Drill Press 39.95

[derek]

hmm... What a great deal.
Where could I put a drill press. hmmm
oh well, maybe in the kitchen

 

[Jugernot]

Hmmm, they better not charge too much more for shipping! Shouldn't they contact us before charging us the extra cost?

 

[Jugernot]

Hmmmm, dharts over at Fatwallet posted a link to a drill press at Harbor Freight tools with the same specs at this one for $39.95 with free shiping (Plus 4.95 handling fee). Seems like a better deal to me?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/taf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=1844

 

[UNKNOWNDUDE]

those of you, who go it, how much extra they charged

 

[kicken14]

Defenitely the fatwallet deal looks btter to me

 

[StealthX32]

I thought drill presses were like $500...at least good quality ones. Sure this one isn't plastic?

 

[loup garou]

Nope, Stealth, I picked up a 8" Craftsman drill press for under $100 at Sears a few months ago. The price surprised me for a namebrand though.

 

[jayR]

Anyone who got the $39.95er: How good is it? I'm thinking about getting one. I just would like to here what you think.

 

[bubba]

Damn, I got mine today and it is missing the column! plus the top is scratched up a bit. I wonder if it was a return or something. Damn damn damn. I am surely not sending it back to them!!! Not with how heavy it is.

 

[Wangel]

I got mine a few days ago too. I just lugged it down to the basement. It must weigh about 40 pounds or so. I'm going to give my UPS man a hernia! I'm going to set it up next week.

 

[Djahngo]

You guys are obviously not machinists. This is a $39 Drill Press. Can be had any day of the week for $39. You get what you pay for.

Different speeds are used for different materials. Speed selection is determined by hardness of material, size of drill, and feed rate. A better indicator of quality is the amount of current (amperes) the motor draws.

Didn't any of you guys take shop in high school?

 

[bubba]

I got one of these, and just put it together, but how do you get the chuck to stay on? You screw down the column to the base and the motor to the column, but what keeps the chuck on the axle?

 

[ShrikeAK]

Mine arrived about a week ago. Not a clue what I am going to do with it. I think back across my years and cannot come up with a single instance where I needed a drill press. This nearly completes my collection of sub-par no-name tools.

I suppose I can use it as shelving. The top is flat, and the drilling surface is as well, so that sounds like the plan. The pull-thing on the side is ideal for hanging my rarely-used tool belt.

I think my wife would rather I had a crack addiction than a junk-tool addiction.

 

[UNKNOWNDUDE]

Dear Customer,

We'd like to apologize for a potential delay with your order:

Order Numbers: 969XXX
Catalogs: Industrial Pipe & Steel Co.

Due to an unfortunate error in our system, some orders placed between
December 3 -15 didn't initially reach the merchants they were placed with.
We're sorry to inform you that you were one of a very small percent of our
customers who were affected by this error.

We discovered this problem on Friday, 12/15, and immediately contacted all
merchants involved and sent them the orders. We have requested an upgrade to
Express Shipping for each order at our expense, so these orders should be
received in time for the holidays.

Some customers may have already contacted the merchant directly and
cancelled their orders. If you were one of these, we want to let you know
that you may receive your order. If you still want to cancel it, you can
decline the package, or return it by mail and we'll cover the return
shipping costs.

As our apology to you, we will be depositing a $25 credit in your
CatalogCity.com account on Thursday, December 21. It's easy to redeem your
$25. Just make a purchase at CatalogCity.com by March 31, and the amount
will be automatically deducted at checkout.

CatalogCity.com's purpose is to make online shopping more convenient for you
by offering a complete and personalized online catalog shopping experience
with hundreds of catalogs in one convenient location. We hope you will
remain a part of CatalogCity.com as we continue to expand our catalog
offerings and shopping features.

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this further, please
feel free to reach me directly by email at leelor@catalogcity.com

Once again, we at CatalogCity.com apologize for any inconveniences you
suffered, and wish you a happy holiday!

Sincerely,

Lee Lorenzen
President and CEO, CatalogCity.com
http://www.catalogcity.com

 

[aolshove]

Okay, I received mine yesterday and here's my assessment.

It's construction is very sturdy except for the sheet metal parts like the pulley guard on the top. It's definately made in China and is marked with a label entitled "Tool Exchange". It was definately a new unit, no rust, no scratches, and it still had the preservative grease smeared on the metal parts.

Putting it together was a no-brainer. However, the quality of the unit (or lack there-of) is shown by the fact that some of the bolts that mount the drill head post to the base have heads that are actually a little off center from the threads! I found that kind of funny in itself. Getting past that, it surprised me that the chuck was mounted to the drive spindle via a tapered shaft rather than an set screw or clip ring. To install the chuck, you just tap it in place with a piece of wood or a hammer on wood so as to not damage the chuck and friction does the rest.

As I was checking the belt placement I was happy to notice that the various pulley configurations allow for speeds between 585 RPM and 3000 RPM (much higher than what the advertisment stated) so I put it on the 3000 RPM position, plugged it in and turned it on.

It spun up although it took a second to get up to full speed. The chuck does NOT seem to wobble as reported by another person previously. While it was running, I put on a glove and slowly gripped the chuck. It had better torque than I would have expected at 3000 RPM but did eventually slow down. I felt that the pressure I placed on the chuck is a bit less than the drill would encounter with a good thick hunk of hardwood so this may not be the best setting for jobs requiring good torque (like sanding).

Next, I placed the pulley on the slowest setting and turned it on. For some reason, the motor pulley contacted the lid on the pulley guard on this setting although I would have assumed the large pulley on the spindle would be the same diameter as the large pulley on the motor... guess not. At this setting the lid had to remain open but the torque was admirable.

In general, with the little nuances ignored, I think this press has a place in my modest shop. I like it much better than the hand drill I have mounted on a press jig. A true machinist, however, might be disappointed.

On a side note, this unit appears to be capable of being stripped down meaning that if I want to replace the motor, a bearing, or a pulley, I don't think it would be all that difficult.

Sorry this went so long. I hope it's been of help to someone on the fence trying to decide to buy one or not.

- Alex O.

 

[cheetoden]

Thanks for the info. I can't open mine until Christmas.