New Porter Cable Drill Press

[jjasilli]

FYI:  Got it from my kids for my birthday in late January -- from Lowe's in the mid $300 range.  15" floor standing model.  Love it.  I haven't actually measured, but it seems to have no runout.  The chuck takes bits from 1mm to 16mm (5/8").  Belt/pulley driven, 12 speeds from about 300 - 3100 rpm.  About 4 1/4" quill travel.  Nice quick release depth stop gauge.  Very sturdy -- feels & handles like a good old-fashioned quality tool.  Also has a light and laser crosshairs.

I think it was Tubenit who first turned me on to this unit in an old thread.  Thanks!

[eleventeen]

Well, mine's a 1938 Cincinnati...without the laser attachment, LOL.

By far the most useful tool for amp building and maybe just about everything else. Obviously terrific for drilling straight holes, in a nice line. I probably use mine a little more for cutting very straight edges on longer pieces of sheet metal. Set up a fence, clamp to the drill press table, then cut small hole after small hole, all in a line. Break or cut the metal between the holes, then grind off the edge with a hand grinder and file. Works great.

It would be nice to have a sheet metal shear and brake but honestly, I am not sure I could justify the cost & space for the number of chassis I could realistically build---versus buy.

[kagliostro]

There are many way in which a Drill Pres can be useful

and adding simple accessories it will be able to do much more

K

[G._Hoffman]

Drill presses are total crap for routing functions - the spindles are not designed for lateral forces, and you can very easily cause the chuck to fall off (I speak from experience, here, before I bought an actual overarm router).  Find a way to do it with a normal router.

And don't trust that laser guide too much. 


But yeah, a good drill press is one of the most useful tools you'll ever buy.


Gabriel

[jjasilli]

"Well, mine's a 1938 Cincinnati"  - I love vintage tools but that just wasn't coming together for me.  Now that I own and have used a full size DP, I'm in a better position to restore an old one.  But that's yet another hobby!!!

"adding simple accessories it will be able to do much more":  Already fashioned a DIY drum sander from scrap dowel and a bolt.  Has some runout but works well enough for the tasks at hand.  Am leery of a fence:  too much set-up time. Instead I'm using the "shift & drift" method (my homespun terminology): Mark ea. hole with an awl or center punch.  The drill bit will want to follow, and self-center that hole, by pulling the workpiece into alignment.  A "stop" on the DP table keeps the workpiece (or vice) from spinning. The laser crosshairs are good enough for this process, to locate the dimpled hole under the drill bit.

The problem with a fence is constant, repeatable alignment with true center.  This will change eveyy time the table is adjusted! Also, if you're drilling an amp chassis, you shouldn't believe that it's truly square.  There's no straight lines in the real world. If the fence or the chassis is a hair off, the discrepancy will magnify as you slide the workpiece along the fence. 

As I have no one to teach me, I learned a lot on google, especially here:  http://www.micro-machine-shop.com/drill_presses_chucks.htm