead C shaped frame jig, if you need a pin reference underneath for drilling both sides (Eg ferrules). But given the choice between a £100 pillar drill which I'd have to modify anyway and cheap drill arbour handle stand, which you can place on the body, the drill stand with a made up collet and a decent drill is better I would say and loads cheaper.

I've heard mixed things about Silverline pillar drills, Some say they are great for the money, some say the run out is so bad they are unusable.

I manage to make drill guides in oak for tremolos though with the stand. Drill furthest posts of the trem, fit the guide with drill bit pins in the holes and finish drilling the rest. Seems to work OK.

So in my mind you either spend £20, or spend £300 or search something decent second hand. If you do get lucky with a good silverline drill, it'll always be handy to have though for necks and stuff.

Roland · April 2016

Sambostar said:

Agree with that, you need a huge floor standing drill just to be able to have enough throat clearance to drill ferrules or string holes.
I just use a drill stand ...... given the choice between a £100 pillar drill which I'd have to modify anyway and cheap drill arbour handle stand, which you can place on the body, the drill stand with a made up collet and a decent drill is better I would say and loads cheaper.

This

Sporky · April 2016

I didn't get on very well with a drill stand (a Wolfcraft one) - I'm much happier with a pillar drill. Mine haven't needed anything other than an extended ply table.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/workshop/drill table insert.jpg

Flanging_Fred · April 2016

Thanks for all the info chaps, as usual there seems more to this than I thought.

victorludorum · April 2016

Totally different end of the spectrum, but i just bought a drill guide made by a firm in the USA called Big Gator. It looks very solid and will do for my small scale needs i think. I have a few clamps, and I'm hoping that I'm going to get some mileage out of it...

LordOxygen · April 2016

FWIW I find the cheap hobby bench drills are not very precise, to some extent the chucks wobbled on the 3 different ones I've used. Unless you can spend more, I'd stick with a decent hand drill a good centre punch and firmly clamp the work piece.

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Bench Drill / Drill press recommendations

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