Pillar Drill

[Maddog]

Afternoon guys.

As it’s my 50th in a couple of months my wife has asked me for ideas for my birthday. Seeing as she wasn’t into the Omega Speedmaster I asked for I decided one thing that would be really useful for me would be a pillar drill due to the fact I can’t drill a straight hole to save my life.

Can anyone recommend something perhaps around about the £200 mark.

I know that a £200 pillar drill will have its limitations but I’m a keen hobbyist not a professional that needs an industrial one that will bore to the centre of the earth.

Thanks guys.

Much appreciated.

 

[frank horton]

find urself an old meddings and there other makes.....
all the drills at that price will be c@rp....
£500 is a whole different ball game...
my meddings floor standing drill has to be 50 years old and still drills straight...

 

[Ross365]

My experience;
>almost any pillar drill (PD) is better than no PD
>a quality PD will be much better than a budget (£200) PD.

My first PD was a Sealey bench model. Sealey have gone downhill since I first bought their stuff. I was disappointed by the "wobble" (what's the right term?) on the quill, which means that it's OK for big holes on hefty pieces of material, but less good if we are getting down to say 3mm. I still have it and use it a lot of the time (it's in handier place than drill#2).

More recently I bought a US-made WWII era PD, in quite poor condition and restored it. It has damn little wobble, and will happily drill small, deep holes in hard materials, where the Sealy would almost surely break the drill. I got this drill on aBay for £150 -200 ...cannot remember for sure the exact amount. I spent very little money restoring it but quite a few man-hours. Good quality PD's are bloody heavy and need a fair bit of space.

 

[MetalMonkey]

This is what you want.

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...lar-drill-with-back-gear.131740/#post-2311233

All the pillar drill you are likely to need without breaking the bank. Backgeared, an updated version of the Kerry Super 8. Solid machines.
You will only get better by going for a bigger geared head machine.

Alternatively keep your eyes peeled on your local fb marketplace, you might pick up a quality old machine for your budget or under.
It probably won't have the advantage of the backgear but if you get a good one it will still be a million times better than anything new you can buy.

 

[MattF]

but if you get a good one it will still be a million times better than anything new you can buy.

This. ^^ Even if you get a decent older one which needs some slight fettling, it'll likely outperform, as is, anything new within that budget.

 

[Maddog]

Thanks guys. Really appreciate the advice.

 

[Seadog]

Elliott Progress 2 is an excellent back-geared drill. They do tend to attract good money because of that.

 

[gaz1]

add another 400 and you can get a milling machine that will make sure its straight enough for you

its not just the machine thats the issue its the drill bits that can be poor quality nowadays

drill bits badly stored or bent certainly wont drill straight
el cheapo set over paying a bit more and getting some sort of quality

 

[Arc Tourist]

Currently the www.projectmachinery.co.uk site has a couple of Meddings Pillar drills available. From the photos, they don't look like they have been abused.

Edit: Unlike the bay of evil, I have never seen rubbish being sold on this site.