Bench / Pillar Drills

#Chri5# · 24 Mar 2016 at 16:15

I want to get a bench drill for the garage as I'd like to attempt some wood-working projects.

A number of projects I've been looking need to drill holes (for dowels) in 20+ pieces of timber. Obviously there needs to be a degree of accuracy so they all line up! Hand drilling would look to be a called bodge.

I've looked at Machine Mart and there's a raft of choice, with a lot of models overlapping in price. Do any of the brands offer better quality then others? MM stock Draper, Clarke, Scheppach and Record Power.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/c/drill-presses-magnetic-drilling-systems/

I've also looked at Axminster (who also sell Jet branded models), though the Hobby series appears to be EOL.

I do subscribe to "buy cheap, buy twice" - what does spending £200 get you against spending £100? It's not going to be get huge amounts of use but I do want to it work when needed, not need faffing with!

Mark A · 24 Mar 2016 at 17:25

I think they are all pretty similar and all made in China. I ended up going for a Sealey model as there seemed to be a decent supply of spares for them.

The more you pay you get more speeds, which are useful for drilling different metals and more powerful motors. The more expensive models have a round table, which must be advantageous over the standard square table, but i'm not sure why.

It's worth looking on ebay, I got mine for a much lower price than they were going for new.

EDIT: Oh and some you can fit a morticer attachment if that would be useful to you, so maybe worth paying a bit more for that feature.

Snaggle · 24 Mar 2016 at 18:15

if you have room for a floorstanding one this is a lovely drill and well worth the cash http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-hobby-series-ah16frd-floor-radial-drill-505202

Makhaira · 24 Mar 2016 at 18:24

Personally I'd buy second hand - a decent bench drill will last for an incredibly long time, and they're relatively easy to get hold of. The main thing to watch for is slop in the main barrel - fully extend the head and check for any movement at all.

I've got an old Sealey that I suspect is nearly as old as me, and works flawlessly.

The main things you will pay for are a) tightness of the head, and b) durability before too much play works into the mechanism.

#Chri5# · 24 Mar 2016 at 22:08

Thanks all - will have a read around on the morticer option, could be something useful in the future

Mark A · 24 Mar 2016 at 23:00

http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuilder.asp?id=20&method=mViewProduct&productid=6944

Heres the Sealey one and it tells you which pillar drill models it fits. Other makes will probably offer the same feature. I've yet to try one, but I'll get one at some point as it has to be easier than using a router to make mortices which is what I currently do.