This drill press up to the job?

[h3rman]

Been looking for a small bench top drill press recently and found a Clarke CDP5R at Machine Mart that's in my price range. Really don't want to spend much on one as it will only get used occasionally.

I would only be using it to basically get me out of trouble when bolts shear off while working on the car and I'm left with no other choice. Things that may or may not be getting drilled would be things like turbo hot side bolts, manifold to head studs, brake calliper bolts and what ever else may not come out with ease.

Used one for the first time last week (apart from when I was at school) and it made the job so much easier it wasn't even funny. Hand drill was really struggling to bite and keep straight, small bench top drill press got through it in a couple of mins!

Some of the bolts being drilled will be very high tensile. Anyway, link to the item below, will it be up to the job I need it for? If not, what will do the job for a similar price? Like I said, will be used very occasionally so don want to spend lots and don't even have room for a full sized drill press.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cdp5r-drill-press

Thanks

 

[piman]

Hello H3rman,

I've had a similar pillar drill for many years and for hobby use it's been fine. It struggles with larger drills (1" or so) so you have to feed in quite slowly. Definitely a useful tool.

Alec

 

[Wallace]

I've had one of the larger pillar drills with a 16mm chuck over 10 years and had no problems with it, being Chinese the quality is adequte. The chuck was poor quality and always hit or miss on running true but I replaced that a couple of years ago with a keyless chuck from RDG Tools and it now runs true. Wickes do a similar looking one rated at 350W http://www.wickes.co.uk/350w-bench-pillar-drill/invt/186886/.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Got the same drill and well worth the money, it's had 5 years use so far and still going strong.

 

[brightspark]

there ok as long as your not drilling bigger than 3/8th in steel as u will stall the motor if u give it a fair pull . motor is only 2oo watts

 

[aametalmaster]

I have 4 of them in my production lines. Its cheaper to buy another drill press than change the tooling setups. So i just leave everything in place. But they do struggle with bigger bits in steel...Bob

 

[KemppiFrog]

Almost any bench drill is better than a hand one. Mainly because of speed control and ability to feed slowly and constantly.
Mate has one like that and is quite happy.

 

[h3rman]

Cheers guys, looks like I might go for the Clarke one. However the wickes one is the same price and has a 350w motor instead of a 250w one. Only thing is in the reviews about the wickes on some guys are saying the chuck has lots of play and holes are not drilling accurately as a result. Would a new chuck from somewhere like RDG tools sort that out? Or is it a more serious issue and I should just opt for the Clarke as the review on that one say it doesn't suffer from play with the chuck.

 

[brightspark]

Cheers guys, looks like I might go for the Clarke one. However the wickes one is the same price and has a 350w motor instead of a 250w one. Only thing is in the reviews about the wickes on some guys are saying the chuck has lots of play and holes are not drilling accurately as a result. Would a new chuck from somewhere like RDG tools sort that out? Or is it a more serious issue and I should just opt for the Clarke as the review on that one say it doesn't suffer from play with the chuck.

just go down wickes and put a drill bit in the chuck and turn by hand . if its true it will be ok then pull the quill down and get hold of the chuck give it a few sideway pulls back and forth if theres any slop or movement on it dont bother the bigger motor is a bonus but not if drill isnt as good as the clark

 

[h3rman]

Nearest wickes is a 140 mile round trip from here. There used to be one local but it closed a few years ago. Not going to be worth it if it proves to be rubbish. Might just opt for the Clarke for a bit more peace of mind.

 

[gordonendersby]

Ive got a cheapish clarke drill press and yes there is a bit of play in the bearings.
So the runout is a bit more than you would get from a more expensive drill.
I find that if I centre punch it will still go where I want it.
But if what you are drilling is not completely flat then it can wander a bit.

Gordon