Pillar Drill

[H.cat]

Hi there, new to this forum. Looking for a pillar drill for home workshop use this came up locally for £60. It's from 1997 and has a homemade floor stand haha. Any good or not worth it? The made in Taiwan sticker is a bit off putting compared to a solid English built cast machine. Cheers

 

[tom2207]

welcome to the forum ,,,
if it works , I would buy it for 60 quid ,,, it will get you by for a while , and it will sell again at that price so you wont actually loose cash , it may do all you want it to do and then its a steal.

 

[Nick DV]

Hi & welcome What he said ^^^

 

[Gragson]

It may have a bunch of issues but Taiwanese pillar drills of that sort of era are good, I have an excellent one from 2000.

 

[RWD3M]

Taiwanese kit is generally considered pretty good. If that's in good working order, then it seems a pretty good deal.

I have a Taiwanese EMCO FB2 clone and it's difficult to fault it.

Oh, and welcome!

 

[H.cat]

Thanks for all the replies and the warm welcome been meaning to join here for ages . I have now been offered this Nutool DP16 for free but it needs new bushings or bearings (also local pickup).




Or there is this thing from 1988 for £50 it's an hour and a half away with no vice and I'd have to convert it from 3 phase to single.



Any of them worth it or just take the original one I posted? Thanks again

 

[H.cat]

.

 

[northwest]

I would be stuck with these as the 1988 machine looks very capable and easy to put on a VFD the Taiwanese model though, I had one of those for many years and it served me well. Welcome by the way.

 

[Agroshield]

...the 1988 machine looks very capable and easy to put on a VFD

The motor data plate does not indicate dual voltage. That means it may be necessary to expose the star point in the motor. That may not be something an inexperienced person might wish to undertake.

 

[supraweld]

If the decision was mine then out of the list the first one for me. Looks like a pretty good machine from where im sitting. It even comes with the vice? Nice

 

[Dieselman 63]

Personally, I’d say don’t get caught up on country of origin. If it’s nicely finished and works well, it’s within your needs for capability and capacity, go for it. Could you build one for £60?

 

[northwest]

The motor data plate does not indicate dual voltage. That means it may be necessary to expose the star point in the motor. That may not be something an inexperienced person might wish to undertake.

Plenty of 240 to 440 VFD's out there at affordable money now.

 

[Onoff]

I'd go with the Taiwanese one to be able to use something straight away.

Maybe pick up the freebie as a project, fix and sell on.

Looking around where you are on FB marketplace and there doesn't seem much choice. A 30km drive for a Ferm or Silverline, stick with the Taiwanese one.

My main pillar drill is an ancient Rolson one. Really not known for being quality tools. Bought from Makro about 25 years ago. I've done tonnes of work with it at home and even on site. The NVR switch packed up so I did have to cobble one together with an enclosure plus a couple of buttons and a contactor.

I've another similar one sat unassembled in the box that was the late FiLs. Then a 3P Atlas or Elliot one from a mate that's in bits where he started to convert to single phase and gave up.

 

[Matchless]

My main bench drill is powered by a washing machine motor, has three position belt pulleys, but I never change speed, it was my fathers, press the button, it runs, I drill holes! I also have a German bench drill with a massive chuck and a wide selection of speeds but only use that one now and again as the switch on the end of the handle is broken, both were free!

 

[Bdog507]

Good evening all.


As has been said, Taiwanese machinery is pretty good in the whole.
I have a Semco Milling machine that was made in Taiwan by a company called First Machinery. It's smooth & accurate & will chop a Bridgeport up in three passes!

For £60 I can't see how you can go wrong. One issue with some pillar drills is that the minimum speed is a little high. I couldn't read the speed plate in your picture, but hopefully it'll run slowly enough for tapping & reaming.
I have a Progress 2gs 10 speed drill that runs as slowly as 42 rpm. Which is a decided bonus for the aforementioned tapping & reaming.


Cheers.


Stew.