Milling: older high end drill press vs newer budget one? (1 Viewer)

[GenghisKhan]

Do you all think an older high end drill press would be better than a brand new budget one for milling?

Which do you think would give better more consistent results?

In Canada Princess Auto has one on sale for $89.

But my father in law used to have a wood workshop with high end equipment, and he still has the press.

I could potentially borrow it for the winter and buy the appropriate bit and jig etc. (I'll read the other threads to get answers on those things).

Thanks for your opinions.

 

[Eloe2000]

I am only attempting my first milling project tomorrow, but I can’t see it mattering much as long as what you use has variable speed. It seems people have better luck at certain speeds.

 

[allforcharity]

Does the older one allow for micro depth adjustments? That would probably be the best feature when milling with a press.

 

[JeepologyOffroad]

I'd much rather have an older quality drill press than an amazon special. All day every day.

Or just send em to me

 

[Darson]

Generally, older tools are better because they are made from sturdier/thicker materials and generally keep true longer and have less wobble. The only exception to this are tools that have seen a lot of use and hence wear - typical of something from a machine shop, not home use. Also, with any tool, you'll have to learn how to set it up properly. You may get lucky with a new tool that it comes all aligned out the box but often they do not. Older tools will almost always need some tweaking to get the best out of them but the advantage is that they are usually tweakable! I'd take up your FIL's press in a heart beat unless it's truly knackered.

 

[GenghisKhan]

Lots of great comments already.
Thanks!
Looks like I'll be hitting up the old man in law for more info on his.

 

[One Eyed Dollar]

I used a cheap drill press from Harbor Freight, and it worked fine, but if I were doing a lot of chips it would be worth it to have a nicer drill press. The older high quality one is probably the way to go. The issues with my cheap press were:
- Probably a little more wobble (though it wasn't too bad)
- Took some tweaking to get the platform perpendicular to the bit
- The stop was worthless because it was on one side, which caused that side to stop and the whole thing to pivot a little and drill in deeper on the far side. I just quit using it because it made things worse.

 

[Eloe2000]

Ok so I just finished my first milling project using the cheap $60 drill press from Harbor Freight. I knocked out two racks of roulettes from my Aransas Queen set to be used for fracs. After making my little jig out of wood and using carpet nonslip adhesive padding to prevent the chips from spinning it probably only took me 15minutes to get everything all aligned properly. By the second rack I was cruising at a rate of about 2 racks/hr. This press was totally fine for me. The only thing I feel like I would benefit from is a foot pedal for power on/off. Then I would totally cruise.

Next project will be a tourney set of solids, so now I just need to find some THC hotstamps to murder!

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[allforcharity]

I have THC hot stamps in strange quantities. PM me if interested.