Boring Machines Reviews

this machine is a dream come true to all of us who have to make precise hole patterns, fully programable, no more guessing where the hole is gonna end!

WoodOwl 09715 1 1/8" x 7-1/2" Tri-Cut Ultra Smooth Auger Bit

The quality of this bit is 1st rate. Roll it on a smooth table and there is zero distortion. The business end is very sharp and the flutes are perfectly machined. It comes with a screw-on cap to protect the bit end, as well as a padded plastic case for the bit.

I had been using a spade bit to cut holes in treated 6x6 timbers. 1 1/8" is the perfect size for 3/4" steel pipe, which makes a great stake to hold the timbers in place. The spade bits were frustrating to use as they cut slowly. The chips would clog in the hole and stop the bit from cutting, and then it was difficult to extract the bit. The holes weren't very smooth, but for timbers, that wasn't all that important.

The WoodOwl bit is in a whole different league. It cuts very fast and makes a smooth hole. During the first few inches of hole cutting, chips are flying out from those triple flutes. As the hole gets deeper, chip flying slows down, and they start to accumulate in the bit's flutes instead. I use a Makita DA6300 1/2" right angle drill with this bit, because this tool has far more torque than my other drills. This torque is primarily due to the gearing and very low RPM's. At the 1200 RPM setting, the drill slows down due to chip accumulation, at about the 5" point in the hole. The bit had to be reversed out of the hole to clean off the chips before continuing; but unlike a spade bit, it quickly backs out of the hole. At the 300 RPM setting, which provides tremendous torque, the bit quickly cut all the way through a 6x6 without stopping.

This is a terrific bit, but you'll need a high torque drill for deep cuts.

As a professional woodworker moving to a new location, I was looking to save some money on a few tools when setting up my new shop. I purchased this drill press becasue the price was far cheaper than any other model with comparable features. Right out of the box the drill press had the typical flaws characteristic of most grizzly tools - pock-marked steel, imperfect threadings, loose pulleys, etc...
I was expecting most of these defects so I overlooked them and set the press up in my shop. After two years of use I can say that the drill press does drill holes but it is a highly inaccurate machine that is not a joy to use. The table is tough to adjust with accuracy, the 1/2 inch chuck frequently sticks and has a slight wobble, and the belts and pulleys are very hard to adjust for proper speed on the machine. Recently, the handles on the press have stripped and come loose.
I could go on and on with all the minor querks and defects of this machine but I will just say that if you a weekend handyman looking to drill a few holes now and then then this machine will do fine. If you, however, are looking for a serious tool that will help you raise your woodworking skills to the next level, spend the extra money now and get a JET, DELTA, or POWERMATIC. You will be happy you did.

I would have given 5 stars but I was missing the worm gear to adjust the table when it arrived. A quick call to customer service and that had the part out to me in 3 days. For the price you can't beat this drill press. A solid smooth running machine with plenty of power to get the job done. The added light is a blessing and I love the Delta/Jet type depth stop.

Great drill press. Easy assembly, low noise and almost zero vibration. Set screw for collar ring was missing but they sent me one within a week. This is a heavy unit so it must be very well mounted ( I used two 4 x 4 3/4 inch MDF mounted to the pallet the unit was delivered on ). Also used with sanding drum with no issues at all. Worm gear for the table is a little sloppy ( side to side movement ) but this has not been an operational issue. Threaded post and hub style depth stop included on unit. This is a great deal for the money.

I've used this machine for over a year now. And I really like it. As a drill press for wood, it gives me very acurate and square holes. This is very important in my business where accuracy is key. I use a wooden table and fence that I use over the mill bed.

I use it also to do light milling with aluminum. It does a satisfactory job with that. I'm happy with the results. I think that if I were to do only milling and I had to do complicated parts, this mill would not be enough. Running the table back and forth manually can get pretty boring.

There is only one thing that I do not like and that is to raise the head, I have to loosen the clamp that holds the head from moving right or left. So when I raise the head, I can't garantee that I'm still where I want to be. As a result, I have to recenter my work.

The machine is very heavy. Jet installs an eye bolt on top so that you can hoist it up onto your stand. I like this very much. I built a solid stand for it out of 2x6's and that has been very stable.

The mill/drill has been very reliable. I use it every day and I have had no maintenance problems.

As a drill press with wood, you'll not find anything better. As a mill with metal, it's pretty good. And for the price you are paying. This is very good value.

Jet machines are quite functional.

A milling machine is the heart of a machine shop.

