5 Speed - 8" Bench Mount Drill Press

Unsuitable as a drill press. After 2 minutes of breaking bits and ruining work pieces, back in the box it goes. Runout was terrible. New, straight bits wobbled in the chuck. Drilled triangular holes regardless of bit used, drive speed, feed speed. "Tilt table" is still not flush with the drill forward/back when leveled laterally--it's sloppily belt sanded, not machined. Grease on top end was dry and sloppy. Belt immediately began eating itself. The housing was full of chewed up rubber after only a few minutes. One of the handles was bent to begin with. The paint was scuffed and that might sound like nitpicking, but I literally could scratch it with my fingernail so clearly there was an issue at the factory and it will not last.I'd probably overlook everything else if it would make round holes and not wobble all over the place. Sadly, that's too much to ask for a simple drill that comes from, as I found out, Hazard Fraught.

The quill shaft on this drill press has more than one eighth of an inch play out of the box. The motor rattles, the handles will not stay tight, the light falls down, the drill stop is plastic and bends with even slight pressure. The on-off switch failed after 5 uses. In the photo it shows a machine table this is not the case. The table for this drill is simply a sanded top, the corners and edges are very rounded and it is not true. This drill press actually performance far worse then a low-quality handheld drill. The only benefit of the small drill press is that it has more torque then the average handheld drill. The table tilt degree marker is simply a sticker as well as the depth gauge. It's pretty bad when you have to say that the best thing about this machine is the paint job. It did however come very well lubricated. With oil and grease touching almost every component. I purchased this machine with the coupon directly from Harbor Freight store. You cannot expect much for a $50 machine. As far as accuracy goes wood is probably the only thing you're going to drill. When trying to drill metal due to the quill shaft and play you cannot keep the bit Center. The quill travel is actually not Square, adjusting the screw on the side of the press to try to remove the play does not work. The slot in the quill shaft is not properly machine and is ramped at the bottom. If you adjust the quill shaft while I was halfway out it will not retract fully because of this improper Machining. The quill shaft also has so much slop that even if you adjust the screw the left to right play is compensated for but the drill bit can still Rock forward and rearWard.

This is a working drill press. It has all the features you will need. BUT I can stop the motor with my bare hand. I don't ever use this press on any setting other than the lowest speed. I have stopped a quarter-inch drill bit in soft pine on one of the higher speed settings. My 12V cordless drill won't stop under those settings and I am sure it is rated at much less power than this machine purportedly is.That said, I probably won't ever get rid of this one. I can set it on a stand in the corner and use it whenever the larger drill press is otherwise occupied. It may take forever to bore the hole, but it will be a straight and clean hole when you are done.

No one should expect accuracy or precision in a drill press at this price. Know and accept that and this is a fine little drill press.There is definitely an issue with it being underpowered but using a higher quality drive belt greatly improves power transmission to the spindle. These machines haven't changed, at all, in over 25 years and I'm nearly certain the drive belts on new machines are at least that old.A simple belt change and you get a measurable improvement in performance, an incredible reduction in noise and 99.9% less burning rubber smell.

Good value for the money.Table not perpendicular to the column so drilled holes are not perpendicular.Front end of table required shimming ( approximately 1/8 "). Lifting of the table is combursum.I solved this by implementing a screw lift.

The advertisement doesn't tell you any thing about this drill press ! it doesn't tell you the stroke the amps of the motor the speed range all details that one must know to use or buy this !What are they hiding about this DP

Assembled this press, and immediately had massive runout. Will be returning.