Is a 10" drill press big enough?

[rylandbrown]

I'm just getting started with pipe making and if I bought a drill press would 10" do it?

[jeff]

There are a few things you want to consider when buying a drill press. First, yes, 10" should be fine, but may not be ideal. You need to take into account the length of your bit (2-3") the height of the vise you will be using, and also the height of the tallest block you intend to drill. When all of these come together 10" may be a bit tight. Others may have had different experience, but on the few pipes I drilled this way, my 10" press was a nightmare.

I would also suggest that you pay close attention to the stroke length. I would not recommend anything less than 2 1/2" and certainly not less than 2". You want a press that will permit you to drill the full depth of the tobacco chamber without having to raise the platform.

I would caution you with respect to my advice, though. I'm no expert with the drill press and I'm sure others use them frequently and will have more personal experience from which they can share.

Best of luck,

Jeff

[KurtHuhn]

I'm just getting started with pipe making and if I bought a drill press would 10" do it?

Yes. I used a 9" press a few years ago, and did all my work on it.

[bscofield]

I agree with both Jeff and Kurt...

I'm so dang wishy washy!

My drill press (a 10" Ryobi) was fine at first. Then when I started to realize what I liked in pipes and how I wanted to make them then it became the nightmare that Jeff is talking about. I lot of tinkering and extra steps just because of it. But for starting out I think you'll be fine. And incidently, the main issue that caused the problems on the drill press was wanting to drill longer shanks.

[KurtHuhn]

Jeff hit the nail on the head as far as the limitations of a drill press go. If you want to drill a long shank or stem, you end up having to raise and lower the platform. Be sure you've got enough stroke to do what you need to do. That is the primary reason why I moved to a lathe for drilling operations.

[Frank]

When it comes to tools, once again it must be stated, you get what you pay for.
Try to buy the best quality you can afford, but not a cheapie drill.

My floor drill press cost me about $150 and I think I used it maybe 15 or 20 times. I recently sold it to my neighbour for $20 just to get rid of the POS.

[RadDavis]

I use a 15" drill press from Sears, and it works fine for everything I've done so far. I've never tried anything smaller.

Rad

[marks]

When I was researching drill presses, the one thing that was mentioned in pretty much all the literature I read was quill travel (of course run out was mentioned a lot as well). They always said to buy a press that has enough quill travel for pretty much any job that you can envision doing. Also, when I was researching drill presses, the one's with lots of travel (around six inches) were prohibitively expensive for me, so I got the most travel I could for less than $500, which was a Delta 16 inch. It is a very large drill press, and was something to put together, but it is a heavy duty unit and it works very well (maybe it is a little overkill for drilling briar, but again, it works well). It also got good reviews in the write ups that I read. I think the quill travel is just under 4 inches on this thing (if I remember correctly).

And I agree 100% with what the other guys are saying -- you won't regret buying quality. I learned that lesson the hard way myself after buying too many replacements.

Good luck in your purchase decision.

[Frank]

@marks
Is your 16" Delta drill a bench or floor model?