Another drill press advice question

[jagxkr]

I'm looking for a drill press. I've seen a few threads on this topic, but haven't quite seen my question answered. I'm not looking at secondhand drills, I know I can get a bargain relative to new, but in this case I think transport issues just aren't worth the hassle plus I don't know that I could make a good decision on an older machine.
Anyway I'm looking in the 3hundredish range, and am torn between three options: radial arm Axminster hobby series 370w, Axminster trade series 550w, or cheap (£180) but usually good vfm titan 700w. I'm naturally a bit suspicious of a radial arm but the versatility is tempting. In particular I may be about to have to drill out a bunch of bolts from a 2 piece alloy wheel, the ra could be very handy for that. At the moment I do a mix of wood and metal, nothing super high precision though. Metal stuff tends to be car related, wood stuff house related.

Any suggestions based on what I've just said? how in/accurate are the hobby series drillls? I have a table saw from the same range, i do have to check the fence from time to time.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

You need to check the lowest speed the drill will run at and compare it with the largest drill bit you are likely to want to use in steel.
As a guide I tend to start at around 600rpm for 12mm drill bits and go up or down on speed depending on the colour of the swarf.

Also don't underestimate the HP required to drill through steel, I've found that the small low wattage drill presses stall when drilling in steel at anything over 10 - 12mm.

You need to keep the feed high on steel to stop the cutting edge from rubbing and it becomes a fine line between the bit cutting or the motor stalling.

 

[jagxkr]

Thanks for the tip - fwiw the titan and axminster trade both go down to 210 RPM, the radial is 500rpm min.