Sears 10" Drill pres

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harrzack

Harrzack
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Now that I have the LMS 5500, getting the head up and down is doable, but a bit of a chore. I've heard it is a good idea to have a drill press in addition to a mill. I've been looking at the Sears 10" bench drill press, and have seen a few good comments about it online. Moderately priced, small yet big enough for my range of light work.

My shop is in an apartment den, and after almost 4 years it is getting pretty crowded! I do have a space that could be a good location for a small press like the Sears... One of the PITA's of using the (small) mill as a drill press is the relative difficulty getting stuff under the chuck/drill.

So I'm thing of the Sears, and maybe upgrading the chuck with a decent keyless chuck. Or a Jacobs 14N Superchuck. After upgrading the chuck (which may not be necessary) would be the bearings. Prob not such an issue as with a mill, but something to consider. Any comments on the Sears 10"?
 
Sears/craftsman has ben going downhill for 20 yrs , ied chk CL and get a vintage US DPress
But that's just me. If you get that one it might take some tweaking to make it better.
 
One thing to watch out for with a drill press, especially a small one -
Check that the quill has a Morse (internal) taper. Many of the less expensive drill presses have a spindle that ends in a Jacobs taper, to which you directly mount the chuck. It's much easier to change chucks if there's a Morse taper. With a fixed Jacobs taper, the number of drill chuck choices can be limited. With a Morse taper, you can get whatever chuck you want, and buy the appropriate JT to MT adapter.

In addition, any damage to the Jacobs taper on the spindle of the drill press leads to unending frustration, as the chuck keeps loosening and falling off. I once had to use such a drill press when working in the scenery shop of a community theater. Bleah!
 
Keep your eyes peeled for a Delta DP-220. They're practically bulletproof.
 
hman said:
One thing to watch out for with a drill press, especially a small one -
Check that the quill has a Morse (internal) taper. Many of the less expensive drill presses have a spindle that ends in a Jacobs taper, to which you directly mount the chuck. It's much easier to change chucks if there's a Morse taper. With a fixed Jacobs taper, the number of drill chuck choices can be limited. With a Morse taper, you can get whatever chuck you want, and buy the appropriate JT to MT adapter.

In addition, any damage to the Jacobs taper on the spindle of the drill press leads to unending frustration, as the chuck keeps loosening and falling off. I once had to use such a drill press when working in the scenery shop of a community theater. Bleah!
Click to expand...
Only problem with a morse taper spindle on most drill presses is that it eats up several inches of height above the table; on a floor mounted machine, this is not much of a problem, but on bench mount machines it can be a problem.
 
Will keep an eye out for that Delta - hope it is a bench top model as I almost have no space available. I might be able to just squeeze in that Sears 10"...

I only do light, casual machine work, so doubt I'll damage the spindle taper... the Sears spindle does have a JT33 taper...
 
I have a small bench drill. (Dang, don't know how I got bold face) Mine is a cheapie of an unknown Chinese source and still works well after 15 or 20 years. Most drill presses are not a precision instrument. I would not consider upgrading the chuck. I'd save my money for lathe or mill tooling
 
Jt ,is the Jacobs taper for the chuck , spindle should be MT 2-3-4-5 ,some craftsman are screw on
 
You can't possibly drill a hole unless you have a great drill press.

Not really.

Before I retired and spent too much time on this stuff I needed a drill press. I went to Lowes and bought a Chinese made Skil that looks very similar to the Sears model you're looking at. It worked fine. It drilled the holes I needed to drill without any undue inconvenience. Considering your space limitations that should be as good a choice as any. I've since gotten two old Atlas bench top models and a Taiwanese floor model. They make holes too. I can fit larger items on them and they have more power and one has more speeds.

Your bench top mill will drill more precise holes than any of my drill presses. Drill presses are generally easier and quicker to use.

Buy it if you want it and can afford it.
 
Charles - no doubt the mill will be the "accuracy king". I was thinking of the small press as a matter of convience and and more space beneath the chuck. Plus a lot of drilling doesn't require the mill accuracy - just a hole where the prick punch made the mark.

Alan R.
 
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