What to look for in a drill press?

[spllbnd2]

Hi all,

 I will soon be going on a quest for a new drill press  and I am curious as to what features I should be looking for.

 I have been looking thus far at the Delta 17-950L and the Delta DP300L. I would like to have the ability to handle a variety of woodworking and metalworking. I am uncertain if I want a floor standing model or bench top mounted model at this point.

Really I am just hoping for some good input as to what others use and have found are good drill presses that are made to last without spending a fortune.

Cheers  and Many Thanks,
Alex


p.s.  I do own both Porter Cable and Craftsman power tools at home and I also use Snap on and Mac tools daily at work, so I know I will pay for a good quality tool.

[sstorkel]

Didn't this same topic come up a couple of months ago?

Basically, a drill press is a drill press is a drill press... They're probably all made in the same Chinese factory these days, no matter what brand ends up on the side. Buy one that has the capacity you need and as little runout as possible at the spindle. A decent range of speeds is also a good idea, especially if you think you'll be drilling metals or plastics.

I bought a Craftsman benchtop drill press. I think it was originally $149 or something, but I bought it on sale for less than $100. It has a bit more runout than I'd like, but it's acceptable for most purposes. Stroke is only about 3", which is the only problem I have with it. Makes drilling through 4x4s and pen blanks a bit of a pain.

[spllbnd2]

Thanks for the advise sstorkel. I guess I missed the last topic on drill presses, I haven't been in the forums here for a while.

[fixedpigs]

try this...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=69093.0

 

[spllbnd2]

Thanks for the link FP. I'll check it out and see what advise is there.