If this is your first milling machine, expect to
spend and equal amount on the tooling you will need
to make it work. A clamping kit, an assortment of end mills
chucks and holders, a vice, a rotary table, an indexing head
and more will all be required to round out the purchase.

Horesepower translates into speed of material removal.
Bigger bits require greater power.

This is just a starter mill and you will want to upgrade
to something costing ten or twenty times as much when you
want to do production work as this one is all hand cranked
and requires a skilled operator to run it.

Did I mention that it cuts wood etc.? There are even machinable
ceramics which it can handle.

Again, expect to double the price (as a ballpark est.) on any
machine tool by the time it you are done. And plan to put it on
a solid foundation, not in your livingroom.

I use mine (a Jet VMM626) to make thermoplastic injection molds.

Works great for large items, but not so well for everyday drilling operations. The chuck cannot be lowered close to the table to drill small items.

I haven't had a chance to really use this machine yet. After assembling and turning the machine on, I am disappointed.Due to the excessive vibration, I am considering a heavy steel work table to mount this "hoppin hunk of grizzly" too, since it won't stay in one place very long.The belt is obviously too short. The tension adjustment is not centered between the two pivot points, which causes the motor to twist when tension is applied. Bottom line is, this machine needs some re-design. If I could rate it below one star, I would. I was wrongly under the impression that Grizzly tools were industrial grade. I don't believe I'll be buying anything else with the Grizzly name on it. First impressions are lasting.

Cons. This drill press is a real noisy growler(even without a load). The motor runs hot- so don't make a belt adjustment or speed change until it cools down. The table center hole is not in alignment with the chuck (the table is too far forward by an eighth of an inch. A half inch bit should pass through this hole when the table is centered).
Pros. Nice chuck. Good return spring. Low price.

I've owned this DP for 2 years and I have gotten a lot of use out of it. In fact this is my most worked tool in my shop. I am mostly a hobby electronics DIYer. I use this DP to bore holes in aluminum cases (typically 1/8" thick). It failed miserably on thin steel but that could have been a number of things not the DP.

I have really no complaints given the price. I think this is built better than you would expect for $60. It isn't plastic and it is quite heavy, however China's QC isn't up to par with what american hobbiest expect. It seems from lower posters that some have had variability. I haven't had any "growling". It does vibrate a little bit on turn on but quickly settles down.

My quibbles would be:
1) Depth to column really limits types of jobs that can be done.
2) The plate's clamp down scheme stinks, takes two hands for sure to get it where you want. If you are going to use this DP often, get a crank type height adjustable plate.

But given the $60 cost, my quibbles are a bit unfair and it certainly has served it purpose and served me well.

This is my first tool purchase from Grizzly, and I am very disappointed with their customer service! In all the pictures and literature, including the manual that came with the dp, it shows a depth guage ring on the feed shaft. However, when I looked at the head unit, there wasn't a depth ring. Instead there was the ruler-type guage attached to the spindle. The problem with this is in order to attach the Mortising Accessory, you have to remove the depth guage...then you don't have a guage for mortising. I called customer service and at first they said sorry, too bad and there was nothing they could do. After complaining for a few minutes the tech consulted with a Supervisor and their solution was to send me the parts to change it to the advertised type...but I HAD TO PAY FOR THE PARTS! Now, it wasn't the price, just the principle. The parts cost a whole $4.00. I explained that after this experience, they would be losing me as a customer and they did't care. I would rather pay more money to purchase from another company with better customer service.

When shopping for my first woodworking drill press for my shop, I wanted something that was solid, powerful, reliable, and something that I wouldn't outgrow. I've grown tired of buying cheap and low-end machines and later wishing I had sprung for something better. I've also been disappointed in Delta's quality lately (my second choice), so I decided to try another brand. Having used this drill press on a project of mine for about a week now, I'm convinced this is the machine.

I received my drill press about a week after I ordered it. The box is too heavy to be handled by one person alone, but most people should be able to move it piece by piece once they've received it. Assembly is easy, but you will definitely need help mounting the head onto the column as the head is very heavy. This machine is quite a beast for a benchtop drill press -- be sure your workbench can handle the size and weight of this machine.

At 3/4 hp, this drill has more than enough power to drill through wood. In fact, it's sometimes hard to tell if your bit has punched through the bottom of the wood since the motor never seems to strain when drilling. You'd think a motor like that would create a lot of noise, but it's much lower than I had expected.

