Anybody tried a Harbor Freight drill press?

Specifically this one.

I've got a couple projects on the docket for which such a thing might be useful, but I'd rather not buy something that will become an inert lump of Chinese steel in a matter of minutes.

I own that one. I loaned to our weld shop abused it for me.   It’s okay.  

I was spoiled by way better drill presses in the 1970’s.  

Yep.  It works ok, a bit fiddly to get square and mine has a terrible bend at the end of its stroke.

So check it for square throughout the stroke and understand that once you get a bit, etc. in there that you’ll run out of room with the table pretty quickly, there have been a few times I needed a little more height.

Still, compared to the floor mounted one, it fit the majority of my needs without taking up a bunch of space.

I mounted mine to a rotating board that sits on top of a rolling cabinet.  This bird also holds a small belt/disc sander, a polishing wheel, and a bench grinder/wire wheel.  If I need one do the tools, I just rotate the board around to get to what I need.

I'd say find an old Delta/Rockwell off CL.

I've got a cheap Chinese one with a Ryobi decal stuck to it.  Probably about the same.  It's worked for years, and it's okay, but I feel that there should be a little less slop in the spindle bearings.

I don't know if the quality has gone up or down in the time since that drill press used to be green but I have had two. Bought one new and decided it wasn't worth the bench space and gave it away and then somehow ended up with a second one which suffered the same fate.

Lots of runout and a wonky quill that moved back about 3/16" during the last inch of travel and then jammed. Typical cheap chuck that fresh out of the box didn't mesh with they key right.

I wouldn't be surprised if the grey paint version is improved. HF is stepping up their game these days.

1988RedT2 said:

I've got a cheap Chinese one with a Ryobi decal stuck to it.  Probably about the same.  It's worked for years, and it's okay, but I feel that there should be a little less slop in the spindle bearings.

Does yours make lots of rattling noises when you shut it off? Mine does, but they could be different models, I only bought mine in 2016. 

I'll have to check it out in person, but it doesn't sound like an automatic fail. Thanks folks.

Mine stalls when breaking though  the hole. It is terrible but drills a lot better than when I use a hand held drill.