Jet JMD-18

coolidge

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Inbound my new drill press. Shopped for a used drill press, nothing of interest except an old Delta/Rockwell with a tiny table. Then shopped new drill presses, they lack the rigidity I need so I increased my budget and ordered this Jet and stand today.

md1.jpg
 
Cracked me up! Coolidge, you realize that you're setting the bar on basic machines a bit high, right? I can just see it now - the guys who own round column mill drills are thinking, "Hey, this guy is calling my milling machine a drill press!" (I happen to be one of those owners, by the way.)

The truth is that the design of the head on this machine is exactly the same as a standard drill press but with bigger components and castings. It is a beast of a drill press, that's for sure. It is also pretty decent at light milling, too, if you upgrade the bearings in it.
 
The biggest issue with using bench top round column mills as drill presses is the lack of headroom for taller work to fit under the spindle (also the slower setup time). If it wasn't for that I would just sell my drill press. A mill beats it in just about every other way. My floor model drill press stays for now, even with a knee mill on hand.
 
The biggest issue with using bench top round column mills as drill presses is the lack of headroom for taller work to fit under the spindle (also the slower setup time). If it wasn't for that I would just sell my drill press. A mill beats it in just about every other way. My floor model drill press stays for now, even with a knee mill on hand.

I agree, if I had a need or the room for a floor model drill press & a nice fancy one at that, something like the PM932D that jbolt has would be a good choice.

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/something-a-little-different.55567/
 
Cracked me up! Coolidge, you realize that you're setting the bar on basic machines a bit high, right? I can just see it now - the guys who own round column mill drills are thinking, "Hey, this guy is calling my milling machine a drill press!" (I happen to be one of those owners, by the way.)

The truth is that the design of the head on this machine is exactly the same as a standard drill press but with bigger components and castings. It is a beast of a drill press, that's for sure. It is also pretty decent at light milling, too, if you upgrade the bearings in it.

This is a hobby drill press...

md1.jpg


This is a hobby milling machine...

minimill2s1.jpg
 
I have already confirmed with Haas that it will fit under my garage door. With the 20 tool umbrella style tool changer, they don't offer the side mount tool changer on the mini mills anymore and when they did, it would not fit.
 
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