Drill press/harbor freight/40bucks!

Tod Lowe

Tod Lowe

Well-Known Member
I got a coupon book from harbor freight yesterday and it has a drill press coupon to buy for 39.99.
Thought I would pass this along to anybody wanting one bit didn't have the dough Ray me.
 
I have a couple of those set up permanent. One always has an 82degree counterbore and the other has a tapmatic. I also convert the key chuck to a hand chuck.
 
BossDog said:
I have a couple of those set up permanent. One always has an 82degree counterbore and the other has a tapmatic. I also convert the key chuck to a hand chuck.
Click to expand...

Is the hand chuck as good or better then the keyed?I stayed away from the hand chucks. I understand the ease of changing bits but was concerned with the bits slipping.
 
usually the cheapest hand chuck is quite a bit better than the cheap key chuck those HF drill presses. They will get just as tight as you need them to be. NO KEY TO MISPLACE. They are very quick and easy to use. Highly recommended. Enco has them on sale often. Those HF drill presses use a Jacobs 33 or JT-33 chuck - NOT a J-3. (you should verify this first - it could have changed but I doubt it) You can find a hand chuck on sale for $25 to $30 all the time.

It may be a HUGE surprise to many, (it was to me) that the only thing holding a Jacobs type drill chuck in place is a tapered cone shaped shaft that fits into a socket on the chuck and just the friction holds it in place. (some industrial drill presses have locking shaft chucks)

To remove a chuck, you use a drift key and tap it between the top of the chuck and the drill press frame. The drift key is a wedge shape. I don't have one so I just use a big screwdriver. Place a rag on top of the press table so when the chuck comes loose and drops, it land on the rag.
 
BossDog said:
usually the cheapest hand chuck is quite a bit better than the cheap key chuck those HF drill presses. They will get just as tight as you need them to be. NO KEY TO MISPLACE. They are very quick and easy to use. Highly recommended. Enco has them on sale often. Those HF drill presses use a Jacobs 33 or JT-33 chuck - NOT a J-3. (you should verify this first - it could have changed but I doubt it) You can find a hand chuck on sale for $25 to $30 all the time.

It may be a HUGE surprise to many, (it was to me) that the only thing holding a Jacobs type drill chuck in place is a tapered cone shaped shaft that fits into a socket on the chuck and just the friction holds it in place. (some industrial drill presses have locking shaft chucks)

To remove a chuck, you use a drift key and tap it between the top of the chuck and the drill press frame. The drift key is a wedge shape. I don't have one so I just use a big screwdriver. Place a rag on top of the press table so when the chuck comes loose and drops, it land on the rag.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great info. I do have a cheap press and the keyed chuck is a pita sometimes.
 
One thing to consider on any drill press purchase is something I had no idea of until I started needing true accuracy: runout. I learned that word here when my problem surfaced. :) What it means is, the chuck wobbles. This hasn't been a problem for me building fixed blade knives but it's wholly unsuitable when you need to drill a truly square hole.

I'm cobbling together a test system I can use to check this before I buy my next (preferably cheap) drill press. This is nothing more than a dial indicator running against a section of drill rod in the chuck. Now that Tracy mentioned it, I'll also spring for a decent hand chuck.
 
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