Pillar drill

[Paul Rochdale]

Bench mounted pillar drill - what's the general opinion of these? Cheap junk just waiting to go wrong, or perfectly substantial enough for motorcycle/DIY jobs? There are a number under £50; which are worth looking at and which should be avoided? Thanks.

 

[Bear]

I've had the same cheap one for over 20 years. It hasen't seen a lot of use but it has let me do jobe which would otherwise be unrealistically difficult. As long as you remember you'r not buying a professional tool for mass production you should be fine.

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

one i had was junk...chuck was crap only 1/3 hp would stop dead under the slightest sign of a bit of tough metal bit ..... my handheld had more power.. but better than nothing if you have to drill a hole straight

 

[Big Den]

Had a £39 one for 5 years not that powerful but as long as you don't expect too much it will do fine for the coin

 

[(RIP) ugg]

the bench drill on the end of the bench is from nettos , cost £25 in the sale..


It has served me well,ive drilled 1/2 " steel flat bar on slowest gearing...
towed a bit ,but i used coolant with a miller drill bit , did the job ok.

every day work like 5 mm ally or stainless is a doddle

just make sure ye check the drive belt wheel's , they can sometimes work loose




well worth the money if ye use them regularly enough to justify the cost, with jobs done the drill will eventually pay for itself


ugg

 

[ian6760]

Same here, I know of a cheap one that is used nearly every day in a printers workshop. It has a flexi-drive on it with a sanding disc, or it is also used to drill signs and fixing bars. Not hard use, but it has alot of use. The thing must be over 15 years old, never missed a beat, it has had 3 or 4 new belts, but thats it.

It was £40.00 15 years ago!

 

[Paul Rochdale]

Thanks a bunch. I feel happier going for a cheapy on ebay now, unless someone here has one they're getting rid of?

 

[Shep]

I use a cheapish chinese pillar drill, it works OK for most things, the big drawback for most Pillar Drills IMO come when drilling sheetmetal and the tendency for the drill to pull itself through, this is made worse if there is slack in the rack and pinion that moves the drill up & down. I was lucky to be able to have a choice of drills so I chose the best one. Still its nowhere near as good as a proper engineering quality drill.

Horses for courses really

Good luck

Shep

 

[ebbo]

For occasional use it’s going to be very hard to beat a cheap Chinese drill, but if you do want better and have patience you could look out for an old British made pillar drill from years back like the FOBCO Star. (If you can find a decent one, they can clean up really well)

 

[(RIP) ugg]

if ye have enough reddies ye could always use a lil one like this



















































ugg

 

[D6]

oi!!!! thats my drill

 

[(RIP) ugg]

a know

i just borrad it for the photo

ill bring it back later

just need a 500 tonn forklift

ugg

 

[Paul Rochdale]

I'm going to have a go at getting one of these, an American-made Nu-Tools N-7B, better I think than the usual stuff.

 

[STUBBS]

i picked one up from a school clearence sale many years ago still going strong

 

[Paul Rochdale]

Crikey, it went for about £108, and without a plug or V-belt to see it running. The search goes on.