Another Drill Press Question

[buistd]

Hi there - I'm looking into buying a drill press/pillar drill. Of the three option I am looking at, one has chuck to table distance of 310mm, one is 350mm and the other option is a floor-standing with double the space. Common sense says just get the floor-standing, but my space is limited, and to get similar specs is more expensive. To buy the bench mounted with 350mm clearance is £100 more than the 310mm clearance. Is it worth forking out the extra for 40mm more clearance, and is 350mm even enough? I can see it being a problem if I end up drilling really long-shanked pipes but otherwise I imagine it would be okay.

[caskwith]

Whats the price difference. I have often found that floor standing models are better value than bench mounted and if I had to buy a new one I would likely buy a floor standing model and cut it down to fit on a bench.

[buistd]

Whats the price difference. I have often found that floor standing models are better value than bench mounted and if I had to buy a new one I would likely buy a floor standing model and cut it down to fit on a bench.

Floor mounted is no more expensive than the bench ones, but it lacks a little in terms of specs. I don't really have the setup to cut down a floor mounted to put it on a bench.

[caskwith]

All thats required would be an angle grinder and a steady hand, have helped someone do it before and really not that difficult.

If the specs are better on the bench mounted then get the largest you can fit in your workshop, never hurts to have extra capacity. Have you checked ebay for local sales? I picked up my drill press, an industrial bench mounted model plenty big enough for pipemaking on ebay as a collection only auction, cost me less than £25 including petrol to go and pick it up.

[the rev]

The bit travel is more important than clearance.

rev

[caskwith]

The bit travel is more important than clearance.

rev

I would argue the opposite, drilling depth is useless if you cant fit the block under the drill bit.

[Sasquatch]

310 mm is a foot, roughly. That's enough to do just about anything pipe related that you can do well on a drill press anyhow - you looking to drill 10" stems?

I always buy the biggest I can afford/fit because some day.... some day you'll want to cut into something that the little machine just can't handle.

In this case, I'd shoot for 3" travel on the spindle, and a really, really good table.

[the rev]

The bit travel is more important than clearance.

rev

I would argue the opposite, drilling depth is useless if you cant fit the block under the drill bit.

good point, I personally have yet to see a drill press that didn't have enough clearance but did have plenty of travel, but that may not be the case. I have seen plenty of drill presses with lots of clearance and almost no travel however, maybe that is just me.

rev

[DMI]

I use a Sealey gdm92b with a cross axis vice, loads of travel and clearence.

David

[Massis]

310 mm is a foot, roughly. That's enough to do just about anything pipe related that you can do well on a drill press anyhow - you looking to drill 10" stems?

I always buy the biggest I can afford/fit because some day.... some day you'll want to cut into something that the little machine just can't handle.

In this case, I'd shoot for 3" travel on the spindle, and a really, really good table.

Don't forget that this 310mm (which is a foot indeed) is most often the distance between the base and the head. This means you often lose 50mm for your table, 50mm for your chuck, xxmm for your drillbit and about 50-70mm for a small crosslide vice.

For reference: mine had a 600mm column and I soon (as in within weeks of buying it) found it way to small and restrictive, and thus had the column extended to 900mm (3') which is perfect.
My cross slide vice takes up about 75mm, the drill chuck takes another 60-70mm and you need about 100mm for a forstner bit or any other long drill. that's 245mm just in tools. With a 310mm column that leaves you 65mm for a piece of briar...

[caskwith]

310 mm is a foot, roughly. That's enough to do just about anything pipe related that you can do well on a drill press anyhow - you looking to drill 10" stems?

I always buy the biggest I can afford/fit because some day.... some day you'll want to cut into something that the little machine just can't handle.

In this case, I'd shoot for 3" travel on the spindle, and a really, really good table.

Don't forget that this 310mm (which is a foot indeed) is most often the distance between the base and the head. This means you often lose 50mm for your table, 50mm for your chuck, xxmm for your drillbit and about 50-70mm for a small crosslide vice.

For reference: mine had a 600mm column and I soon (as in within weeks of buying it) found it way to small and restrictive, and thus had the column extended to 900mm (3') which is perfect.
My cross slide vice takes up about 75mm, the drill chuck takes another 60-70mm and you need about 100mm for a forstner bit or any other long drill. that's 245mm just in tools. With a 310mm column that leaves you 65mm for a piece of briar...

A good point, usually worth a call to the retailer to check those measurements. I have seen some measured like yours, from the head to the baase but some measure chuck to table which is more useful, though you still need to account for a vice etc.