new ryobi dp121L- first impressions

[rockybrown]

after living with my pos $30 harbor freight drill press forever, and eagerly anticipating the new 121L, i finally found one in stock at my new borg.

first impressions- not good. the cast iron parts are very sub-par for a big company like ryobi. lots of pits and un-even finishing in the base and the head. same with the plastic parts except for the face and top of the machine. the crank is very wobbly and doesn't look like it can be adusted.

i'm hoping the operation of the drill and the cool features like the laser, digital readout, and variable speed control, offset the poor workmanship. i'm putting it together tonight and i'll post more when i've had a chance to try it out.

rb

[r1968]

DP121 price

what does it cost?

--raj

[rockybrown]

i got the drill together last night and although the laser-x marks the spot-, the speed control, and the digital readout are all very nice, the overall quality of the machine still bugs me. i also found a few more quality control issues.

a. the drill is rated to 3000 rpm but according to the digital display only goes 2890.

b. the plastic film over the digital display was put on badly- theres a big wrinkle in it.

c. one of the lasers is brighter than the other-which isn't saying much- they're hard to see under shop lights.

d. lots of vibration- my $30 hf drillpress runs smoother, but maybe as the belt breaks in it'll smooth itself out.

i have to think maybe i got a lemon- or maybe an early production model before they got the bugs worked out? i guess i'll play with it a few days and see if it gets better with use.

the cost is $169 usd.

rb

[bigfoot]

b. the plastic film over the digital display was put on badly- theres a big wrinkle in it.
rb

Isn't that film just protection for shipping purposes, and is then removed by the end user (you), so the clear hard plastic is nice and shiny?

[padboy]

Ryobi Drill Press

My guess is if Ryobi follows their past pattern of behavior, they will issue some sort of product recall,thus rendering your dp useless(like they did on their excellent RA200 radial arms saw). I used to be one of Ryobi's biggest boosters, but now I can say, I will never buy another of their products until they get their quality control issues sorted out.

[drumpriest]

Sadly, I have to agree. I have found that Ryobi's quality keeps spiraling downward. I have a 10" drill press from them, and the BT3100, as well as a 14.4 cordless drill, and the AP1300. All of them are great, but all of them are from the last run of products. I havn't seen anything coming down the pipe from them lately that I think is worth buying.

I don't get what HD is trying to achieve, I'm fairly convinced that it's all to boost the Ridgid line of tools.

[rockybrown]

Isn't that film just protection for shipping purposes, and is then removed by the end user (you), so the clear hard plastic is nice and shiny?

no- the film is part of the display.

i found another qc issue- the spindle lock lever handle is made of plastic and after using it twice it stripped out. it's an easy fix- i'll just find a screw with matching threads and epoxy a wooden handle on it.

rb

[charliex]

I have the older model and the only gripe I have is vibration. It shakes the whole cabinet that it is mounted on. I'm thinking that exchanging the v-belts for a link belt should fix that issue. One nice feature is the way the table mounts. I can switch between my wood working table and the metal working table in seconds.

[eweu]

Rocky, now that you've (hopefully) had a chance to use this drill press more, do you have any more comments about it? I'm in the market for a bench drill press and I've been waiting for this one to come out. Your comments so far definitely give me cause for concern.

[havighurst]

It seems ironic that the $30 HF Drill Press would run smoother and would have at least the same level of QC, if not better for $140 less.

[Rslaugh]

You're never going to be satisfied. If you're likeme everytime you use it you'll curse yourself. I'd take it back before you invest any more time into it and get "Tool Stockholm Syndrome."

[rockybrown]

after having used it a few times it seems to vibrate a little less- i'm guessing the belt has worn into a groove and smoothed things out.

the led readout with the big wrinkle still bothers me but it is just cosmetic. i've got the drill in a corner so the lasers show up a bit better.

but i haven't gotten around to fixing the spindle lock lever and when i went to use my sanding drum on it yesterday it was a real pita.

also, it still hovers around a 2900 rpm top speed- not the 3000 rpm they advertise, which, if that was the only problem, i wouldn't even feel worth mentioning.

the variable speed control works great- no more messing around with belts, and i find i'm more likely to actually change the speed now when i should.

i guess the bottom line is i'm going to exchange it for a different one. i've been looking at other home depots in my area hoping to find one from a different production run, but so far only the one store has them in stock. if i find one where everything works as it's supposed to i think it's a keeper.

rb