Need Suggestions about Hitachi B16RM 12 Speed Floor DP

[footprintsinconc]

i was looking on craigslist and saw a hitachi floor drill press. its model number B16rm, 12 speed. what do you guys think. i am currently looking in google about it, though i'd post here just in case someone has it or knows about it.

thanks!

[footprintsinconc]

the first result in google was lorings post on his purchase + comment of this DP! so i am starting to read.

but, since 2006, what have you guys think of this DP?

[LCHIEN]

these were going out the door by the 3,4, and 5's at the Lowes stores, for around $100-130 a couple of years ago.

At that price, new, its a great DP.

No great complaints. Sears sold a near identical version for 200-something.At thiat price I probably would have chosen something else.
quite solid, well made.
Quill travel is like 3.25" - wish I had four. laser doesn't stay aligned as well as my old DP. Also laser lines at 0 and 45 degrees, wish they were at 45 and 135 like my old DP.

speeds, ease of changing, good to very good.
DEpth stop fair. consists of 3 nuts on a vertical threaded bar - its got a couple of flats so its not real smooth running those nuts up and down.
Handles seem longish- not too much for function but they want to hit the DP fence on the first table I tried. Later spent as much on a low profile Woodpecker table as I did on the whole DP.
Cast iron top is more for metalworking than woodworking - not friendly to wodworkers.

overall for $100 I'm very pleased.

[footprintsinconc]

i forgot to mention, he wants 150 for it.

loring, then in the current market, what make & model do you suggest for ww? i like the idea of the 4" quil travel too.

[LCHIEN]

ha, if you can get him to admit or show him that it was being sold for $100 in 2006 then you can bargain him to under $100 then its a still a very good deal.
There's always a few people around that buy these things at the blow out price then hold on for a while and try to sell them for the retail prices after the smoke clears.
No way of really telling if he's one of those or not. Some people probably actually paid $289 for them.

I don't have a recommendation for a current model, depends on what you want to pay. If you want a 15-17" model with 12-15 speeds and 4" QT and a woodworking-friendly table you may be looking at a $200-300 DP.

[footprintsinconc]

its been used. he bought it from another person who was building a house. but since he got it, the dp has not seen much use. i am gonig to be giving him a call this afternoon.

for my lack of understand, can you explain what feature (i should be looking for) make a dp more ww-friendly?

thanks a bundle!

[LCHIEN]

...
for my lack of understand, can you explain what feature (i should be looking for) make a dp more ww-friendly?

thanks a bundle!

mainly the table.
It should have parallel through slots for bolts to mount a WW table. Also the slots could be used for bolts. A square table is handier for clamping things to, and a flat edge and not too much undercut is also clamp friendly.
The worst thing is a round table with grooves for coolant collection (metalworking), X-slots and no way to put bolts through, and a round shape and uneven edges, underneath ribs, not flat or stable enough to clamp stuff to. The Hitachi B16RM is a perfect example of WW unfriendly.
But I made some T-slot nuts to fit the t-slots (have to be installed blind) in the top and clamped a good ww table to the top and its OK now.