Squishy 1,149 Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) I seriously considering getting a benchtop drill press. I can see it being useful for a variety of purposes. These two are quite similar in most respects. Price-wise they are the same, roughly $130. Which would you choose and why? ADD: Well I may have answered my own question here. I settled on these two because they are both in stock at Home Depot and Lowes respectively. It occurred to me to check Sears. And yes, Sears has a 10" Craftsman for almost exactly the same price. Feature-wise it has 5 speeds and the RPM range is nearly the same as the other two but, BUT the motor is 6 amps, 2/3 horsepower as opposed to roughly 3 amps, 1/4 horsepower for the other two. IMO "Craftsman" doesn't mean what it used to but as a name brand it still holds up to the others. I think a beefier motor is a definite advantage. Edited September 24, 2012 by Squishy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Agent Lemon 157 Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Sorry I have no clue as I use some crappy chinese one from harbor freight. Where are you buying these from, and how much are they? 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Squishy 1,149 Posted September 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) Ha, Habor Freight...I have the shittiest luck with them. I kept buying stuff from them and it would be broken before I took it out of the box. So I swore I'd never by ANYTHING from them. I needed a 4-way lug wrench so I said, "No moving parts, made of steel, what can go wrong?" The first time I tried to use it the socket wrung off the thing like it was made of Play-Doh.... Good for you if your HF stuff works, I'm cursed with them. Edited September 24, 2012 by Squishy 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
romad7 75 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 I have the Skil, it's pretty good but I would like a built in light so I like that feature on the Ryobi. I just looked at specs and price favoring price, don't think you will be wrong with any of the 3. Off subject, what movie is your avatar pic from? Love those Guns. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Squishy 1,149 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 It's from the latest Resident Evil movie. Those are movie guns I guess I've never seen them before. Milla could be holding a couple of squirrel carcases and I'd still be likin it. Those are TDI Vectors without foregrips and stocks. I forgot there's a movie gun database; http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Resident_Evil:_Retribution Oh, by the way, I bought the Craftsman, there's no replacement for displacement. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MT Predator 2,294 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 I have the Craftsman as well. You'll like it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Squishy 1,149 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 I have the Craftsman as well. You'll like it. I'm encouraged, I'm waiting for the pick-up email. Store is about 3 miles from here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matthew Hopkins 1,065 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 (edited) personally, I wouldn't spend a cent buying chinese junk tools, which all of them are now, yes even CRAFTSMAN. I picked up a drill press made by CRAFTSMAN in 1978 for 50 bucks. it beats every one of these crap chinese tools even though it's old, it's far better quality. fact is I replaced all the crap chinese junk that broke on me, with stuff from the 60s and 70s I find at garage sales. that includes drill bits, router bits etc I find old hack saw blades still in the package that was made here in the US, that the teeth don't wear wear off after just a few strokes. it's a crying shame that in order to get quality tools now a days you have to hunt and look for the old stuff. Edited September 25, 2012 by Matthew Hopkins 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Squishy 1,149 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 Thanks for your support. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
red308 54 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 I have a HF drill press I think I payed 60.00 for it new and it has worked great for two years but I think I have been very lucky with it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Odd Man Out 1,283 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 I own the ryobi -- it's a good basic dp and does what it needs to but I'd go for the Craftsman with the extra power... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
banshee 69 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 (edited) neither one, they both run to damn fast for metal work. Try to drill a .50 hole in a piece of 4140 or 316 stainless steel at 570 RPM Edited September 25, 2012 by Banshee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
