Harbor Freight Drill press

peter nap

peter nap

Joined
Nov 27, 1999
Messages
3,745
I just happened to be around Harbor Freight today :rolleyes: and guess what, they had my drill press on sale for 159.00.
Being thrifty, I just had to take it home.

I put it together and it all went together without a hammer or grinder. Thinking to myself that good Old HF had changed their ways, I put the belts on.

With the idler straight back, I still had a half inch of slop, not flex, slop in the secondary belt. The drive belt was tight as could be with the tension all the way off.

Both belts are the same size.

Good to know some things don't change. Off to Sutton Clark for new belts tomorrow.
 
I have one of those H F drill presses too. It makes a real good paper weight. I can't keep the darn ol' chuck on it. I have tried my best to hammer it home. It works ok for awhile then it falls off. I would drop kick it, but it would prolly break my foot. LOL!!!! I hope yours works better than mine.
 
Probably the one I have.

I buggered up the orginal chuck and bought a nice American one. Had to clean up the spindle too. It's running very well - for hobby work.

In any case I like it. Serves me well. Hang in there Peter.

Steve
 
I picked up one of there wire feed welders about 3 months ago and finally took it out of the box last week. So far I'm pleased with it but really haven't used it that much. Not at all impressed with the welding helmet that comes with it. Guess I could use it for the next solar eclips.... I also got a cross vise thats pretty decent. I don't know if having a new store as close as 6 miles away is a good thing or not....
 
Their stuff really varies. It's all crappy quality, but some of that is overcome by good design.

Take their metal cutting bandsaw for example. Seems like everybody's got one and they work fine (after you crank the tension up and use a good blade). They are not well made, but it gets the job done and keeps running and running.

Steve
 
Put that tapered chuck in the freezer for a while. Then put it in and give it a couple good wacks with a hammer. It will stay.!
 
Got a floor model about 15 years old from Harbor, and it's still chuging along.

I had trouble with the MT chuck falling off a while back, I just stuck the chuck in the oven at around 350 deg. F. for about an hour and then hammered it on the spindle and it hasn't fallen off since.

Harbor Frieght is a good source, but you realy need to know what your after and read the fine print or you'll get screwed.

Now Grizly on the other hand has a good bit better quality, but so far everything my father has ordered has come in damaged from poor quality packaging. They've replaced the parts without a problem, but it's still frustraiting.
 
I chucked a small side mill in my HF drill press and went to town making stainless scales and contouring the round parts of a folder blade made from a metal cutting sawblade I got from a friend. Needless to say... things got wobbly. And I couldnt touch that sawblade, ended up grinding the thing anyway. Levi
 
I use a HF benchtop drill press I bought for $30 about 15 years ago and it's still going strong. Once in a while the chuck will drop out, and now I don't know whether to freeze it or bake it to make it stay! :D You guys crack me up. :D I guess as long as it stays put for a while I won't have to experiment, but experiment I will when the time comes.
 
Anyone looking for a bench drill press should check out the one offered by Tractor Supply Co. They sell for $50 and have a nice chuck(will hold a 1/16" bit). I use it for leather and other light work.

Mike
 
Heat the spindle and freeze the MT shaft making sure both surfaces are grease free. They should stay together until well into the next century.
 
nc_cooter said:
Anyone looking for a bench drill press should check out the one offered by Tractor Supply Co. They sell for $50 and have a nice chuck(will hold a 1/16" bit). I use it for leather and other light work.

Mike
Click to expand...


So the above drill press is a better model than either of these for working with blades and scales?
$39
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=44506
$79
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=44836

Also what about the cheapest of the Craftsman models?
 
I got some blade steel in a little over a year age and found it to be about 40 RC so I bought a HF chop saw and it couldn't work better. Bought a gadet for filling tires -- the one with a trigger,a large gauge and an air release -- no air would go through it so after an hour of fixing it works great -- at least I only paid $6 for the thing :D
 
donutsrule said:
So the above drill press is a better model than either of these for working with blades and scales?
$39
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=44506
$79
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=44836

Also what about the cheapest of the Craftsman models?
Click to expand...
dr,
I looked at the $50 model on the Tractor Supply Co.site and if it's the same one mentioned; it appears quite similar to the one in your first link (I have one of those). Many of the Chinese machines are the same model just sold under different logos here. The HF 5 speed works well, but the slower speeds of the 12 speed one would be more desired for drilling metals.
Regards,
Greg
 
I have 2 HF D-presses. One is a table top, one is floor standing... They are NO marvels of engineering, or precision, but they drill holes. I have a couple others that are nicer, but they just drill holes too.. ;)


Take Care
Trace.
www.THRblades.com
 
I have two of the $39 ones and they work fine. Like Trace says, they drill holes. I leave one of them set up for dedicated countersink and the other for #2 combination drill/countersink. Hard to beat. I'm thinking about picking up a couple more.
 
Thanks, everyone! Since (at this time) I only really have room for one in the garage, I may go with the 12-speed. :)
 
Anthony Chaney said:
I have one of those H F drill presses too. It makes a real good paper weight. I can't keep the darn ol' chuck on it. I have tried my best to hammer it home. It works ok for awhile then it falls off. I would drop kick it, but it would prolly break my foot. LOL!!!! I hope yours works better than mine.
Click to expand...
Catapillar sells some stuff call Bearing Mount. Probably made by loctite. A little dab and a sharp rap with a hammer should solve that. If you ever want it off, you'll have to hit about 300 degees before it will turn loose though.
 
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