Clarke CDP151B Drill Press

[Astrokev]

Hi All

In another thread, I've been seeking guidance on pillar drills. After lots of head scratching, I'm taking an interest in the Clarke CDP151B. This seems a little larger than a number of other budget end models in terms of throat size, table size and chuck to table distance. It's also available and a reasonavble price.

Does anone have any views on this model ?

The other model that I'm tempted by is the Sealey SDM30. A little smaller than the Clarke, but as far as I'm aware, a higher quality make?

Any thoughts on these 2 models would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Kevin

[JamesM]

Hi Kevin, to be honest the woodworking forums that I frequent would not consider either of your choices that great and would very much see them sitting at the bottom of the pile which doesn't bode well for any project that is going to involve drilling a material like aluminium. A better manufacturer would be something like a 'JET' (perhaps this one which has a slightly bigger motor and a work light! ) but of course that is going to involve a little bit more money. When buying any machinery, you do get what you pay for unless you can search around for some secondhand kit but have you considered looking at what Axminster Tools has to offer? They have a good range of 'inexpensive' pillar drills if you want to purchase something that is a sensible compromise between building quality, capacity and price but perhaps another route to consider might to employ the services of a local engineering machine shop which would work out to be a cheaper option than buying your own drill.

James

[Bizibilder]

Agreed - these drills are awful! (can't think of another word!).

Try a reputable Engineering supplier like these: http://www.chestermachinetools.com/d-series-drilling-machine-br-d13r-4004-p.asp Not much more money but a far better 12 speed, solidly built machine. It will also give you enough "headroom" between the drill tip and table (many folk forget that 5-6 inches of drill sticking out of the chuck reduces the available workspace above the table by that amount!!! They will also take 2MT drills (larger drills often have taper shanks, in this case the taper is called Number 2 morse - sorry if you knew that).

You will also need a drilling vice (It is essential!! Your hands make a very bad vice!!!) like this one: http://www.chestermachinetools.com/drill-press-vice-4903-p.asp (I'd go for the 100mm one - the slight extra capacity is only a couple of quid more).

One last thing - buy metric drills. They are far cheaper than imperial and you will find equivalent sizes are readily available. Try these folk: http://www.tracytools.com/metric-drill-bits for drills at sensible prices.

(Disclaimers all round).

[Astrokev]

Thanks James for your useful comments.

Yes, I'm aware that the models I've been looking at are at the budget end of the market. If I do buy a pillar drill I don't anticipate it will get heavily used, but I hope will be used enough to justify the purchase, as opposed to using a local machine shop (at least, that's what I expect). It's a difficult call though. Certainly I won't be using it for projects that are so big as to perhaps warrant/justify buying a more expensive machine. It's therefore a balance between price, quality / demands of the job, frequency of use, with the comfort of knowing it will be there whenever I need it for all those little jobs which are beyond a hand drill, but too small to warrant going to a machine shop.

I've been looking on e-bay, but haven't yet come across anyhting that really shouts "buy me" within a radius I'm willing to drive to collect.

Aghh, decisions, decisions.....

[Astrokev]

Agreed - these drills are awful! (can't think of another word!).

Try a reputable Engineering supplier like these: http://www.chesterma...d13r-4004-p.asp Not much more money but a far better 12 speed, solidly built machine. It will also give you enough "headroom" between the drill tip and table (many folk forget that 5-6 inches of drill sticking out of the chuck reduces the available workspace above the table by that amount!!! They will also take 2MT drills (larger drills often have taper shanks, in this case the taper is called Number 2 morse - sorry if you knew that).

You will also need a drilling vice (It is essential!! Your hands make a very bad vice!!!) like this one: http://www.chesterma...vice-4903-p.asp (I'd go for the 100mm one - the slight extra capacity is only a couple of quid more).

One last thing - buy metric drills. They are far cheaper than imperial and you will find equivalent sizes are readily available. Try these folk: http://www.tracytool...tric-drill-bits for drills at sensible prices.

(Disclaimers all round).

Thanks Roger,

I assume you have a pillar drill - what d'you use?