csspecs 1,987 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 personally, I wouldn't spend a cent buying chinese junk tools, which all of them are now, yes even CRAFTSMAN. I picked up a drill press made by CRAFTSMAN in 1978 for 50 bucks. it beats every one of these crap chinese tools even though it's old, it's far better quality. fact is I replaced all the crap chinese junk that broke on me, with stuff from the 60s and 70s I find at garage sales. that includes drill bits, router bits etc I find old hack saw blades still in the package that was made here in the US, that the teeth don't wear wear off after just a few strokes. it's a crying shame that in order to get quality tools now a days you have to hunt and look for the old stuff. Just a note: Most "USA made" tools of the 60s and 70s used imported parts and castings. Current standards require a set volume to be made here to declare your product Made in USA. Some stuff is still made like the good old days, you just have to pay for it. OP: I understand you've already ordered. However I highly recommend book marking use-enco.com they have a decent selection of light to medium industrial tooling. And they are happy to sell in small volumes with decent shipping. Craigslist can be great for used machines. Rockwell used to make a nice bench top drill press that I see everywhere, they are sadly very heavy (like 400 lbs). I've seen them for less then $100 with enough life in them to last another couple decades of heavy use.. If I had a need for a drill press that is what I'd buy. And you want slow speed for metal. I want to say we normally drill with 150rpm or less. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Squishy 1,149 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 To be honest my main intention is not drilling metal. But having said this I'll say I've drilled many holes in mild steel, carbon steel with a hand drill and never paid any attention to RPM. In my ignorance I'd usually drill using as high an RPM as I could, much higher than 500 RPM I'm guessing. By posing the question "Which is best drill A or drill B?", I assumed incorrectly that the input would be centered around which of the two I showed and gave specs for was better. If my question had been "Who makes a good benchtop drill press?" or "What should I look for in a benchtop drill press?" I'd expect a wide range of suggestions. And, this tool will not be part of a shop setup or used for production, high volume purposes. So in retrospect I see that I should have explained that for my purposes the two tools shown would both work and I was seeking input about the quality of each. This was my bad. I checked use-enco.com and the least expensive benchtop drill press I could find there is $642.08, way more than I can, need or want to spend. I appreciate all the input that's been given in this thread. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
romad7 75 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 It's from the latest Resident Evil movie. Those are movie guns I guess I've never seen them before. Milla could be holding a couple of squirrel carcases and I'd still be likin it. Those are TDI Vectors without foregrips and stocks. I forgot there's a movie gun database; http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Resident_Evil:_Retribution Oh, by the way, I bought the Craftsman, there's no replacement for displacement. Yeah, even in that pic where she is trying to be sexy she still looks like she is planning to destroy something. She was great in the new Musketeers movie, that was better than expected. Gotta see the new RE movie now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
misterT 174 Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 I do have a Ryobi bench top that my brother gave me, but I only use it for deburring. These are ALL made in China or Taiwan, an old American made one would be better. But if you want a new one I would choose one made in Taiwan over China any day. Like Banshee said none of those run slow enough for drilling in steel. The harder the material the slower you need the speed to be. I have seen people try to drill in steel at high speed and it heated up so hot that it hardened the steel. After that it just burnt up drill bits. Another thing to consider these small drills only have a 1/4 HP motor so you really need that gear reduction to get some torque. If you have to drill in steel with one of these take your time use lots of oil, pull down hard and let off repeatedly this is called peck drilling. If it starts to get hot and smoke stop and let it cool off! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Squishy 1,149 Posted October 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 Actually the Craftsman has 2/3 HP which is the main reason I went with it as opposed to the others. And yes the peck drilling thing is something I've done but I never knew the proper name. Since this thread started I've used the DP for many things...it's amazing sometimes how useful something like this becomes when you have it on hand and do things "hands free" by raising the table. But it's still just what I'd call a household tool as opposed to a shop tool. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
misterT 174 Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 Years ago that is all I had a little bench top drill press, a belt sander, and a bench grinder all from Big Lots! Along with a wire welder and hand tools I made all sorts of things from a tube frame sand rail to gun parts. I even notched DOM steel roll cage tubing with a hole saw in that little drill press. Good luck with your drill press, if you make something cool with it post some pictures! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Squishy 1,149 Posted October 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 If my fab skills were in line with my imagination you'd see some truly wondrous things but sadly they're greatly lacking. I'd really like to learn to weld and may yet do it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
liberty -r- death 1,445 Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 I have a drill press that size. Very handy. I keep it set up on my reloading bench for roll crimping shot gun shells. You should be really happy you got yours. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BJDavid 0 Posted September 4, 2017 Report Share Posted September 4, 2017 (edited) I think Ryobi is out of the market for drill presses, what do you say? Admin - http://drillpressreview.com/ Edited September 11, 2017 by BJDavid Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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