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Having just picked up an HF (Central Machinery) bench top drill press model 38142 and finished all the assembly and adjustment I thought I would share with you my initial assessment of this unit.
First of all I paid $149.99. (original non sale price $189.99). The price could have been less had I had a valid coupon to knock off a few more bucks. Seems like HF is cutting back on the xx% coupons lately.
Everything is very heavy duty except the upright post and motor. The hollow upright post could have in my opinion been made a little bit thicker but is still fairly sturdy. The base and post mount are very heavy duty cast iron. The only problem with the post mount is that the post is only held into the post mount with one set screw. I would have preferred at least 3. Post mount attaches to base with 4 very heavy bolts. The drill head unit is held in position on the post with 2 set screws. Here again I would have preferred more attachment points but ah well. The drill head unit is meant to be set in one position and left there. The power switch is located on the very front of the drill head and for safety has a removable plastic key that when removed disables the switch. This key is not easy to remove and almost had me reaching for a pair of pliers when it finaly gave in and came out.
The 38142 drill press comes with an 11.875 inch round work table that has (6) .625x3" mounting slots and a .9375" (15/16) center hole. Machining around the slot areas is a little sloppy but does not make the slots unusable. The table was set 90° right out of the box and required no adjustment. Angle of the table is adjustable 45° right and 45° left. Table height is adjustable via a crank and gear system and is lockable. I find the table raise/lower crank system about on par with other manufacturers drill press's that I have looked at but with that oh so tiny bit of HF roughness left in.
Run out at the bottom of the removable arbor is a respectable .0008" as measured off of the JT3 taper. The chuck attaches to the arbor with the afore mentioned JT3 taper and is a seemingly well made smooth opening 3 jaw chuck with a 0-5/8 inch jaw opening. Run out with a .25"x 4" shaft in the chuck (shaft run out of .0003", thanks to my tool & die maker father for this one) turns out a respectable total of .0031". There is absolutely no side play at the lower bearing that I could detect with a dial gauge (thanks again dad) while exerting lots of side force in various directions. Your measurements may vary from mine if you decide to buy one of these. If the measurements had been any higher than those I would have decided to return it. Since I don't plan on using it for any super fine metal machining stuff this amount of run out is acceptable to me.
The total vertical travel (throw) of the unit is a decent 3.125". There is a locking depth gauge collar located on the inside of the spindle feed shaft just inside the feed handle attachment points. I have not as of yet determined if this depth gauge is accurate.
Now the bad news. The motor pully system while not a bad design in and of itself tends to broadcast a lot of vibration into the whole setup. The nickle test failed. My Sears craftsman 21829 BT clone TS passes this test. Most of this was traceable to the cheap arsed 3/4HP motor used either that or the pulley on the motor is out of balance or the belts suck take your pick. The motor sure does not look like a 3/4HP motor looks more like a 1/3HP motor marked 3/4HP (hey they had to cut corners somewhere to make it this cheap). At least it has a standard 56 frame motor mount. This will make replacing the motor a snap.
I can live with the vibration for now but later will be putting a better motor on it. I have found a few decently priced Leeson TEFC motors in the 1725rpm 1/2 to 3/4HP range for around $130 on Amazon. You get what you pay for has never been more true here.
There are 16 speeds available by changing the belt positions inside the pulley housing on top of the unit. Speeds are 220, 300, 430,480,590,650,720,850, 900, 950, 1600,1900,2000,2500,2900 and 3600 rpm.
If you don't have a machinists penchant for extreme accuracy and you have a rather small budget and need a drill press right now this one should fit the bill.
Sparkeyjames
First of all I paid $149.99. (original non sale price $189.99). The price could have been less had I had a valid coupon to knock off a few more bucks. Seems like HF is cutting back on the xx% coupons lately.
Everything is very heavy duty except the upright post and motor. The hollow upright post could have in my opinion been made a little bit thicker but is still fairly sturdy. The base and post mount are very heavy duty cast iron. The only problem with the post mount is that the post is only held into the post mount with one set screw. I would have preferred at least 3. Post mount attaches to base with 4 very heavy bolts. The drill head unit is held in position on the post with 2 set screws. Here again I would have preferred more attachment points but ah well. The drill head unit is meant to be set in one position and left there. The power switch is located on the very front of the drill head and for safety has a removable plastic key that when removed disables the switch. This key is not easy to remove and almost had me reaching for a pair of pliers when it finaly gave in and came out.
The 38142 drill press comes with an 11.875 inch round work table that has (6) .625x3" mounting slots and a .9375" (15/16) center hole. Machining around the slot areas is a little sloppy but does not make the slots unusable. The table was set 90° right out of the box and required no adjustment. Angle of the table is adjustable 45° right and 45° left. Table height is adjustable via a crank and gear system and is lockable. I find the table raise/lower crank system about on par with other manufacturers drill press's that I have looked at but with that oh so tiny bit of HF roughness left in.
Run out at the bottom of the removable arbor is a respectable .0008" as measured off of the JT3 taper. The chuck attaches to the arbor with the afore mentioned JT3 taper and is a seemingly well made smooth opening 3 jaw chuck with a 0-5/8 inch jaw opening. Run out with a .25"x 4" shaft in the chuck (shaft run out of .0003", thanks to my tool & die maker father for this one) turns out a respectable total of .0031". There is absolutely no side play at the lower bearing that I could detect with a dial gauge (thanks again dad) while exerting lots of side force in various directions. Your measurements may vary from mine if you decide to buy one of these. If the measurements had been any higher than those I would have decided to return it. Since I don't plan on using it for any super fine metal machining stuff this amount of run out is acceptable to me.
The total vertical travel (throw) of the unit is a decent 3.125". There is a locking depth gauge collar located on the inside of the spindle feed shaft just inside the feed handle attachment points. I have not as of yet determined if this depth gauge is accurate.
Now the bad news. The motor pully system while not a bad design in and of itself tends to broadcast a lot of vibration into the whole setup. The nickle test failed. My Sears craftsman 21829 BT clone TS passes this test. Most of this was traceable to the cheap arsed 3/4HP motor used either that or the pulley on the motor is out of balance or the belts suck take your pick. The motor sure does not look like a 3/4HP motor looks more like a 1/3HP motor marked 3/4HP (hey they had to cut corners somewhere to make it this cheap). At least it has a standard 56 frame motor mount. This will make replacing the motor a snap.
I can live with the vibration for now but later will be putting a better motor on it. I have found a few decently priced Leeson TEFC motors in the 1725rpm 1/2 to 3/4HP range for around $130 on Amazon. You get what you pay for has never been more true here.
There are 16 speeds available by changing the belt positions inside the pulley housing on top of the unit. Speeds are 220, 300, 430,480,590,650,720,850, 900, 950, 1600,1900,2000,2500,2900 and 3600 rpm.
If you don't have a machinists penchant for extreme accuracy and you have a rather small budget and need a drill press right now this one should fit the bill.
Sparkeyjames