Decent pillar drill for cheap

[LePhuronn]

Yo.

Turns out I'm lacking some precision with my existing drills when working with aluminium, so I'm wanting a pillar drill. I don't have a lot of money, so we're looking at £100 really.

I've been looking at some Clarke pillar drills on eBay which have been getting some good reviews for DIY/hobbyist level jobs (I don't think 3mm holes in MDF and 1.5mm thick aluminium could be considered anything more than hobbyist), but don't have much of a frame of reference.

Hit me up, glorious modders, what pillar drills are you guys using? Recommendations?

Cheers.

 

[lude1962]

all the cheap ones appear basically the same design
depending upon size of the ally you're drilling you'll also need a drill vice and t bolts(or something similar)

are you using a punch first before drilling (will stop the drill bit skidding before it bites)

£90 includes vice, decent power

 

[LePhuronn]

Cheers

I am punching before drilling, but my main issue is a dodgy wrist since breaking it a few months back and I can't drill perfectly vertically, which will cause issues when I start bunching holes together and (possibly) remaking one of my case pieces.

 

[Uncle Petey]

Yeah, the sub £100 ones are all pretty much the same.
I got this one a couple of years ago and it's fine for the price.

 

[LePhuronn]

Cheers Uncle Petey.

It's mainly being used for 2.5mm, 3.2mm and 4mm holes in 1.5mm thick aluminium and 18mm thick MDF.

Essentially a free drill vice too which is nice, but it looks pretty flimsy.

 

[Uncle Petey]

Nah, the vice is pretty solid - again, for the price that is.

As for the drill, you don't get those super tight bearings that you get when you pay a lot more and it may sound a little rattly, but it'll happily do the things you listed.

I've used it drill those kind of holes in up to 4mm alu amongst other things and it's all good.

 

[LePhuronn]

Cool.

Rattles I can handle. I may have 2-4 other projects planned (but no money to do it ) but they won't be complex, heavy-duty or frequent enough to justify buying an Axminster

 

[Rroff]

I have the Guild 350W pillar drill - at the time they were like £55 (cost me £5 as I was given some vouchers for hitting a target at work heh) its kind of basic and sounds a bit rattly but does ok for moderate jobs - but given the price there isn't much elegance or sophistication in it with a lot of things you have to adjust by hand rather than having convenient buttons, etc. and took a bit of assembling as well.

 

[gazzaman2k]

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/4769639 theyre good for the money