Unicorn drill press?

[KyleD]

I was looking through a Northern tool catalogue and noticed a sub $600 Klutch (I think a Northern tool house brand) drill press with a 1.5 hp motor, 6" quill travel, variable speed adjuster, and most importantly a split quill housing. A split housing allows the quill slop to be adjusted and allows a good way to lock the quill anywhere along its travel. 
 I was thinking they had actually addressed the weak points of most cheap drill presses available out there until I noticed the speed range. Thats when the euphoria came to a crashing end. Lowest speed is 600 RPM. This is a deal breaker. Why would someone want a drill press with 1.5 hp? to swing big bits. Big bits require slow PRM- slower than 600. Also, I don't know how old the Northern tool catalogue is but it can't have come in the mail more than a couple of years ago and now when I try to find the drill press online it seems to not be available anywhere.
 I feel for the people out there who want a good sturdy drill press without spending well north of $1000 or being lucky enough to find an older one made when they seemed to know what was needed as far as construction and basic features are concerned.

[cams2705]

I was looking through a Northern tool catalogue and noticed a sub $600 Klutch (I think a Northern tool house brand) drill press with a 1.5 hp motor, 6" quill travel, variable speed adjuster, and most importantly a split quill housing. A split housing allows the quill slop to be adjusted and allows a good way to lock the quill anywhere along its travel. 
 I was thinking they had actually addressed the weak points of most cheap drill presses available out there until I noticed the speed range. Thats when the euphoria came to a crashing end. Lowest speed is 600 RPM. This is a deal breaker. Why would someone want a drill press with 1.5 hp? to swing big bits. Big bits require slow PRM- slower than 600. Also, I don't know how old the Northern tool catalogue is but it can't have come in the mail more than a couple of years ago and now when I try to find the drill press online it seems to not be available anywhere.
 I feel for the people out there who want a good sturdy drill press without spending well north of $1000 or being lucky enough to find an older one made when they seemed to know what was needed as far as construction and basic features are concerned.

I wonder what the drive and spindle shaft sizes are ... are they the same as other models of more expensive drill presses?  If so, could you just replace the pulleys and get the slower speed you're looking for?  For reference I have the large 18" Delta drill press (18-900) that has a 170-3000 RPM range.  It uses 3 pulleys (motor, spindle, and center) with two belts to give a wide range of speeds.

[TDKPE]

I have a 6-pole (1200 rpm) motor, 1/2 hp I think, that I used on my 4-speed wood lathe for a while, but even that wasn’t slow enough for some rough work.  So I swapped it out for a 1 hp 3-phase motor that I run off a VFD.  Muuuuch better.

I’m saving the 6-pole motor for a DP or something.  Too heavy for my light duty radial arm DP though.

[kurt18947]

I have a 6-pole (1200 rpm) motor, 1/2 hp I think, that I used on my 4-speed wood lathe for a while, but even that wasn’t slow enough for some rough work.  So I swapped it out for a 1 hp 3-phase motor that I run off a VFD.  Muuuuch better.

I’m saving the 6-pole motor for a DP or something.  Too heavy for my light duty radial arm DP though.

VFDs are real useful on Drill presses. I have a cheapish Delta with the high lowest speed. I swapped out the 5 step pulley for a single groove pulley and VFD. Set the max frequency for 90 Hz but have never used that top speed. My uses (large forstner bits, fly cutters) require lower speeds rather than high speeds.

[KyleD]

I am fortunate to have a Powermatic 1150 drill press built in 1963. It is a beast. Three phase 3/4hp motor and a two speed transmission as part of the motor then variable sheave drive to the MT-2 quill. With the converter permanently set on 60 hertz it has a speed range of 75 to 1200 RPM. I recently had to drill a series of fourteen 3" holes on 1" plate steel. Two and a half straight hours, a bit of rapid tap lubricant, the drill press at 120 rpm and the holes were all done using the same bimetal hole saw. Judging by the amount of heat I was producing at this PRM I am sure that running the hole saw any faster would have burnt the teeth up.
 I realize not everyone needs a drill press that swings down to 75RPM but 600PRM is too fast for at least half of the forstner bits I own. I owned a Delta 17-960 drill press before the Powermatic and part of the reason I picked it was the long quill feed and low (175) RPM. Unfortunately it was shoddily built. The quill had .025" slop in the fully extended bore with no way to adjust and the JT-33 taper was sloppily machined insuring at least .015" run out using a brand new Jacobs arbor and a known accurate Albrecht chuck. All these slops made for terrible vibrations when trying to drill large holes in metal.
 There just seems to be nobody out there right now that offers a reasonably priced drill press with the right features for a garage shop fabricator/ woodworker.

[Mike in kc]

You might look at Harbor Freight's DP's, most all $250 + models go down to around 220 RPM.   Not sure about which, if any, have a split quill adjust.   I bought a 13" floor model in '89 and its been worth every penny I spent on it.

[KyleD]

You might look at Harbor Freight's DP's, most all $250 + models go down to around 220 RPM.   Not sure about which, if any, have a split quill adjust.   I bought a 13" floor model in '89 and its been worth every penny I spent on it.

I have looked at the HF drill presses and they seem to be made every bit as good or bad as the boatload of name brand manufacturer offerings.