Drill Presses Reviews

I ordered the 4-ft and 8-ft Tru-Grips to use as plywood cutting guides. I almost didn't order the 24" variety, thinking I wouldn't use it very much. But, I decided it might come in handy, so I ordered it.

My initial hesitation was well founded--I don't often reach for the 24" guide when I'm cutting plywood, as the 48" variety can handle smaller boards, and it's usually already out.

But I found an unexpected use for the 24" clamp: it is an excellent cutting guide for my Bandsaw. I have a 14" Ridgid, but I suspect if would work on any bandsaw table 24" and smaller. Clamps on and off in seconds, and has a grip that won't waver. I have no need for a fancy (expensive) fence system--this clamp works great.

I should also say that I love all my Tru-Grip clamps. I don't know how I would ever cut a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood without my 8-ft clamp.

Great job Tru-Grip!

This it a good straight edge, although it is hard to clamp down all the way to prevent a little movement. I called the company, and they sent me an extension to the handle which makes it easier to clamp down. They were quick with their response.

These clamps are great. I got this one, the 24 inch clamp and tool guide, and I also purchased the 48 inch (total 50 some inches) Pro guide with T Slots. I first saw the 24 inch clamp and tool on Norm Abrams New Yankee workshop, and he used them for a router edge guide. Then I saw him make a quick mortising jig, out of two of them for the router. These Griset clamps are a dream. They meet the criteria of being easy, quick, and accurate to set up and use. The list of possible uses is enourmous.
For example, I needed to trim the ends of some MDF. I used one of these clamps, with a square, grabbed the rear attaching brace, snugged it up to the rear of the piece, and then gave the front lever a push, and it easily clamped firmly to the piece. I took out my Bosch Jig Saw, and the guide was so accurate, that it enabled me to make a smooth cut. Finally I used a long board, with some medium grit, gave it a light sanding, and it was indistinguishable from the factory cut.
I find these to be so accurate, and easy to use, I could see a contractor using the 4 foot and 8 foot models to cut 4x8 sheets of plywood on the job.
I plan on buying more of these. I want to get another of the clamp and tool guide, so I can mate two of these up, for different operations, and I defintely want a pair of the back to back clamps for a quick way to secure pieces of sanding, and even gluing up.
It sounds expensive, for clamp and edge guides, when you think of buying several of them. Once you buy one or two, and start to use them, you will definitely be back for more.

The 1/2 inch bit blunted on the first use while trying to make it through an inch of maple. Not a little bit blunted, but to the point where I discarded the bit - all the edges were absolutely round. Go for carbide. - revised 3/8/02 - I was running the damn thing backwards in the drill, and burned it! Stupid move. However, I'd still recommend carbide. HSS bits can lose temper, carbide - not so much. These bad boys can get pretty hot in a drill press, and if you turn 'em blue, you burned it.

I HAVE USED THE BITS ON ALL KINDS OF WOOD AND THEY MAKE A VERY CLEAN HOLE FROM THE CUT AT THE TOP OF THE HOLE TO THE BOTTOM AND THE SIZE RANGE IT PERFECT. THE DIAMETER OF THE CUT IS ALSO GREAT.

I'm not really sure what foozleface was talking about. I had a project where I needed to bore a 3/4" hole through the end-grain of hard maple, which is significantly harder on a bit than edge grain. Upon the recommendation of a 30-year master woodworker, I purchased the Freud forstner bits. He told me that Freud was the best and I haven't been able to prove him wrong. I drilled through that maple like butter. Freud sold me.

THE FIRST TIME YOU NEED TO DRILL AT AN ANGLE YOU WILL BE GLADE THIS IS YOUR DRILL PRESS. NO TOOLS NEEDED TO TILT TABLE AND THERE ARE PRE SET ANGLE STOPS.
JUNE 2, 2006 - AFTER THREE MONTHS OF USING THIS DRILL I WOULD ONLY GIVE IT THREE OR FOUR STARS. THE CHUCK IS NOT THE BEST AND THE HANDLES ARE TO LONG.
THE FREE STUFF IS JUNK!

The Fisch 17-1/2 drill press is certainly a quality machine for the money. Some nice features such as the tilt bed and easy-to-use levers are handy. Factory people are very friendly if you need assistance--which you probably won't. Having an attached light would be a nice improvement. The machine is made in China but the competitors are too. All-in-all this is a good machine that I'm happy to have in my shop.

We are a professional cabinet shop specializing in high end work that demands high end tools. I shopped the Jet and Delta along with the Fisch drill press. We chose the Fisch because the table has a nicer tilting mechanism (you don't need to get out a wrench out..that you cant find, tap,tap with a hammer and so on). The Fisch has a lever that works nicely to adjust the fully tilting table smoothly. No light though..(if that is important to you, stick one on yourself) The fit an finish is slightly less quality than Jet and Delta(crooked stickers,minor cosmetic stuff). The up/down table gear mechanism is a little rough but I believe it will "break in" meaning round off the gears and smooth out. Incedently the free hold down clamp is free for a reason...nicely made but is doesn't really have any clamping power. All things considered I am glad I chose the Fisch over the others. Overall solid machine that performs well. Jet, Delta,Fisch..they're all made in China.

