Clarke Drill Presses

[Tupers]

What are your guys thoughts on clark drill presses for light industrial work? There's one similar to this on ebay local to me and it's quite cheap at the moment so I may bid.

The most it would be used to drill through from day to day is 3MM steel plate for brackets and such but I did also think it could be hand for out tube notcher.

 

[brightspark]

there not the most robust of drills but if u can pick one up at a reasonable price it will be ok . a good second hand british made drill will be better if u can source one. ive had this one 35 years bought for 70 quid its mint .dunno how old it is mind the only thing its had is a repaint and a new chuck and belt

 

[Norm]

Hi tupers, I recently bought one of the older Clark 5/8 bench drills and I am very pleased indeed. It is much more robust than I thought it would be and at £40.00 off ebay I thought it a bargain, havent used it a lot as yet but it has 16 speeds and went through some scrap angle I had no problem whatsoever.
Norm

 

[cumbriasteve]

I have a Clarke bench mounted, smaller than the one you mention and it's been a good drill for what I use it for, I drill up to 10mm flat bar, 10mm dia holes.

Obviously if you can find something like Brightsparks then you are in a different quality altogether and well worth buying.

 

[rtbcomp]

I wasn't overly impressed with my 16 speed Clarke, there was sideways play in the quill and the drive to the quill slips.

I bought an old Elliott Progress 2G but that has gearbox problems, I'd be more inclined to go for a 1G (no gearbox) or maybe a basic Startrite.

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

the fobco 7/8 at work is the best!!!

 

[wyn]

I've got the one you show in the link.
It has worked ok for the money i paid for it.
I have used it a lot with a tube notcher and it's been fine.
It's now got a fair bit of play in the quill.

I just picked up a Gima P12 pillar drill this morning for free off a mate so the clarke might just be used for tube notching.

 

[jordan1]

the fobco 7/8 at work is the best!!!

I recently bought one of these and converted it to single phase, amazing piece of kit so long as you don't need to move it around the workshop.

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

And as long as the workpiece dosent grab the drill then its alright!

 

[Wedg1e]

We've had a Fobco Star at work since I started in '93 and it was 3rd-hand then! Ours is the bench-top version but thre s floor-standing available too. They come up on Ebay and go for either nothing or stupid money, depending on how badly you want one and whether the auction finished 10 minutes ago

 

[Davek0974]

And as long as the workpiece dosent grab the drill then its alright!

But naturally, you wold have the workpiece clamped down??

Don't forget Meddings drills, excellent kit, basically, all of the old-iron makes will outlast and outperform the likes of Clarke stuff.