OK, there are 100 posts in the bargain alerts thread on this DP at Lowes. If half of us bought it then there will be at least 50 owners in this forum now.
Time to start a technical thread! What is your experience, discoveries, shortcomings, favorite features etc on this Drill Press?
Anyone want to review it?
I'll start.
Assembled quite easily. Only problem: The ring on the top of the column that holds the rack for elevationg the table - it was not perfectly level and had in fact been cocked. Loosened the set screw and used a rubber mallet on the low side to free it and set it horizontal and now the table is free to swing 360 degrees around the column (which it could not before. Make sure there is a little play for the rack to rotate.
Oh yeah, definately get two people to help lift the head onto the column. Everything else can be done by one person.
In keeping with a tip I learned, and experience with two other DP's, I put three wraps of teflon tape on the threads of the three handles that raise/lower the bit, to keep them from coming loose.
Cleaned mine up with WD-40. Applied Boeshield T-9 to the exposed iron/steel parts, put a coat of Johnson's paste wax on the table and column.
All the hardware fasteners are metric.
The one cheesy thing on the DP seems to be the table tilt.
It was off a hair from perpendicular. The manual is very sparse on this. It seems there's a Big nut that has to be loosened to adjust the tilt. The nut is located in the middle of the end of the U-channel that holds the table so its impossible to get a open-end wrench on it and have any swing. The sides of the U won't allow a crescent adjustable wrench to get in there. And, I have a well equipped tool box but nothing near the 24-mm size of that nut in the 12-point closed end wrench or even a socket of any kind. Further, there's a small nut and stud. apparently you turn the nut to jack out the stud -I think they are telling me that this is a pinned to zero. (I'm not sure yet since I can't loosen the big nut). Even the picture shows the degree scale on top but on my DP its on the side. The indicator did not line up perfectly with the scale "0" and it did not have the adjust range to make it. Most DP's I've seen use a manual knob like the lock for the table elevation - but the table is very heavy and the mass sits up high avove the center of rotation so it will fall over if the nut is loosened and you don't hold it. So maybe the lack of a manual knob is a safety concession.
I used a 2" 50-W reflector bulb instead of a 60W round bulb and it seemed brighter as well as not protruding from the bulb socket as much.
Laser works good, it was easy to adjust, easier than my Craftsman.
Unlike the Craftsman which has the two laser lined perpendiular to each other but 45 degrees from the up-down,right-left axis, this one has the two lasers at 45 degrees from each other (like 3:00 o'clock and 1:30). They are also not quite as bright which is actually good because sometimes the Craftsman lasers were so bright as to make it hard to see the markings on the workpiece.
The stroke is 3.25", I would have liked 4" but I really liked the price. The depth limit and hold down were three nuts on a threaded rod with a easy to read ruler. Its substantial enough it won't flex like I've seen on cheap DPs. I still like the center of the hub depth limit on my old Delta, you could set that with one hand while operating the lift handles. The depth limit rod is attached to the laser housing. If you want to use this with a mortising attachment I suspect you'll have to remove the laser and therefore the depth limit, too. But that's not an issue with me.
This is my first DP with 3 pulleys. Its rather complex in that you may have to swap the order of the belts to select a goven speed. But, I do like the belt tensioning mechanism - there's a lever on the right that you throw to move the motor back and forth. Required a little more force than I thought at first but reasonable considering the size of motor. Actually much easier to move than my 12" benchtop. And two knobs to secure the motor in place once tensioned.
Everything else works as it should and the fit and finish seem to be nice although the table casting and machining is a little rough.
On a slightly off-topic, would you guys consider bolting a DP like this to a furniture dolly (which has non-locking casters that swivel in all directions) for mobility? Is locking in place necessary when a tool only applies pressure in a downwards direction and the workpiece doesn't move with relation to the tool? The torque is countered entirely within the tool-motor-column-table assembly so there's no danger it will spin around.
Time to start a technical thread! What is your experience, discoveries, shortcomings, favorite features etc on this Drill Press?
Anyone want to review it?
I'll start.
Assembled quite easily. Only problem: The ring on the top of the column that holds the rack for elevationg the table - it was not perfectly level and had in fact been cocked. Loosened the set screw and used a rubber mallet on the low side to free it and set it horizontal and now the table is free to swing 360 degrees around the column (which it could not before. Make sure there is a little play for the rack to rotate.
Oh yeah, definately get two people to help lift the head onto the column. Everything else can be done by one person.
In keeping with a tip I learned, and experience with two other DP's, I put three wraps of teflon tape on the threads of the three handles that raise/lower the bit, to keep them from coming loose.
Cleaned mine up with WD-40. Applied Boeshield T-9 to the exposed iron/steel parts, put a coat of Johnson's paste wax on the table and column.
All the hardware fasteners are metric.
The one cheesy thing on the DP seems to be the table tilt.
It was off a hair from perpendicular. The manual is very sparse on this. It seems there's a Big nut that has to be loosened to adjust the tilt. The nut is located in the middle of the end of the U-channel that holds the table so its impossible to get a open-end wrench on it and have any swing. The sides of the U won't allow a crescent adjustable wrench to get in there. And, I have a well equipped tool box but nothing near the 24-mm size of that nut in the 12-point closed end wrench or even a socket of any kind. Further, there's a small nut and stud. apparently you turn the nut to jack out the stud -I think they are telling me that this is a pinned to zero. (I'm not sure yet since I can't loosen the big nut). Even the picture shows the degree scale on top but on my DP its on the side. The indicator did not line up perfectly with the scale "0" and it did not have the adjust range to make it. Most DP's I've seen use a manual knob like the lock for the table elevation - but the table is very heavy and the mass sits up high avove the center of rotation so it will fall over if the nut is loosened and you don't hold it. So maybe the lack of a manual knob is a safety concession.
I used a 2" 50-W reflector bulb instead of a 60W round bulb and it seemed brighter as well as not protruding from the bulb socket as much.
Laser works good, it was easy to adjust, easier than my Craftsman.
Unlike the Craftsman which has the two laser lined perpendiular to each other but 45 degrees from the up-down,right-left axis, this one has the two lasers at 45 degrees from each other (like 3:00 o'clock and 1:30). They are also not quite as bright which is actually good because sometimes the Craftsman lasers were so bright as to make it hard to see the markings on the workpiece.
The stroke is 3.25", I would have liked 4" but I really liked the price. The depth limit and hold down were three nuts on a threaded rod with a easy to read ruler. Its substantial enough it won't flex like I've seen on cheap DPs. I still like the center of the hub depth limit on my old Delta, you could set that with one hand while operating the lift handles. The depth limit rod is attached to the laser housing. If you want to use this with a mortising attachment I suspect you'll have to remove the laser and therefore the depth limit, too. But that's not an issue with me.
This is my first DP with 3 pulleys. Its rather complex in that you may have to swap the order of the belts to select a goven speed. But, I do like the belt tensioning mechanism - there's a lever on the right that you throw to move the motor back and forth. Required a little more force than I thought at first but reasonable considering the size of motor. Actually much easier to move than my 12" benchtop. And two knobs to secure the motor in place once tensioned.
Everything else works as it should and the fit and finish seem to be nice although the table casting and machining is a little rough.
On a slightly off-topic, would you guys consider bolting a DP like this to a furniture dolly (which has non-locking casters that swivel in all directions) for mobility? Is locking in place necessary when a tool only applies pressure in a downwards direction and the workpiece doesn't move with relation to the tool? The torque is countered entirely within the tool-motor-column-table assembly so there's no danger it will spin around.
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