Took delivery of a Palmgren 80172 17" drill press last week. It took less than 45 minutes to assemble, not counting the time it took for a buddy to show up to help lift the heavy head into place. It is a heavy piece of machinery and runs extremely quiet and with no sign of vibration. The manufacturer claims the runout to be less the 0.0005 inches and that plus the heavy weight and the low speed range is what sold me on this drill press. It is a high quality machine and will do everything I want it to and the price ($459 with free shippping and a 2 year warranty)was very reasonable. I would recommend the Palmgren 80172 drill press to anybody in the market for a quality tool.

I purchased the Palmgren 80172 drillpress after careful research on it and competing brands such as Jet, Delta, Craftsman, and others. For work on my gun stock(s) and other shop projects, I want precise tolerances; the Palmgren is money well spent. It arrived in a timely manner, it assembles easily (you'll need an extra person to help lift the heavy head assembly in to position), and the drilled holes in the gun stock came out perfect. Their customer service regarding a small piece that was broken on arrival was met with more than satisfactory results (after a short letter to the general manager). I am very happy with this purchase.

I am a man that just likes tools. I don't even uses them much, but love to have them. My bills are tough, so for this price I can't go wrong. Now convincing my wife to let me have it is another story. You know guy's "honey, you don't need this" Well birthday is coming up. I think and hope it is in the making.

These are the finest Forstner bits I've eveer owned. They cut clean and stay sharp with just a minimal touch-up before each use. Pricy...yeah, but worth it in the long run. Fisch stands behind their products too. Good stuff. Good company.

This cutter is great. It is sharp and solid. Better used with a hardwood, but did good on some pine also. Paid for itself after only 10 rosettes...

After getting my Incra I was able to cut box joints and 1/2 blind joints perfectly within 1/2 hour of getting the jig setup. I was totally puzzled on how to do through dovetails and the instruction manual didn't cover them.
This video made the easy setups for centering even easier. I wished I had viewed it first. It also shows how to prevent tearout when cutting the outside waste from the tails.
Now that I can now see how easy through dovetails are(hint - you still have to hand chisel part of the joint due to the round bit being used).
This video also covers the double dovetails and sliding dovetails.
It's too bad Incra can't just throw this in with the cost of the jig. It would make the experience of opening the box and using the jig a much more enjoyable experience.
INCRA - maybe you could make this an option for say $15 when packaged with the jig!

I looked long and hard before shelling out the $$$ for this drill press. I even spent about 2 months searching for a used one with similar features. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that there was no way to duplicate it's features.

It is an industrial machine that I will use for both wood and metal, yet it operates off 230 volt single phase, thanks to a variable frequency drive.

The speeds are variable over a wide range thanks to the variable frequency drive, and it retains full torque throughout those speeds.

Switching between the two speed ranges is by a gearshift lever on the side of the head. The gear mechanism is bathed in oil so it shifts ranges and runs smoothly and quietly.

The production table is really unique. It rotates, when the table is unlocked, on a 5" bearing. You just won't believe it how smoothly. And by the way. both the table lock and table raise/lower are accessible from the front of the machine which is a REAL plus for me. Now I don't have to crawl around the back of the drill press and bang my head on my shaper to get to it.

That production table can support over 200#, and even when fully loaded it moves up and down smoothly and easily. That ability allows me to place a 100#, 16" by 8" XY table ( a new piece available from Grizzly) on it along with a heavy 8" vise and still have plenty of load capacity left to handle heavy workpieces. On my old machine I had to lift on the table while cranking and really struggle to move it up, even unloaded. Now it is just one hand on the crank, even with 160# of XY table and vise loaded on the table. This table is perhaps the best feature of the machine.

When combined with the finest Milwaukee cobalt drill bits and a top quality Jacobs chuck with integral 3MT shaft, the runout is exceptional. I can drill through most woods at and angle with essentially no tearout on the exit hole, even without brad point bits.

The 6" spindle travel allows for easier setups and less fussing with table height.

I haven't had an opportunity to use the tapping feature, but I'm sure it will be just as smooth as everything else I've done with it.

I give Jet a lot of credit for designing a really nice machine, and getting it fabricated to very high quality from an asian manufacturer. I'm glad I purchased it, and would recommend it to anyone who needs a high quality drill press.

My ONLY issue was with the shipping crate which had been damaged on the bottom (the pallet) which didn't harm the machine but made it a bit difficult to pick off the truck with a forklift.

I used this to make a fence for my miter saw. The installation of this was easy. The only problem is that you need to have the fence 2 1/4". It would have been nicer if it could have been a little bigger. Overall it works great.