Ohio Forge Drill Press Manual
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Mini Bench Drill Press Top Bench Drill Press 1/2' Motor 5 Speed 1. Cabinet vision 9 crack. 12 speed 10' bench top drill press - 300 to 2900 RPM. Archbold, Ohio, United States.
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- Diamond
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A friend of mine is setting up a fabrication shop as a P/T business in the Omaha, NE area. As a result, she is looking for a drill press. I know something of the type of work she will be ding in the shop, so made my own initial recommendations.
My own druthers are to try to find a an older US made drill press, if one could be obtained used. To say I am biased against the new imported drill presses would be an understatement. Something like a Powermatic 15' or Buffalo Forge round column drill, with a Morse taper spindle would be what I had in mind. If anyone has any leads as to used machine tool sources in the Omaha area, that would be a first step.
In my own shop, I have a 15' Powermatic drill that I bought used 22 years ago. I use the hell out of it and it is a great little machine. I have a Cincinnati-Bickford 'camelback' drill that I also use and it is quite a workhorse. Much as I would like to recommend a camelback drill, it is neither needed nor feasable in my friend's shop.
Assuming no used US made drill presses turn up, the recourse is to go with an imported/new drill press. I've checked a few possibilities and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience with the Chinese-made drill presses. Initially, my friend had asked me about Knuth. I checked Knuth's site and saw what appeared to be the same Chinese-made drill presses as so many other firms market, albeit with a significantly higher price.
I then checked MSC's catalog and came up with two more possiblities- MSC's own 'Import' and Wilton.
What is needed is a basic round-column drill press of between 15-20' capacity. Spindle should have a number 2 MT, though a number 3 MT is OK. IMO, for this class machine, a number 3 MT is pushing the limits of things.
Knuth has their model KTB-32, for 1500 dollars.
Wilton's equivalent is a 20' drill press with number 3 MT spindle for $1167.00
The MSC 'Import' equivalent model has a Number 3 MT and lists for $688.00
All of these machines look quite similar in outward appearacnes and weigh in at about 310-325 lbs. All appear to be Chinese-made, likely using the same castings.
Wilton also offers a 15' drill with Number 2 MT spindle for $607.95. This machine also looks quite similar to the usual Chinese-made drill presses imported into the USA.
Any of these drill presses would be fine for what my friend needs to do in her fab shop. I know the old saying: 'You get what you pay for', but looking at the catalog cuts, it would seem that the prices vary widely for what appear to be very similar drill presses. I have seen some of Enco's machine tools and came away unimpressed. I know the Chinese machine tools are a mixed bag, varying with whichever US firm is marketing them as well as seemingly with the day of the week or phase of the moon at the time they were built in China. I would apprecaite hearing any recommendations based on owner/user experience as to which of these drill presses is likely to be the best choice.
Joe Michaels - Diamond
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A lot of the larger import variable speed drill presses don't go slow enough to drill large holes.Look out for ones that only go down to approx.350 rpm.
- Diamond
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If you're committed against imported drill presses you're stuck from the get-go. There have been no new drill presses built entirely in the US for many years.
The older models you mentioned are excellent machines provided you can find one with low usage that will provide good working life for your friend's shop.
If an import can be accepted I would suggest a #3 Morse machine such as the TurnPro from Enco (#126-2665) it come with or without power feed and has plenty of rigidity, power, and speed range for metalwork. It has a further advantage of 6' of quill feed and a 4' column. It aint cheap but it is a good machine. I had one for about 6 years but a friend of mine talked me out of it. - matt_isserstedtDiamond
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The Clausing 15' and 20' families are equals to the Powermatics IMHO, and still sold new, USA manufactured. I think the best model is in the $4000 range new, of course good used is less.
One thing to be careful of in buying the Clausings (at least the 20' series) is that the motors can be single voltage, two speed..can be a troublesome point if thats a 480v and the shop is not wired for 'high voltage'. - Stainless
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mine's of oriental origin but even at low speed it wont manage a large, say 1 inch'ish hole due to belt slip, have to take it out in incredibly small bites, big holes exepted its ok on small/ high rpm runs quiet wish a gear heded machine was available.
mark - Diamond
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Older Clausings (some badged 'Atlas) in that range can have a MT3 and a stated capacity of 1' in steel.
I have one, 1952 vintage, and it is a solid industrial item.. model 1800 (18').
But any one of those older DPs will probably need bearings and a cleaning, so that might be an issue. - Aluminum
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Some Walker Turner, Clausing or even Arboga will make the job. I have a chinese and though it fits the size isn´t slow enough and the gear is less than acceptable (chucks, pulleys, belts,..) Luck!
- Plastic
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Boslab, I have the same problem with my drill press. The problem is that at the lower speeds the belt becomes too long and the leverage provided with the handy little side lever is insufficient. I use a pry bar to get needed tension, but I think the best fix would be a shorter belt for low speeds.
Bill - Hot Rolled
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I have experience with both old US made and current production import (Jet) drill presses. I would NOT recommend the 20 inch Jet (I believe the same as Wilton). Build quality is poor and several features I took for granted on my old Delta are lacking entirely. While the specs looked good on paper (#3MT spindle, dual voltage 1-1/2 HP single phase motor, 150 rpm slowest spindle speed, geared table elevation), it has been anything but a pleasure to use.
