Posted by cush66
on September 7, 2008, 21:21:14
67.49.157.145
As most of you old timers know I have been looking for a drill press with specific features ever since I came to this board. A few of us here know how long that has been. Try as I might, I couldnt find a US or European one new or used that wouldnt cause me to refinance my house and one that if I had to buy it elsewhere, wouldnt kill me on the shipping. I have been looking at one at the local Woodcraft Store here for about a year and no one seemed to be buying it even though it was on sale. Come to find out, the reason was because no one wanted a 3/4" chuck and the store told them that there was no smaller chuck readily available since it was a MT3. The store even told me it was only for wood and that the one I needed for metal was the one next to this one, thousand dollars, digital, slowest speed 450. Anyway what I was looking for all these years was a heavy (weight) drill press, cast iron and steel, 1 HP motor, quill travel over 4 inches, large table with T slots, swing over 15 inches and a low end speed of 150. Well, there it was. A Rikon, Chinese made, 20" floor drill press. Cast Iron and steel with the handles even made of cast iron. 318 pounds, table with T slots 16 1/2" x 18 3/4", spindle travel 4 3/4", 1 HP motor and most important speed from 150 to 4200. Costing me 440 dollars and 120 dollars for them to deliever since I dont have any strong friends or a truck. Heres a funny part. I knew I could get a 5/8 chuck for smaller drill bits so I called Rikon on the East Coast. The sent me one for 89 dollars, MT3 made for the model drill press I bought. So actually, I bought the chuck first before I bought the drill press.
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