As with my reply to James, it's all about balance and compromise between what I want to use it for, how much use it'll get, and how much quality I'm prepared to compromise on for the money. Very tricky!

[Psychobilly]

The cheaper Clarke drills are pretty useless they tend stall out under load etc... They used to make better kit about 15-20 years ago...

Peter...

[Bizibilder]

My own drill press is a 5 speed "Hobby" type but it was bought 35 years ago from a reputable supplier (now long gone). It originated in Taiwan - but in those days the quality of imports to the UK had to be good to compete with the UK manufacturers of the time. It was imported and fitted with a UK motor by the importers as well as a UK branded chuck and belt. Not much of it actually came from Taiwan!

[Astrokev]

My own drill press is a 5 speed "Hobby" type but it was bought 35 years ago from a reputable supplier (now long gone). It originated in Taiwan - but in those days the quality of imports to the UK had to be good to compete with the UK manufacturers of the time. It was imported and fitted with a UK motor by the importers as well as a UK branded chuck and belt. Not much of it actually came from Taiwan!

As the saying goes - They don't build 'em llike that anymore!

Regrettably

I'm not questioning your judegment, but on what basis on you saying they are awful - personal experience or word on the street.. Curious, since if you look on some review sites, a lot of the "cheap and nasty" models seem to get quite reasonable praise. I guess it all depends on what you're trying to do with it. Drilling holes thou' perfect I ain't !

[Bizibilder]

I've seen the Clarke models in the shop (Machine Mart) and was unimpressed! Also there have been reviews and a fair selection of readers letters (before the internet!) that consistently referred to "you get what you pay for" type comments. You have to consider the "hobby" market aimed at is for folks who drill a few holes in bits of timber from time to time and maybe want the odd hole in a bit of brass or Ali. Engineers (Model or otherwise) need to drill holes, and lots of them, in steel as well - and often quite large and deep holes too. On my own pier head i drilled eight 14mm holes through 12mm steel plate and I did not use the drill press for those - I used a much larger and more massive Mill-Drill with a 3/4 HP motor and a bottom speed of around 200rpm. I drilled a 6mm pilot hole (450rpm) and then the full size drill went through in one pass (200 rpm).

[Astrokev]

Interesting, I presume you didn't consider your own drill press up to the job? 14mm is what I need to drill for a pier plate I'm currently making (in Ali though). Bigger than the standard chuck, but with a blacksmiths bit I'm hoping to be able to do it with whatever I buy (yes, I could find a machine shop p'raps, but they would charge a little, and then the next time I need a job it would be a little more. The flexibility of being able to do these things yourself will hopefully pay for itself in the long run!).

Thanks for your useful feedback, the more I can glean from those more experienced than ! the better!

[Bizibilder]

With the larger Drill and a Morse taper drill (no chuck - the drill goes directly into the quill taper) you should be able to put a hole through Ali as long as you drill a pilot hole first. I would really advise against trying it with the little hobby drill, even in Ali and drilling "up" in size, maybe 1mm at a time.

That is if you have enough room between the chuck and table to get a 14mm drill in. A half inch (12mm) standard length drill is just over 6" (150mm) long - a 14mm will be around 7-8" (180-200mm long).

By the time you have bought the drills needed you will have paid for the larger machine!

[101nut]

I wouldn't worry if you're not going to use it for much. Get a machine with a good (ie slow) bottom speed and a decent drill. Use cutting fluid and take your time if you're drilling big. Avoid cheap keyless chucks like the plague - a cheap keyed one will be infinitely better. A good drill vice would be nice but will you use it? Just accept the awkwardness and use some decent clamps instead, and you may need to use an mdf offcut as a sacrificial bed for the table on occasion (the centre hole will probably be too small for larger drills/hole saws/step drills etc so you'll need a bit of packing).

You are not looking for amazing accuracy, if you want that ask a machine shop to do it!

AndyG

[Astrokev]

Mmm, difficult to argue with your logic there Roger. I think this needs more thought. Length of a 14mm bit is obviously important in determining the gap between chuck and table. More research needed I think.