On mine, the table is warped such that a DP vise never sits anywhere on the table without rocking. The table appears to have been 'finish' machined with a broken tool bit, it is so rough. The crank mechanism for the table elevation is so sloppily made it always makes me wonder when it is going to self-destruct and drop the table on my foot. The quill has so much lateral slop that hole location and/or size is always a rough guess at best. There is no quill lock, making switching MT drill bits a bit of a challenge as you have to manually extend and hold the quill while you insert and hold the drift with your other hand and use your third hand to hit it with the mallet. The supplied 3/4 inch chuck has so much runout it is useless. The electrical controls are flimsy and appear to be ready to self destruct at any moment. As another post in this thread mentioned, belt slippage on this machine is a definate limiting factor for large hole drilling. A 1' drill bit going thru steel is a long struggle. You have to drill it in steps using smaller drill bits first. I do like the quick, easy belt speed change feature, however.
I bought the 20 inch Jet because I previously bought one of their little bench-top Sensitive DP's, which I like a lot. It is decently made, unlike its big brother.
I suggest you do a search on this topic as I know it has been discussed at length before. - Hot Rolled
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HA! I have an old Barnes that I gave my local junque dealer $150 for. 5 HP, #4 taper, 6' tall.. a REAL man's machine! Last Xmas I had SWMBO buy me a cheapo little DP for 1/8' holes in AL. I think I have a hell of a combo there..
OMcG - Diamond
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I'm very pleased with the walker turner I have
at home. I think it ran me about 300 or so
from dave sobel. I'm not sure if sobel is
still in business though.
The walker turners do have a secondary jackshaft
to run the spindle at a much slower speed.
See also the drill press retrofit thread on the
SB sub-group. The moderator there installed
a VFD on her small southbend drill press, she
also has the extra stepdown jackshaft.
A VFD on drill presses is a very nice feature,
you can maintain torque at some pretty low
speeds.
Jim - Cast Iron
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If you come across an old Wilton-Strand (made in Sweden)gear head, Jump on it.
(after checking the condition of the spindle taper.)
Phil - Stainless
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bbluealpine seems to have hit the nail, the belt tension lever in these machines is only about 3 inches long, have put a length of tube over it to gain some leverage before clamping the motor but truthfully am afraid of breaking somthing, could the stepped pulleys be changed for twin belt, never seen one but who knows?
mark - Hot Rolled
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Gold Machinery in Providence RI usually has a good selection of used drill presses. Prices may be high though.
Gold Drill Presses
Gold Drill Press on ebay (in their ebay store) - Plastic
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned Ellis. I have two of their drill presses, the 9400 and the 9500. My 9500 has the DC motor. I looked around a lot before I bought them and I think they are great machines at a great value. They both have a VFD and can go super slow with a lot of torque. Just another one to consider. Here is the link.
http://www.ellissaw.com/Drill-Presse..ess-comparison - Hot Rolled
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I am partial to Walker Turner and Rockwell from the 50's an 60's.
My big DP in my basement shop is a 60's Rockwell 20' - 3 MT, 5 step V-belt AND 3:1 selectable planetary in the spindle pulley for low speed - 167 RPM /1725 motor, 110 RPM / 1140 motor !! Max speed 2500 / 1725 , 1720 / 1140. Cat # 20-635.
Have owned this one for 20 years and not seen another with the planetary until a 50's Walker Turner (Rockwell) 20' - 3 MT 4 step showed up on ebay a year ago which I bought for my son.
Rugged machines that will handle a wide range of work.
Jim C. - Diamond
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DO NOT BUY THE 20' WILTON! It's an absolute #$%^% POS!
I made the mistake of buying one for the museum and hate it more every time I look at it. I'll spare you the gory details, but it is total junk from the word go. It is IDENTICAL to the $300 version sold by HF, except the HF version has a light in the head and is better finished. If you are going to buy Chinese, buy the cheapest one you can get so you don't feel totally screwed when you open the box.
There is NO difference between the 20' Wilton and the Jet. Same company, same machine, different badge on the side. The HF version is also identical, but is red and 1/3 the price.
Powermatic is also owned by the same company that owns Jet and WIlton now, so if you buy one of those, you get the same junk. - Stainless
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I have a Clausing 20' variable speed with power down feed. Powerful enough and single phase. The only downside is the belt noise. The variable speed reeves type drive uses a wide belt similar to a Bridgeport J-head and mine is somewhat noisy. I have not replaced the belt so..JRouche
- Aluminum
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We have two Wilton floor DP's in the shop up here. They are about 15' swing with variable speed, digital tach etc., IIRC. I would definitely advise staying away from these machines. First, the speed range is like 500-5000 RPM, or something ridiculous like that, and is absolutely useless, in my opinion. Also, at first look it appears that there is a Morse taper socket adapter in the spindle from the factory, but this is actually the design, no adapter. This makes the chuck about 4' lower than the end of the quill.
There is also no quill lock, which can be an annoyance at times. My grandfather's 1950's Craftsman is handier. Would definitely not recommend.
P.S., Just looked them up on the Wilton site. They are #A5816 drill presses, with a speed range of 400-5000 RPM.
Wilton 15' Floor Model A5816
-Nick Stanley - Hot Rolled
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Arboga. Arboga, Arboga, Arboga.
There are drill presses, and there are Drill Presses. Good as gold then, better than gold now.
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