Tips For Buying a Drill Press Bench top Drill Presses Floor Drill Presses Radial Drill Presses Portable Drill Presses
Bench top Drill Presses are ideal for small, light projects. Features to look for: . Controls up front (for easy access) . Chuck capacity . Depth Stop ease of use . Smooth quill movement . Number of speeds (lower speeds are usually used more frequently) . Table size and design Floor Drill Presses function in between the bench top and the radial. Features to look for: . stable design . open construction (for cleaning purposes) . size and sturdiness of table . horsepower (based on need) . table swing, tilt . chuck size . height Radial Drill Presses are ideal for large surfaces. Features to look for: . Up front controls . Ease of quill travel . Easy to use depth stop . Number of Speeds . Head tilt (allows for multiple drilling angles) . Horsepower Portable Drill Presses are for the user who needs mobility. Features to look for: . comparable power . external cooling system . magnetic base . weight (some portables are very heavy) . reputable manufacturer General Considerations: . For metalworking, a drill press with oil grooves is the best solution . For woodworking, select a woodworking table with through slots so items can be easily clamped to the table . If you will use your drill on a variety of material, it is best to select a drill with a variety of speeds. . If you plan on drilling holes deeper than 3 or 4 inches, power should be a consideration. . The chuck size of a drill bit is given as the range of sizes of drill shanks that will fit. For example a range of 1/16 to ½ indicates that the drill presses maximum capacity is 1/2inch and that shanks smaller than 1/16 are to small. In general there is no need to acquire a drill press with a maximum capacity over ½ inch as bits larger than this are rarely encountered. High quality presses often have a minimum chuck rating of zero. Very small sizes may be useful when working in miniature.
