©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
My new drill press arrived yesterday evening and I just installed it instead of the old cheapo one in my workshop. I must say that my first impression is absolutely great. I cannot definitively say whether it was a good investment or not – ask me again in a few years, because new devices tend to have some crucial mechanical parts (like gears etc.) out of plastic that wears out rather quickly and subsequently the whole machine has to be tossed – but on the surface the machine looks really great. Someone has actually thought about the design and, a rare occurrence in today’s world, the design is very functional and sensible. Use is very intuitive and all levers and settings are easily accessible. I worry a bit that the wheel might be too small to provide adequate leverage for drilling steel, but we will see. That is the only worry I have on first sight though.
The drill has a digital display that actually shows the rpm, which is very nifty – I will not have to guess by the sound. It has two main gearing settings and a continuous rpm regulator, so it covers very wide range of rpm on a nearly continuous scale without me having to flip v-belts. That is probably at the cost of some efficiency, but the max power (710 W) is higher than on other drill presses that I could choose from, so that might not be a problem for actual use, although it might be a problem regarding power consumption. But it is not a device that will run more than a few minutes at a time, so slight inefficiency is not as big of a deal as it woudl be for, say, bench belt sander.
©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
As a knife maker I fell instantly in love with the quick-span/release chuck that is standard attachment. The chuck is simply ideal for holding down flat stock, something very obviously crucial for a knife maker.
And the laser cross! A LED light illuminating the worked area was just a final bonus on top of that. It was always a bugger to find and hit the tiny black dot on black piece of steel – now those troubles are, hopefully, over.
And of course it does not wobble in all directions so I hope I need not fear anymore drilling tiny holes and breaking two drill bits per each.
All in all right now I have no regrets for spending the non-trivial amount of money for it. I think it is money sensibly spent and I look forward to trying it out as soon as possible. I might indeed regret a bit not spending that money sooner.
To quote Star Wars:
“What’s that sound? Maybe it’s a new drill.”*
Congratulations on the new and proper drill press.
__
* = Finnish has different words for the simple and repetitive exercise and the machine tool. Once a TV station used the word for the tool in the subtitles for SW instead of the word for training/exercise.
Hooray for new tools, always a pleasure, and I totally agree that money spent on proper tools is money very well spent indeed. You can not do proper work without the proper tools! A good drill press will save a LOT in wasted time and resources. Being able to do something faster and more efficiently is always worthwhile in my opinion.
Hmmm, looks nice.
Bosch usually is my second choice in tools. First one is Makita.
Enjoy using your new drill press Charly, and don’t think about the time you might have saved if you’d bought it earlier. Mr Jazz seems to go for Bosch. Come to that so do I though in my case we’re talking about white goods.
That’s a pretty unit!
Interesting arrangement on the platen; it appears to be designed with an anti-helicoptering fence. That’s a good idea! Anything that makes a power tool easier and safer to use is a good thing. In the US we actually had to have someone write legislation to force table-saw makers to include riving knives. Arrgh.*
(My 1930s table saw still does not have one, because I have only suffered non-fatal injuries from having stock thrown at me and I’m waiting for a fatal one before I do anything, apparently!)
Looks impressive, Charly. I’m looking forward to your work analysis of it.
When we started our renovations, we were given a jigsaw by friends who’d gotten a better one. It was OK for shortening roof battens, but whenever we tried to do something more exact it would fuck up. Until one day I cursed and cuffed and got a real one. The only misgiving I have about that one is that we didn’t get it earlier because it even cuts through 2″ like butter without any tearing.
@Giliell, my first choice of tools is Narex, but they do not make drill press. I have no experience with Makita, but they do not seem to be making drill press either. Of all the other options available to me, this one seemed to offer the best value for the money. I had several cheapo options, but in my experience it pays not to skim on tools. I also had several high-end options of cousre, but those are big machines that would not fit in my tiny workshop.
We’ll se whether it is a keeper. I have good experience with BOSCH tools so far.
I have only good experience with Bosch, even when things do break and I had to contact customer service.
It’s indeed a pretty thing and I am eager to see what pretty things you do with it, Charly!