[Bizibilder]

By the way - If you swing the table out of the way you will find that the drill head will not drop down the column and the quill movement is insufficient to drill to the level of the machines base plate. You will need quite a bit of packing which, with a drill press, is not a very good idea , as with the loads involved packing tends to move. Clamping to the machine base is also quite awkward.

[JamesF]

It is a tough call. I put off purchasing a lathe for a long time because the jobs I had that a worthwhile lathe would be suitable for wouldn't easily justify the cost. In the end I bought one second hand that happened to come up on ebay and was only ten miles away or so. That may not be a bad route in this instance. Pay for someone to do the job this time, but keep an eye out on ebay, your local engineering society's for sale lists and so on, perhaps the model engineering forums at http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/ and see what comes up second hand. If you're not in a rush then you can probably buy a decent machine at a price that suits you.

James

[JamesF]

Oh, I absolutely second the suggestion to get a decent vice, too. Fingers are not vices, and the first time a drill grabs the workpiece and tries to spin it at several hundred rpm from a standing start will involve blood loss at best. A vice allows you to work faster with more confidence and far more safely.

James

[Astrokev]

I wouldn't worry if you're not going to use it for much. Get a machine with a good (ie slow) bottom speed and a decent drill. Use cutting fluid and take your time if you're drilling big. Avoid cheap keyless chucks like the plague - a cheap keyed one will be infinitely better. A good drill vice would be nice but will you use it? Just accept the awkwardness and use some decent clamps instead, and you may need to use an mdf offcut as a sacrificial bed for the table on occasion (the centre hole will probably be too small for larger drills/hole saws/step drills etc so you'll need a bit of packing).

You are not looking for amazing accuracy, if you want that ask a machine shop to do it!

AndyG

Thanks Andy. Some good ideas there. Yes, I heard that if you take it very slow, I should be able to drill pretty large. I think the main consideration is probably chuck to table distance. As Roger points out, I need to be able to get the bit in and have enough clearance for the job itself! I'd also like a machine with a throat distance of greater than 100mm. The pier plate I'm working on is 200mm square, and I need a central hole.

[JamesF]

When I was looking for blacksmith's drills a few weeks back there were some that were noticeably shorter than others so it might pay to do a bit of research there. The 15mm one I bought is quite possibly 6" long not counting the reduced part of the shank, but I'm sure I saw some that were only about 4" long.

James

[Astrokev]

Thanks for the heads-up - very encouraging!

[Astrobits]

About 10-15 years ago I lived quite close to a Technical College that had a machine shop. They operated a "Drop-In" facility where you could pay a few quid for a couple of hours workshop use. Having paid once they never bothered to record my time in there so I had virtually free run of the place when it was quiet ( i.e. no classes on ). They also had a resident machine shop supervisor who was always available to help instruct on the use of the equipment when required.

Perhaps there is something similar near enough to you to be useful.

Nigel

[Peter Drew]

OK I'm used to this sort of thing but I would do the job with a hand drill with the workpiece held firmly in a bench vice, I don't know how many holes need drilling for your purpose but half a dozen would take me about 10 minutes.

[Astrokev]

OK I'm used to this sort of thing but I would do the job with a hand drill with the workpiece held firmly in a bench vice, I don't know how many holes need drilling for your purpose but half a dozen would take me about 10 minutes.

Really? Through 16mm aluminium plate ???

[Astrokev]

About 10-15 years ago I lived quite close to a Technical College that had a machine shop. They operated a "Drop-In" facility where you could pay a few quid for a couple of hours workshop use. Having paid once they never bothered to record my time in there so I had virtually free run of the place when it was quiet ( i.e. no classes on ). They also had a resident machine shop supervisor who was always available to help instruct on the use of the equipment when required.

Perhaps there is something similar near enough to you to be useful.

Nigel

Thanks for the idea Nigel, I must check this out for future reference.

Kev

[Peter Drew]

Yes really Kev, assuming of course the job was already marked out and the drill and bits were to hand. I've drilled holes this size through 16mm plate with a standard 10mm hand drill many a time.