Purchase of Drill press for Parts

[Peter Menningen]

My previous post about needing a motor for my recent purchase of a jeweler's lathe. along with a motor pulley  I did some independent pricing and the cost for the combination 1/3HP  was going to run for new about $135 delivered to Maui. I looked up alternatives that might make sense. the one that came to mind was a  small table drill press. Small sized motor and possibly even a pulley. I found out that WEN, Black&Decker and Dewalt all had suitable candidates. I checked Home Depot and Lowes to get a visual and check the pulley and belt as well as motor mount.  To my surprise the drill presses of this size all used the3L profile V - belt that my lathe used and all had either four or five steps on it.

I started the normal internet search for one of them  E-Bay and amazon because the cost on Island ran about $130+     

I thought I found a steal on E-bay but the buyer called back  the purchase because of shipping costs the price was $50with free shipping when the shipping was calculated it ran $140 ( he waas used to shipping flat rate USPS 

I changed over to Amazon  (Prime member) Smile donor to Maui Makers) I found this drill at $79.99 with free shipping 

http://www.amazon.com/WEN-4208-8-Inch-Speed-Drill/dp/B00HQONFVE  The price has since gone up. 

When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised at the quality level at this price and size. My past caught up withme and I measured the spindle runnout at the taper w/o chuck  It measured at 0.001" total. With a good 0" to 3/8" chick it would make a good drill for model and circuit board work.

The head is cast iron, the column is about 2" and very nicely ground,  It is better than any one we have for small work.

Since I did purchase to take apart  I started the disassembly and was surprised by the quality of engineering and execution of the tool

Little things  

• Covers over the spade terminals at the switch, 
• Molded plastic cord holders that use machine screws and nuts rather then sheet metal screws,
  
• Plastic washers between belt cover and frame to help cut down noise and vibration
• 2" quill travel
• Jacobs taper chuck 33 (standard) 
• Proper machine finishes for parts. 

If someone is looking for a small drill press on a budget even for the $100it is a good deal. 

As for the"leftover" parts I have plans for those  The motor , pulley and possibly the V belt will go to the Lathe it will be coming to the space. The head, column will be used to create a tap Guide 

Last item in this list 

The base is going to Laura for the robot arm

The specs of the new Tap Guide will be  Table sixe 20" X 20"  series 15 80/20 aluminium extrusion  clearance height  can be up to 15" if I don't cut the column Taps will be held in chuck for now 

These are really useful devices for project building when threaded holes are.being used. In our printed parts we do this alot think of being able to open a printed hole ina round part (setscrew) with a tap drill size by hand and then following it with the tap w/o changing the setup