After all the shenanigans with the last drill press… and subsequent return, I decided to go with a different brand, at a slightly higher cost, before proceeding with my ‘go big, or go home’ plan B.
Trawling through all the online reviews yet again, it appeared most of the Drill presses in this price bracket, are near as damn it, the exact same thing, just with a different badge slapped on the front.
Not really wanting to go through the whole process yet again of ordering, waiting for delivery, assembly, then testing, only to find it’s just as bad as the last one. To then have to disassemble and package it all up again to send it back, I was reluctant to go with another cheap option.
But me being me and not wanting to spend more than the minimum (or less) for the thing I want, I decided to give it one last try.
Finally deciding on a particular Clarke model (Clarke CDP102B Bench Drill Press), I pressed the order button.
After receiving the new model today, I quickly unpacked it to see what I’m dealing with.
The inner polystyrene was a little damaged and there seemed to be oil over everything, we’ll this isn’t hopeful is it… 😢 at least it won’t be rusty.
Oh well, here’s goes!
Looking at the main column that attaches to the base, the holes actually seem to line up on this one and the nuts that secure it have just enough room to get a spanner on them. 👍 so far so good.
The instructions certainly seem to be better too, they actually tell you how to attach all of the pieces in the box…and in the right order! 👍
After I’d finished assembly, I grabbed my digital angle gauge.
Putting the angle gauge on the base and zero’ing it, I then put it on the table…it was a degree or so out, put that was easily altered with a spanner on the nut holding it in place.
Then I placed the angle gauge on the base again and zeroed it again, then I placed it on the table going front to back…and… this was on the money!
Ok, I’m starting to get a little excited now, it actually looks like it’s fit for purpose and does exactly what I want… one more test.
I inserted a drill bit and grabbed a piece of scrap wood and drilled my first hole, then I removed the drill bit and put the shank end in the hole I just drilled and checked it with a square… and it looked straight!, I turned the scrap around 90 degrees and checked again for the front to back angle…and that too was straight / vertical / square!…
Woo Who! it’s a winner! 👍
My Woodworking Story 