Drill Press Quill Travel/Stroke


dewitteridder

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I'm trying to decide between a bench top drill press and a floor standing one. Most bench top drill presses have a quill travel of about 3 1/4". A 17" floor standing one like the steel city one has a 6" quill travel. I'm trying to decide if I'm really going to use the 6" quill travel enough to justify the extra cost of the floor standing drill press. I was wondering if other wood workers out there could chime in with their experiences with their drill presses to help me make a decision. Thank you so much for your input.

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I bought a table mounted one many years ago and regretted it as soon as I bought it. There will always be a job that comes along that will not fit on the drill press. I bought a floor mounted radial arm drill press about 5 years ago and have never looked back. The old table mounted one is still used occasionally but for metalworking duties only. Quill travel was never a concern on the new press as it is what it is. I think the quill travel on mine is 100mm (4") and if I need to drill deeper holes I just crank the table up a little or put a packer underneath the workpiece.

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I think you'll find most bench top drill presses do not have a 3" travel, more like half that and it's truly not enough.  If you are going to spend the money for a higher end bench top model then you should probably bite the bullet and spend the extra money for a floor standing.  Whether you need 6" of travel over 4" is a separate question and for me I don't think it'd be worth spending more for that.

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