HF drill press

[OldGuyNewJeep]

@CarbonSteel I don’t want to derail the locker sensor thread, so I’ve started this new one.

When you have a minute, can you give your feedback on the HF drill press you have? I like to buy HF tools when I know I won’t use them very often. (Milwaukee, Tekton, Dewalt and Bosch for my daily drivers.)

I’ve been going back and forth on a drill press for a long time.

Thanks!

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[CarbonSteel]

@OldGuyNewJeep - no worries. Overall, I think it is worth the $125 (I have the 10" press bought with a coupon). It has quite a few speed adjustments, though, I have left mine on the lowest. I have drilled some 1/4" and 3/8" mild steel and have some 1/2" steel on deck next.

It runs fairly smoothly and not too noisy. The gear track for the table is pretty cheesy (but in fairness all of them are for this type press). The chuck only goes down to 3/16 so when I drilled the locker sensors, I had to buy a bit with a 1/4" hex on one end to be able to grab it.

I added a cheap drill press vise onto the table and it has really increased the usability of the press. What is missing is a work light, but I added one of those as well. The other benefits are it does not take much room on my shop table and moving the belt for different speeds is pretty easy too.

For the occasional need to drill something fairly precise, this fits the bill. If you were drilling very frequently, you would want to look at another rig. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions, happy to answer them.

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

@OldGuyNewJeep - no worries. Overall, I think it is worth the $125 (I have the 10" press bought with a coupon). It has quite a few speed adjustments, though, I have left mine on the lowest. I have drilled some 1/4" and 3/8" mild steel and have some 1/2" steel on deck next.

It runs fairly smoothly and not too noisy. The gear track for the table is pretty cheesy (but in fairness all of them are for this type press). The chuck only goes down to 3/16 so when I drilled the locker sensors, I had to buy a bit with a 1/4" hex on one end to be able to grab it.

I added a cheap drill press vise onto the table and it has really increased the usability of the press. What is missing is a work light, but I added one of those as well. The other benefits are it does not take much room on my shop table and moving the belt for different speeds is pretty easy too.

For the occasional need to drill something fairly precise, this fits the bill. If you were drilling very frequently, you would want to look at another rig. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions, happy to answer them.

This is great info. Added to my Father’s Day wishlist

 

[BillWorkbench]

I went with the Wen drill press from Amazon https://amzn.to/3uP6Kni. So far so good for a cheap drill press. Runs smooth and quiet. I did need to do some light taping (wooden hammer) on the chuck to center it.

For reference it looks real close to the Harbor Fright one, might be the same factory I don’t know for sure.

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