drill press

[Gildy]

Hi all, i am very new to scrolling, and would like to get a drill press. What drill press will accept the smaller drill bits ( 1/32 and smaller) and also be used as a sander if and when i gain enough experience to try intarsia?  Thank you , Kevin

[OCtoolguy]

Harbor Freight would be my first stop.

[fredfret]

A "mini" chuck will be needed for 1/32 or smaller bits. Most presses will not go that small. They are available at many pattern and ss blade sellers.

Fredfret 

[Gildy]

1 hour ago, octoolguy said:

Harbor Freight would be my first stop.

Thanks

[OCtoolguy]

I did buy my little Delta from an eBay seller. It's a tiny little thing and I love it but it's one missing feature is a quill lock. I like being able to put the quill down to whatever spot I like it and then "lock" it in that place. Both of my previous units had that feature. Something to look for if you're buying one.

Ray

 

[oldhudson]

For scrolling, I use the Dremel Router base and a Dremel rotary too.. You can purchase a plunge base and a collet from Amazon that will handle really tiny bits. Links attached. (I started using these after Mrs. N recommend it in a thread a couple of years ago.)  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DEZK4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DD2N3/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think you still need a bench top drill press for other tasks. Shop estate sales.

Edited February 20, 2018 by oldhudson

[dgman]

I have a Delta12" tabletop drill press that I love, but needs a mini chuck to hold my mini drill bits. As a matter of fact I have two mini chucks loaded up with the two different size bits I use most.

[munzieb]

I have a Harbor Freight Drill Press and I have used as small as .004 size drill bits. The are relative inexpensive but I wish I had bought the one with the crank table lift. A lot easier for making fine height adjustments. I may consider upgrading in the future.

[OCtoolguy]

7 hours ago, munzieb said:

I have a Harbor Freight Drill Press and I have used as small as .004 size drill bits. The are relative inexpensive but I wish I had bought the one with the crank table lift. A lot easier for making fine height adjustments. I may consider upgrading in the future.

Me too. I don't have that feature either. Let us know if you find one you like.

R

 

[munzieb]

I guess I'm a WEN guy now. My wife ordered me a 12" Bench top Drill press with laser and "crank" from Amazon. Delivers in 2 days! Free freight!. I never knew what "swing" was until I looked it up. It's double the distance from the mount post to the drill chuck so a 12" give me a 6" depth (width?) to drill. I had looked at some radial Bench drill presses. They gave you lots of depth, swing,  but were very heavy and expensive. I guess I'll revert to the hand drill if pieces get too large (wide) I'm looking forward to see how the laser works. Pictures are of the soon to be retired setup and the new rolling drill press bench. I love my Kreg Pocket hole tool!

[Rockytime]

9 hours ago, munzieb said:

I have a Harbor Freight Drill Press and I have used as small as .004 size drill bits. The are relative inexpensive but I wish I had bought the one with the crank table lift. A lot easier for making fine height adjustments. I may consider upgrading in the future.

.004? That is the thickness of the average human hair. It also falls half way between a #79 and #80 drill bit I don't think my Jacobs No. 0 chuck can hold it. I may be wrong.

[munzieb]

Rocky, I stand corrected on the .004. I was off by one decimal point. I got out my HF digital micrometer and measured the drill bit and it was .04. Time for some new glasses! 

[OCtoolguy]

5 hours ago, munzieb said:

I guess I'm a WEN guy now. My wife ordered me a 12" Bench top Drill press with laser and "crank" from Amazon. Delivers in 2 days! Free freight!. I never knew what "swing" was until I looked it up. It's double the distance from the mount post to the drill chuck so a 12" give me a 6" depth (width?) to drill. I had looked at some radial Bench drill presses. They gave you lots of depth, swing,  but were very heavy and expensive. I guess I'll revert to the hand drill if pieces get too large (wide) I'm looking forward to see how the laser works. Pictures are of the soon to be retired setup and the new rolling drill press bench. I love my Kreg Pocket hole tool!

That little Delta looks just the one I have. I bought it on eBay for $45 if I recall. It serves me well but does have it shortcomings.

