# My Mistake – Harbor Freight 12 Speed Drill Press



## Fireengines (Sep 5, 2012)

I should know by now that most of the time you get what you pay for.  In order to save some $$,  I purchased a Harbor Freight 12 Speed Drill Press and Woodcraft Deluxe Self Centering Pen Drilling Vice.
The vice works great yet the drill press table does not go low enough or the drill bit does not go far enough down to drill through the entire blank.   
I now do all of my drilling using the lathe.  However, does anyone of a solution for this?


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## skiprat (Sep 5, 2012)

Swing the table out of the way and use the base of the drill press to start the hole then either a riser block or the table to finish it. 
But if you use your lathe then why bother. :biggrin:


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## Silverado (Sep 5, 2012)

In my opinion you are much better drilling on the Lathe. Not sure if you have or seen the chuck that PSI has for Drilling your blanks.

Good Luck


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## BassBlaster (Sep 5, 2012)

Is this a bench top drill press? If so I think you would be hard pressed to find one that will drill the legth of the blank. Mine wont and it didnt come from HF. My table however will go all the way down to the base so I have plenty of room to work with. That being said, if your drilling on the lathe now, your allready using a better method. I have started drilling on gthe lathe also. Seems to be a tab slower process but accuracy is way above the drill press.


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## maxwell_smart007 (Sep 5, 2012)

Are you saying that it can't drill the length of a single barrel, or are you doing kitless? 

Mine has a fairly long quill, I guess, as I've never had issues.  Are there stops on yours (where the handle meets the body) that limit the quill travel? 

Andrew


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## maxwell_smart007 (Sep 5, 2012)

According to the specs on HF's website, your drill should have a travel of 2-3/8" (which is more than mine, I think)


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## ghostrider (Sep 5, 2012)

I have that same drill press and it will drill most of the single barrel tubes, but it is limited to that 2 3/8" spindle throw. And yes, the table height is a drawback. Sometimes I'll have to mount my cross slide vise on a 2x4 (or two) off the base to be able to drill. Drilling full length blanks is a let down.


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## plantman (Sep 6, 2012)

:frown::frown: Old Fart's solution. I take the drillpress table and move it to the side. Set my centering jig on the base with the blank as high as I can get it and still be able to hold it straight. Drill the hole as far as it will go in. Stop the drill and lift the blank and vise up into the bit and slide the table under the vise. Now you can finish your hole. I only use this method as a last resort if my lathes and Shop Smith are set up to do other tasks and I don't want to change the settings on them. I was surprized the other day as I was looking over some new drillrpesses, to find how many dld not have the stroke to drill a 2-1/2" hole. The tables would go up or down a foot, but the quill would not extend more that 2-1/4". Some of these were vey large bench models. First thing I look for now is depth of cut.  Jim S


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## Fireengines (Sep 7, 2012)

Thank you for all the suggestions.  I agree, the best choice is to continue using the lathe.


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