Harbor Freight Drill press

[Leester]

FYI, since a drill press is pretty much a must any more Harbor Freight has there reg 79.99 bench 5 speed drill press on sale for 39.99. This is ONLY at a HF store. If you don't get there adds you should be able to get the coupons on there web page. It is model 38119/44506 and says it's good till 9/7/09. I have had this unit for 3+ years and for the money it's fine.

[Shultzie]

FYI, since a drill press is pretty much a must any more Harbor Freight has there reg 79.99 bench 5 speed drill press on sale for 39.99. This is ONLY at a HF store. If you don't get there adds you should be able to get the coupons on there web page. It is model 38119/44506 and says it's good till 9/7/09. I have had this unit for 3+ years and for the money it's fine.

Just last week I was stopped into HF and noticed this drill press. They had two on display...and after pulling the handle all the way down on the first one....and tested it for "the usual suspect shaft sloppity wobblie-gobblins.
One had considerable more slopp that the other one. Close enought for Government work..but suspect on both models...and if you aren't too picky about holes that don't have to stay in tolerances too closely, then YES! THIS PRESS would serve the purpose intended? However I didn't have a chance to check for vibration and ease of speed belt changes...etc.
Thus again proving...
One model builders trash....is another modelers treasure

[Ralph Wenzel (d)]

I agree with Lee (and Shultzie, too) - You can't beat it for the price. I have a big Delta Variable-speed DP, too, but it lives in the garage. The HF unit lives in my shop.

[Scott Jenkins]

I have a HF drill press bench top model for the money you cannot beat it as I have spent most of my life in front of a metal working mill or lathe and the occasional drill press I can safely say that the HF unit is quite acceptable for hobby work. I have a Rockwell Delta floor model that about 70 years old but the little HF rig gets used the most for hobby work. One item you might consider building to use with the drill press is a fence much like you see on table saws it really makes drilling a series of holes in a straight line a breeze and does guarntee some accuracy in the process.

Scott

[W.D. Roland]

Have bought quite a bit of HF stuff in recent years.
Slightly lacking in quality but very usable and the price can not be beat!

Have a small combo milling machine lathe from harbor freight that is great for model airplane parts and the smaller race car parts. Only problem is not being able to figure out the calibration marks! not US or metric?

The most powerful smoothest running 1/2in drill I have ever owned is from HF.

David
51336

[Larry Cunningham]

Aren't most of the "quality" power tools being made in China now anyway?

L.

"If the Earth really were your mother, she would grab you with one rocky hand and hold you under
water until you no longer bubbled." -Kathleen Dean Moore

[don Burke]

Have bought quite a bit of HF stuff in recent years.
Slightly lacking in quality but very usable and the price can not be beat!

Have a small combo milling machine lathe from harbor freight that is great for model airplane parts and the smaller race car parts. Only problem is not being able to figure out the calibration marks! not US or metric?

The most powerful smoothest running 1/2in drill I have ever owned is from HF.

David
51336

The HF and most of the chinese mini and micro mills use a 16 pitch lead screw on the cross slides.  I rev = .0625.  Micromark and Little Machine Shop sell conversion kits that have a more normal 20 pitch thread, .050/rev.  I have the 1/16 screws in mine, but I also have digital readouts on
all the axes.  Don't have to worry about the weird pitch.

[Robert Schroeder]

Hey Larry,

Truth be told, most everything is being made By the chi-coms.  Almost every one wants "cheap" and we're getting it.

Bob

[W.D. Roland]

The HF and most of the chinese mini and micro mills use a 16 pitch lead screw on the cross slides.  I rev = .0625.  Micromark and Little Machine Shop sell conversion kits that have a more normal 20 pitch thread, .050/rev.  I have the 1/16 screws in mine, but I also have digital readouts on
all the axes.  Don't have to worry about the weird pitch.

I will check that out Don.


The full round I could live with.
The increment marks have me stumped!
The X feed the logitudinal and the vertical are all divided into different increments of something!
With out looking I thik one is .10 one .12 and on .15!!

Have to do lots of measuring turn a feed and hope I didn't go to far.

My old south bend screw lathe and the vertical mill are all US--that's a relief!

David
51336

[john e. holliday]

Have been using my litle HF DP ever since I first heard about it.  Made jigs to hold multiple drilling jobs like the handles I made for MBS Model Supply.  I have not changed speeds on mine yet.  It is as it came out of the box.  Mine is quiet and no noticable wobble as I can tell.  Of course I am not a machinest either.  Worht every penny I paid for it.  Just recently picked up their 3/8's drill which is light and works.  Have fun,  DOC Holliday

[W.D. Roland]

Bet that it is better than my craftsman drill press!


WMW
51336

[Dennis Moritz]

After shopping around I purchased a HF 6" dial calipers for $20. Useless. It's going back. Gears had the crunchies, readings, needless to say, were fictional.

[Scott Jenkins]

I second the notions about the calipers be 4" , 6" , or 8" mechanical or digital. If you own a set of these then just run a little check take a good micrometer not HF's that you are sure of the readings on and grab a few head shims of varying thicknesses and check them with the mic then with the HF calipers. Try not to grimace too much about the disparity in the reading between the two of them. Granted you may run across a set that actually work well but the probability is low. And remember that any set of calipers should not be trusted with any dimension less than .005". Most any metrologist will tell you not to trust them for really accurate work.

Scott

[Frank Sheridan]

I have taken my HF drill press, anchored to a bench, and turned the head 90 degress so it extended out from the edge of the table and drilled holes in the flanges of my pickup truck axles while they stood on their end on the shop floor. A machine shop would have charged me more than the price of the drill press for the job.