R

 

[amazingkevin]

On 2/18/2018 at 5:32 PM, Gildy said:

Hi all, i am very new to scrolling, and would like to get a drill press. What drill press will accept the smaller drill bits ( 1/32 and smaller) and also be used as a sander if and when i gain enough experience to try intarsia?  Thank you , Kevin

From my experience i'd go with a dremel and get the chuck(*$10.00) that adjusts to fit any dremel bit.No need to fool with collets anymore.And then you can attach sanding drums to the dremel fine and corse works so good i don't thinkl i'll go back to drill presses and i have two.

[Jim Finn]

I agree with Kevin;

     My grizzly drill press works very well but when I tried very small drill bits, like 1/16" it would break them too easily, so now I use a dremel type tool, (Actually I prefer, a three speed, Black and decker rotary tool) in a mini drill press made for it.

[munzieb]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 3:21 PM, munzieb said:

I guess I'm a WEN guy now. My wife ordered me a 12" Bench top Drill press with laser and "crank" from Amazon. Delivers in 2 days! Free freight!. I never knew what "swing" was until I looked it up. It's double the distance from the mount post to the drill chuck so a 12" give me a 6" depth (width?) to drill. I had looked at some radial Bench drill presses. They gave you lots of depth, swing,  but were very heavy and expensive. I guess I'll revert to the hand drill if pieces get too large (wide) I'm looking forward to see how the laser works. Pictures are of the soon to be retired setup and the new rolling drill press bench. I love my Kreg Pocket hole tool!

Well, my WEN showed up. ITS BIG! but it has all the bells and whistles. Bolted it down with 7/16" bolts. It has a laser which is pretty cool and changes speeds via a clutch handle on the side with a digital rpm readout in the front. Love the crank lift. Considering how tall it is, I could have built the cart a little lower but this drill press is "a step up" LoL!.

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, munzieb said:

Well, my WEN showed up. ITS BIG! but it has all the bells and whistles. Bolted it down with 7/16" bolts. It has a laser which is pretty cool and changes speeds via a clutch handle on the side with a digital rpm readout in the front. Love the crank lift. Considering how tall it is, I could have built the cart a little lower but this drill press is "a step up" LoL!.

Wow! Nice. I might have to upgrade mine. Very nice.

 

[WayneG]

I bought a bundle of machines of a guy that was having health problems. One piece was a smaller drill press that he had modified to have the shaft off set. This has so many great advantages for scrolled work.....

[tgiro]

I bought a Ridgid 15" drill press at the HD a number of years ago. While I was shopping, I carried a #63 drill bit with me. The Ridgid was the first press I found that would lock on that tiny bit.

While you are looking/shopping carry a bit with you to test the chuck on your bit.

[OCtoolguy]

On 3/10/2018 at 7:50 AM, WayneG said:

I bought a bundle of machines of a guy that was having health problems. One piece was a smaller drill press that he had modified to have the shaft off set. This has so many great advantages for scrolled work.....

I have been around machinery all my life and I have never seen one like that. Cool.

Ray

 

[WayneG]

1 hour ago, octoolguy said:

I have been around machinery all my life and I have never seen one like that. Cool.

Ray

 

Yes, very cool indeed, I will have this one for a very long time. It is very Handy!

[Frank Pellow]

Don't bother with a drill press if you are just using it in your scroll saw hobby.  Rather get this: http://seyco.com/scrollers-drill/

I highly recommend it!

Edited March 13, 2018 by Frank Pellow

[Woodmaster1]

+ on Frank's suggestion the Seyco scrollers drill works great.

[Bpardue]

If I could make a suggestion. If you are working towards doing intarsia, I would get a Dremel with a flexible wand that can be used in shaping for intarsia. Dremel make a drill press attachment that you can get for drilling holes as well. When I started my primary sander for intarsia was a Dremel but within a year or so I took a 6" variable speed bench grinder and converted it to a horizontal flexible drum sander by buy the conversion kits from Judy Gale Roberts website. Between the bench grinder & 2 conversion kits I have around $175 into it versus 4-500 for the dedicated sander.

Just my 2 cents