Pillar Drills/Drill Presses
Turbo Mini Forums

Rob H has been inspiring me and I feel the need to drill holes in everything that goes back onto my mini (if I ever get that far). So I'm thinking a pillar drill/drill press would be a usefull tool to have.

I'm on a budget of around £100. I've seen a Clarke one at MM which seems to tick most boxes.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/...rilling-systems

I guess the tilting table is the thing that seperates it from the next model down. It will only be getting occasional use and I won't be putting anything big like an engine block on it so it doesn't need to be floor standing or anything.

Does anybody have one of the Clarke ones? Are they any good/reliable? Can you recommend anything better within my budget?

Thanks

Check out Wickes and B&Q. They have very similar things and might be cheaper.

I seriously doubt it!

i have one of the budget clarke ones £40 iirc bought it about 8 years ago and still works a treat

The problem is in the specification - motor power, 245W....

Far too small.

I bought the Wickes equivilant (ages ago) and it is useless for twist drills above 13mm and just stops if you use a hole saw, even on aluminium.....

For the sort of hole I guesss you are thinking of, you need something with a more powerfull motor.

Also look at the slowest speed they will run at if intending to use hole saws.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Thanks Paul - Can't see any on the wickes/B&Q websites so I might go and have a look at the weekend.

What power motor would you recommend as a minimum Rod? Would this be more suitable:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/...rilling-systems

There's also one somewhere between the two with a 300W motor, but it's only £12 less so it makes sense to spend a few pounds more.

Just get the most powerful you can afford.
TBH my Wickes one has been great for 13 years now, it only struggles with over 1.5" holesaws but they can be done if I take my time with plenty of oil or I use my pistol drill

Paul

I seriously doubt it!

Paul is right as it will frustrate if you have a low power one.

Mine is 1hp, but you do have to be sure that whatever you are working on is well secured - if the drill picks up it takes no prisoners when it starts to turn the workpiece.

As Paul says, the most powerful you can afford.

TBH, with hole saws, it's a combination of motor power and how slow you can get the spindle speed down to as they just stop on torque (power divided by speed) so if hole saws are in your thoughts, look for one with low speeds too.

What lets my cheapo Wickes one down just as much as the small motor is it's not very low, lowest speed.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Thanks for the advice.

The second one I linked above has the highest power and the lowest speed so is a strong contendor. Will go and have a look what the usual DIY shops have to offer before deciding.

I guess I'll also be needing a drill vice then to keep my hands the same shape lol.

I hit very lucky and got a 1.5kw Grade Tools pillar drill on eBay for £30 including a pair of Jacobs chucks :) spend a few weeks searching under "buyer collects" and you should find something. Power wise too much is never enough.

Will do, thanks Rob

I got this one last year, has done everything ive asked it to so far...
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/44021/Power-...0V-Pillar-Drill

That is very good value, 500W and 9 speeds, the lowest being 280 RPM...

An intermediate pulley to achieve it....

I might go mad later tonight and buy one myself !!!

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

ar, i couldnt get a similar spec for the money it was on offer for about 68ish quid at the time too

That looks really good for the money. Cheers Anton.

Might be able to afford a table to sit it on at this rate...

If you buy one Rod, can you update on how good it is? I don't get paid until next friday...

we have one the same seems to do the job and was the best/cheapest around when we got one

does a block fit under it?

The entire drill is only 660mm tall so I would guess not. Personally I would want a floor standing one for drilling blocks

thats what I have been looking for, but very expensive and far and few between on ebay

I've just ordered the Screwfix 16mm, 500W motor one - time to throw away my old Wickes cheapo one and this will avoid me having to convert my lathe to a mill/drill every time I want to use a large holesaw - so we'll see what it's like (Screwfix "budget" item quality seems to vary batch to batch).

Re. the height, with with my old one I was lucky in that it used a "standard" diameter piece of tube for its column so I just put a slightly longer one in (it was all held together with grub screws) so if this one uses standard tubing, the same may be possible.
Obviously it becomes less rigid if you put a longer tube in as the taller ones would have a larger diameter tube by design.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

I think I'll be heading to screwfix next Sat then. That's if my arm has recovered. Why do spotwelders have to be so damn heavy??

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

mmm... that's piss poor! I feel a little guilty for instigating your waste of time...

Looks like I'm back onto the clarke one.

All the Clarke stuff I have bought has been of "reasonable" quality.

The thing I've found with Screwfix lately is they keep switching their "budget" brand.

A few years ago it was "Ferme" and came with a 3 year warranty. I have a fair bit of that stuff and only one failure (at 2.75 years) that was replaced without question and the replacement is still is in daily use.

Then they used "powerdirect" (or some similar name) and now it seems to be "Titan".

I should have been a bit more cautious as I bought a mitre saw from Screwfix under the "Titan" brand about 5 months ago.... after three weeks the baseplate fractured.

Screwfix just refunded without question, it seems like they work on the percentage basis, ie, very few people will complain even if it is crap and breaks...

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Most of my Clarke stuff has been OK, except my work bench. I could have made a better one from mechano. Even with pilot holes, 3 of the screws to hold the top down have snapped and half the draw runners have fallen of. I really wish I'd sent it back...