Drill Press

I am unable to drill a hole perpendicular to the surface.  It is always tilted.  My workaround was to purchased a drill press.  Most tool stores sell several types of drill presses.  After watching many Youtube reviews of drill presses I discovered all of them had problems and would require some inventive work arounds and additional modifications.  The question boiled down to just how often did I need a perfect hole drilled and the cost benefit ratio.  Ultimately I chose a small drill press from Harbor Freight in 2018, because of the price.  I figured for less than $50 it could be considered disposable.  If I was unable to find workarounds for know problems and I could start over with something more expensive.   

The Central Machine 7" benchtop drill press has 5 adjustable speeds (750 to 32oo rpm) with a 2 inch quill travel depth.  The depth of the hole monitored with a depth gauge and set with set screws.  The 6.5 x 6.5 inch cast iron table rotates 360° and tilts 45°.  It comes with a 1/2" keyed chuck.   

Additions and modifications made in first year

1. Table leveled with metal shims where it is attached and adjusted so perpendicular to a drill.

2. A 3" Cross Slide Vise Drill Press Metal Milling 2 Way X-Y Heavy Duty Clamp Machine

Title indicated vise could be used to hold pieces for both milling and drilling so I was sucked in.  

• The height of the vise required an extension to the drill press post (see next item).  

• Moving the vise with the screw cranks proved to be impossible because of the rails were too tight.  Emory paper and valve grinding compound was used to improve movement and adjustments to the set screws helped but did not totally solve the problem.  

• The screw cranks have a lot of play so a half turn is needed before vise moves.  This allows the vise to move when drilling and makes it impossible to do precision milling where a travel distance needs to be exact. 

• Vise jaws needs to be turned 90 degrees to be effective for real work.  I made a wood stop block for drilling but need a second clamp to hold the piece.  

3. A short extension of drill press post was required to accomidate the new xy vise and long drill bits.  I found 1 3/4 inch exhaust pipe for an RV generator fit the existing post.  A sort sections was purchased from O'Reilly Auto Parts and attached to post (see picture above). 

4. The drill press came with 3 handles to move the spindle up and down.  I found they just got in the way so removed.

5. The spindle depth gauge is worthless and I do not use.

6. Spindle wobble is sufficient enough to never allow precision for milling and sometimes I wonder about drilling.   

Thoughts and Hacks

1. Drill pulley systems allows speeds ranging from 750 to 32oo rpm.  I found speeds above 750 were too fast for drilling. 

2. The drill press is still working after 4 years and used when I need to drill a perpendicular hole.  

3.  Not perfect but good enough I have not traded it for another drill press.