Recommendations for small pillar drill

[David Pearce 4]

My new workshop is nearly complete and I'm looking for a pillar drill. I mainly fly ARTFs and build from kits, all electric. So my needs are simple, just to improve on the accuracy of a hand held drill but no requirement for drilling heavy metal.

Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated, thanks.

[The Wright Stuff]

If your budget stretches to about £80, then the Clarke bench drills from Machine Mart are good value for money. Otherwise, wait until Aldi or Lidl get a stock in, I guess....

[Tim Flyer]

What ever you decide I would go as big as possible (within reason!)as very small pillar drills do not give much clearance for the work piece, plus you need room for a drill vice. I think you will use it much more than you expect as it makes a massive difference in accuracy and saves lots of time. I have the small Warco hobby bench drill which weighs about 20kg and does most jobs I need it too. I found the Dremmel bench drill far too small and very light duty in comparison. 

Edited By Timothy Harris 1 on 17/04/2018 14:33:30

[Lone_Wolf]

I have this Clarke Pillar drill **LINK** which is as large as I could fit in my work space. It's a very good drill. You will need to get a smaller second chuck as I did for those small size drills we tend to use.

[David Pearce 4]

Thank you for your helpful advice. I think £80 is a reasonable budget and something like the Clarke is as big as I need but I do take your point Timothy about not going too small.

Thanks again.

[bert baker]

I had a cheap £50.00 pillar drill as a present one year...

It was disappointing the motor did not have enough torque, it had plenty rpm but you don't want high rpm,,,, you need high torque...

For most modelling small stuff I purchased a small Chester micro mill,,,does 0.5 and up to 6mm money we'll spent

[Geoff S]

My dad gave me my pillar drill. It has a chuck from about 2mm minimum to around 13mm (0.5" ). He gave me the drill and a motor which I fitted. It drilled OK in wood but was hopeless in metal. Then I realised the drill was going the wrong way! I had to phone dad to find out how to reverse the ac/dc compound wound motor he'd given me

He's been dead since 1991 so now I have to rely on Google for any advice but I preferred his years of experience by a big margin.

Geoff

Edited By Geoff Sleath on 17/04/2018 16:45:24

[Mike T]

I was bought a Clarke/Machine Mart drill as a present. The quill wobbles at full extension, so a precision machine it is not. Buy, by all means, but insist that you examine it out of the box and give the quill a good shake before you buy (there is no scope for adjustment). If the display model is OK, then insist they give you that!

[Don Fry]

I be tempted to go 2nd hand, and get a big one. Bigs ones still drill small holes, but a small machine has a limited reach. Just check the chuck as no run out, i.e. The drill bit doesn't wobble as it goes round. If the chuck has runout, just check it's the chuck, not the drill. If the price is right, a good chuck isn't that dear, and takes seconds to fit.

Pillar drills are robust things, mine, a big one, had a hard professional life before I got it for peanuts. Performs like new.

I don't think there is much between many of the brands, most are made in the Far East and rebadged.

[Simon Chaddock]

For hobby/DIY I would strongly recommend one like this.type of 'generic' pillar drill.

Nothing special but unless you do a lot of 'engineering' standard work it is a great deal cheaper the similar Clarkson.

I have drilled 1/2 " diam through 1/2" thick steel plate with mine but that really is about its limit.

[Mike T]

Simon, that's identical to the Clarke I referred to...

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]