Would you spend $1000 on this ? (Nova Viking Drill Press)

[C-Bag]

I’m with Projectnut, less electronics the better. I also see a drill press as got to have basic equipment and had my HD bench mount unit for long before my mill. For a while I thought my drill/mill made it obsolete until I added a cheap xy vise with prismatic jaw and it became so much quicker and easier to use than the mill. It became so indispensable I upgraded to the beast of bench drill presses and could not be happier. It doesn’t have reverse but I don’t have a tapmatic setup. The 2‘ radial arm, huge table with 40” of Z and mechanical varidrive belt system are brilliant. Truly an upgrade. All old HD cast iron and pretty much bullet proof.

 

[Shopsweeper]

If I planned on spending a bunch of money on a DP, I'd look for the nicest 20" Powermatic or Rockwell I could find.

I have no argument with this. I actually kept my big Powermatic for over a year to see if I would use it again after I got the Voyager. I did let it go but I may regret that someday since 'new' is not synonymous with 'enduring'.

 

[Mitch Alsup]

Yep - a bit like a running car a working colleague had "trouble" with. It had all the ingredients to burn fuel and make the wheels go around, but was turned into a chunk of scrap because another "electronic engine management unit" could not be found at a price lower than the value of the car.

That does not happen on a 57 Chevy or 65 Mustang.

 

[pontiac428]

I have a European market variant of the Wen DP. It has all the same features, but is the bench top version. I think I paid around 225 Euro for it. I love the variable speed (mechanical) and the inductive tachometer. The chuck it came with was übersh!t, but it has a MT2 taper, and I have lots of MT2 Jacobs chucks laying around. I keep thinking I'll sell this tool, but it's really convenient. I have a floor DP from HF that works, and a Powermatic 1200 that does everything that the other two DPs can do with more power and less runout.

If I planned on spending a bunch of money on a DP, I'd look for the nicest 20" Powermatic or Rockwell I could find.

My Powermatic 1200 was good to go the minute it hit my floor, by that point already 40 years in age. It cost a drive-thru total more than what I paid for the Wen.

That does not happen on a 57 Chevy or 65 Mustang.

It happens to the ones that spend any time in my care. I spent years learning all types of carburetors inside and out, and now I just prefer to tweak software for bigger returns in power. To each their own...

 

[kb58]

I got rid of my drill press once I had the mill. The difference in drilling a hole is just amazing, without the wobbly loose spindle, never mind having the DRO so that the holes are accurately placed, finally. Nope, don't miss the drill press one bit. My point is that once you get up to that price level for a drill press, may as well start looking at used mills and get way more for your money, and far more use.

 

[graham-xrf]

I would keep the drill press simple. Maybe make some fixtures for the table for work positioning and holding and that gets you 99% of what is needed. Then, with the money saved and other money saved by not getting that shiny new F250 or whatever, get a mill too.

Or if you really like the electronic one get that. The tapping feature sounds a little drool worthy.

I think you mean that "new old F250 , rust and chippings protected under, resto-mod with heat & sound insulation added, + engine rebuild".

I must admit, seeing a drill tap go down, reverse and come up, clear chips, poke down again, is a bit spooky. Wait till we get the extra gadget that blows the hole clean and and brusshes a dab of cutting oil onto the tap.

Are we almost in some kind of no-mans land between feeling great getting close up entangled with the machine as we apply our hard-won skills to working the metal, and to letting it all go CNC robotic?

It's creeping up on us! Even the damn car, not content with "speaking" to me (re: seat belt), will soon be driving itself down the least congested route!

 

[graham-xrf]

I know nothing about that specific machine, but I've been casually DP shopping and the general question is one I have been wondering about myself when looking at vintage Craftman or similar for $200 or less, and higher end brands upwards of $1000.

General build quality, size and variable speed by dial vs changing belts I can understand, but beyond that I'm not sure there is anything really worth paying extra for, particularly if you already have a mill.

Agreed. When the price between very similar looking machines runs from less than £160 to more than £450, it gets very hard to come up with a scale of value points to help decide. Even if you shelled out $600, it still might not really be "quality" to match the price.

 

[pontiac428]

I think you mean that "new old F250 , rust and chippings protected under, resto-mod with heat & sound insulation added, + engine rebuild".

+ modern electronic fuel injection

 

[NortonDommi]

As a Kiwi I am proud of Nova. Don't know what they are like now since they were bought out but a friend has a DVR3000 wood lathe and loves it. He makes all sorts of stuff for selling in local farmers markets and has never had any problems that I am aware of. https://www.teknatool.com/

 

[vecair]

It's all a no belts direct drive servo-motor tech. . (and I need a drill press)!
This kit is clearly aimed at woodwork, although I am sure it can drill holes in metal OK.
From budget to posh, one can get drill presses starting at less than a fifth of the price, with fairly decent setups costing a bit over half.
The lad himself is not getting rid of his existing machine, despite it's annoyances. The old press drills holes just fine, and is to be moved into his metal shop.

There is lots about it's operation that has me nodding .. "Yeah - that's nice"!
There is something else in me saying "Ya know.. for that much, I might get a reasonable little mill-drill".

While I do get it that we have among us high-skill hardball metal kings who might not be too taken by some of the plastic theatrics, there are some subtle points. To servo-regulate torque to keep the rotation speed constant might or might not be good for the hole cut quality. I have no idea how good is a constant torque cut, if it can do it, even slowing down to a regulated limit stall. I guess it might save a few broken taps. The video does, of course, lead on to others which go into these products in greater detail - runout measurements, etc.

[Edit: Apparently it has some kind of smart tapping mode that periodically reverses to clear chips]

So - let's see what some HM members think.

There is a video that shows its tapping feature in metal as well. So no need for a tapping head as this will tap and then auto reverse. So not only a drill press but a tapping machine as well. Looks like a state of the art modern drill press with constant torque and all the bells and whistles, I like it!