jonnyboy63

I recently purchased a 'General Machinery' table top drill press. I needed something that I could use to make repetative holes in project with but since I am working in my house, (The living room to be exact) I don't have the space for a floor mounted one. Anyway, it was the right price, really cheap, and upon assembly I just liked it. I recently found out why it was so cheap yesterday when I tried to use a 1" forstner to drill a hole in the base of a planter that I was building. The motor stalled as soon as I applied ANY pressure to it. I was able to accomlish the task by lunging (sp?) the spindle down into the work-piece repetatively until it finally made it through but it turned it into a several minute job when it should have been a several second job.
I still really like the press but I was wondering if there were a way to either mount a stronger motor or maybe, just maybe rewire the current motor in such a way that it will perform better.
Any electrical engineers out there that would like to tackle that one?

Sincerely

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Jonathan C. O'Connor

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Mike

Jonathan, It all boils down to "Ya get what ya pay for" It is possible to mount a larger motor on your drill press, but it just doesnt make sense to re-invent the wheel. By the time you bought a bigger motor and went through all the trouble to mount it and make everything work as it should, you would spend far more time and money than just buying a larger drill press. The minimum size motor to consider is a 3/4HP. Anything less just wont get the job done. You might take a peek at the Harbor Freight web site. They offer some inexpensive tools that will get the job done.

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Mike

reible

Hi,

I don't know what the drill press looks like but if it has a pulley system for controlling speed go to lower speeds will increase your power.

Forstner bits require some power to use and controlled speed, depending on the wood the recommended speed is 1500 rpm (softwood) down to 500 rpm (hardwood) for a 1" bit. Since I have done this size bit in a hand drill I would think a drill press should handle it.

Another issue with Forstner bits is they get hot and you need to do a step sort of drilling to make sure the bit does not over heat. If the bit has turned blue it has gone to far and may need replacing. They need to be sharp and kept that way... that is another thing that could be the problem, a dull bit just is not going to cut.

Since you are doing planters you might want to go to a spade bit and see how that works for you.... Make sure you have a backer board clamped on to minimize the break through.

A few thoughts for you.... and as Mike said "Ya get what ya pay for" and as such my advice is free.

Ed

kp91

Did the motor stall or just the spindle? If the belt is slipping on the spindle, You could just need to adjust your belt tension, and try slower feed rate. I've got a little grizzly benchtop drill press that will cut surprisingly big holes, if you let the bit feed itself and try not to over-do it. I modified it a bit by adding a machine bolt belt tension adjuster, so the motor stays where I adjusted it to.

On the other hand, you could use the drill press to make a template, and cut the hole out using your router. Little louder, little messier, but probably a lot quicker in the long run.

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Doug
1 John 1:9

jonnyboy63

Thank you so much everyone for all the input. The fact is is that....... I got what I paid for. That is a nice little drill press that can be relied upon to drill holes in wood and metal with a respectable amount of reliability if I only pay attention to how I arrange the pulleys. I appreciate and respect all of the suggestions presented. They illustrated precicely how attentive to all the details you all are. I have effectively solved all my problems by; paying attention to the same details that were presented in the responses. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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Jonathan C. O'Connor

Hamlin

jonnyboy63, try using a hole saw cutter or a spade bit instead of a forstner bit. Less power is needed to operate these, specially on those "cheap deals".

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Ken

(On temporary leave of abscense)

"A VETERAN"
"Wether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life". That is HONOR, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it." -Author Unknown

Cheston Olsen

Jonathan: do not overlook the possibility that the forstner bit could be dull.Ijust bought one of those sets that was not the cheapest and half the bits worked just fine ands the rest you could b reak an arm just to get a simole hole

Cheston Olsen

Chet

g-man

JOHNNY, I HAVE A $50 TABLE TOP MODEL 15 YRS OLD THAT I CONVERTED TO A FLOOR MODEL WITH A LONG PIPE. TO MAKE IT MORE STABLE I SCREWED ITTO A 20X20 PLATFORM. AS FAR AS THE SPEED GOES, YOU HAVE TO GET THE BELT ON THE PROPER PULLY TO CHANGE THE SPEED.

g-man