The only irritation I've had so far is Grizzly's addition of a depth stop gauge on the left side of the head. Now don't get me wrong, this is a fine addition, but they've removed the scale on the collar lock on the right side without removing any of the hardware. So essentially, you have two methods for a depth stop. The depth stop gauge on the left is easy to bend if you're not paying attention, so I'll be using the collar stop on the right after adding my own scale. (This change has not been incorporated into the manual yet.)

One interesting thing I discovered is that this model and the G7944 (the floor model) are identical, including the manual and dataplate on the head, except for three column parts. So for about $65, you can order the three column parts from Grizzly and convert this machine to the G7944 floor model (and vise versa) if you decide that better fits your needs in the future.

Overall, I've found this drill press to be an excellent machine and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Seems like a reasonable piece of equipment, but it was frustrating to setup and a few of the details seem to be poorly thought out.

* The manual omits important details and seems to refer to a earlier revision of the product.
* The oscillating feature seems cool, but they recommend that you remove the handles for safety reasons. This is big enough inconvenience, that I may not use that feature much.
* One of the nuts on the idler pulley was loose. It wouldn't drill through anything substantial until that was tightened.
* While the output shaft is quite true, the outside of the chuck appears to be slightly wobbly in operation. While it doesn't appear to affect the operation, it doesn't inspire confidence, either.
* The base looks particularly crude in its machining. It isn't a big issue, it just makes the drill press look cheap.

Some good safety features are the spring chuck key and the switch on the belt door.

I don't know why Amazon refers to this as a H0626. The box and manual called it a model W1668.

The press was well packaged and undamaged. The instruction and assembly manual did not completely match the drill press I received. I guess, if you can't figure out how to put it together, you shouldn't be using it anyway. I have a small shop. Everything is on casters. For my shop, it's perfect. Easy to operate, change drill speeds and engage the oscillating feature. It comes with a set of sanding drums. The mounting hardware doesn't hold on to the sanding drum very well, but it works. I added a 3/4" plywood deck to the adjustable platform for sanding and drilling larger stock. This helps in keeping your stock square to the drill or sanding drum. The oscillating feature works well, but you need to be careful how much pressure you place on the object you are sanding to keep from damaging the mechanism. Once you figure out the proper pressure on the sanding drum, the results are quite good. The extra money you pay for all the features is worth it.

The reviewer who wrote the review above must be trying to be funny. It doesn't make any sense. Please remove it.

The Delta 32-280 Boring bit is the most boring bit on the market. Even though smaller it is far superior to the 7mm boring bit. However you are limited to only boring 5mm holes to the right unless you turn your boring machine upside down. I highly recommend the Delta 32-280 5mm boring bit for all you boring woodworking projects.

I bought this machine because of three things, Lowest speed setting, EMO switch, and it was a floor standing. When it arrived the first thing I noticed was that the switch did not match what was pictured. So I call grizzly to find out if they shipped me the right tool. While I was waiting for there response I decided to do some investigating on my own and looking through there catalog I found a benchtop model that had the switch that was on my tool. THe speeds were also different so I decided to check the spindle speeds. Well low and behold the speeds did not match what was specified in the product liturature. So I call them back as tell them it looks like someone made a mistake and put the head of a different machine on my machine. After two months of emails and phone calls they stated due to cost cutting we decided to make one head for both tools, they didn't think a emo switch was that important......HEY did you not think to update the product liturature!!!!!!! At this point they are more than happy to refund my money but I tried to make a deal with them. I am in the market for an engine lathe and figured if they were going to refund my money they will be loosing over $1500 so I ask for a discount of $1000 off the purchase of another tool. I figure they could at least do something for all the deception. I'm told they won't do that but I can still just return my machine.

So here is the deal. The liturature posted on this machine is not correct, heck the picture they are using for advertising is not even the machine you will get (kind of like a car dealer showing you a car with a V8 but then sells you one with a V6 and says its the same.) SO in the end I end up getting a new sticker made to reflect the speeds of the maching but they couldn't even get that right and I've just given up.

I WOULD NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY AGAIN.

In fairness it is a decent machine and if you can get over the lying and deception done by this company then it will work. Here are the speeds this machine will actually do. Notice the huge gaps after 400 and 1200.
145,205,255,310,410,480,870,1150,1600,1290,2000,2580 RPM
These speeds are not listed in a nice neat order on the sticker they seem to be randomly thrown together so it is a PIA when changing speeds.

The customer service is terible everything has to go through email with washingtion and takes FOREVER to get any answers.

Besides this tool is made in China