Buying Advice Good/cheap drill press for making 1/2" holes

[smokey_truck]

Hi all
Good/cheap drill press for making 1/2" holes in 1/4" or 1/2" plate metal. Which you do you guys suggest and what capacity I should buy. I want it to last for long time and I am not frequent user of the tool

Any inputs are appreciated

Ganesh

 

[tulenutn2o]

Hi all
Good/cheap drill press for making 1/2" holes in 1/4" or 1/2" plate metal. Which you do you guys suggest and what capacity I should buy. I want it to last for long time and I am not frequent user of the tool

Any inputs are appreciated

Ganesh

Good and Cheap do not belong in the same sentence. Good is generally not cheap. And "Cheap" is not good. I'm all for inexpensive. Garage/estae sales and auctions usually turn up reasonably priced equipment.

 

[tulenutn2o]

Any one will last a long time if you don't use it.

 

[smokey_truck]

Any one will last a long time if you don't use it.

I will pass you on for this comment because you answered in previous reply. Hey really Cheap/Good, for that matter Ryobi is holding up. Cheap/Good. I have a drill and angle grinder, I have been abusing that on my truck restoration project and still working like a horse or donkey. Either ways looking for one under 100 bucks and my requirement didn't change

Ganesh

 

[IslandTractor]

Hi all
Good/cheap drill press for making 1/2" holes in 1/4" or 1/2" plate metal. Which you do you guys suggest and what capacity I should buy. I want it to last for long time and I am not frequent user of the tool

Any inputs are appreciated

Ganesh

I'd think you'd want 1hp at least along with 200rpm or lower speed unless you are very patient or have very few holes to drill. Looking in craigslist for a 20year old 1hp drill press from a reputable US maker like Powermatic, Rockwell or Delta would be the cheapest way to go (about 250-400 in my neighborhood) or something new like the 1hp floor drill press from Harbor Freight which costs about $300 or less with coupons/sales etc.

 

[nickel plate]

Try grizzly.com their machinery is of reasonable price and although most of their product line is imported, I have one of their drill presses that I bought used on ebay and it has been holding up nicely over the years. Slow speeds and high torque are what you are looking for.

 

[smokey_truck]

I do not have too many holes to drill but when I need I need. But I am just tired with my drills, I have dewalt one a good one but I run out of patience. you said 200 rpm, that sounds too low and is it good to that low for metal.

Thanks though

Ganesh

 

[IslandTractor]

you said 200 rpm, that sounds too low and is it good to that low for metal.

Metal is supposed to be drilled at very low speeds. 200rpm or less with oil lubricant is what is recommended. Faster and you will just burn up your drill bits.

 

[lostcause]

most any will do fine for 1/2" holes. when you get much larger than that you want to be getting into something that will do under 200 rpm. generally this is the price point and availability point. 250-300rpm can be had any where - new and used for $100-$300. when you want to go slower in steel, the presses get larger and the cost does too. i was seriously considering a jet jpd-20mf. it's a 300lb 1 1/2hp press with a large base and table. problem is, even the summer price dropped from $999 to $749 was more than i really wanted to dump into a drill press. harbor freight sells a clone of it too: number 39955 for $450 plus another $100 or so to ship it.

if you want to eventually do larger steel, i'd go with something like one of these. pray you can find a used one maybe? otherwise, buy a $100 craigslist small one and resell it if it becomes too small. i just bought a used mill/drill with a bunch of tooling for $550. hopefully that will serve me well. the $1.10 part that should make it completely operational will be here in a couple days.

 

[Soundguy]

Hi all
Good/cheap drill press for making 1/2" holes in 1/4" or 1/2" plate metal. Which you do you guys suggest and what capacity I should buy. I want it to last for long time and I am not frequent user of the tool

Any inputs are appreciated

Ganesh

lets see.. 'good' 'cheap' 'long life'

those don't work.

drilling plate is also a function of good drill bits.

guess it's not something you could torch or plasma cutter out is it? does it have to be precise?

get some cutting oil too.

I have an old kmart drill press.. it's not great but does most of my stuff... good bits ar ethe most of it..

soundguy