spirit pilot

Anyone have any experience with the Dremel Drill Press Attachment? I saw one in Hobby People that accepts a standard dremel tool and was wondering if it's worth the $45.00 price tag.

IFR

My Feedback: (1)

I have the drill press and use it quite often. The drawback I have with the setup is the Dremel rotates so rapidly that the drill bits have a tendency to deflect and they are also hard to get started on spot because of the fast rotation. If you are trying to drill metal, like a Robostrut, the fast rotation will dull the bit before you can even really get started drilling the holes. The press does require the hold down clamp, sold separately. to really be functional. If I were doing it again I would look for a standard table top drill press from someone like Sears. They are only a few bucks more, about the same factoring in the hold down clamp, have slow speed, and are much more flexible.

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

You need to get the variable speed dremel. You will not have that problem with the drill bit

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

IMO, get a proper drill press. save teh dremmel for the little things..

You should be able to get a small Ryobi or Delta for a little more than the dremmel attachement..

IFR

My Feedback: (1)

I have the variable speed dremel, it still spins much to fast at its lowest setting.

spirit pilot

Thanks for the replies.

As far as the bit "drifting" when first starting to drill a hole, what I used to do at Boeing in Long Beach Ca. before being laid off this past summer was to start the bit by hand (get a nice spot about a quarter of the size of the finished hole ) then turn the power on and finish the hole. It worked like a charm in aluminum.

Rich

CafeenMan

As far as I'm concerned, the Dremel drill press is junk. It's not all that accurate, Dremel tools make lousy drills and you can get a far better drill press proper for not a lot more money.

Don't buy those kinds of accessories from Dremel please. Force them to make higher quality buy not buying junk they make.

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/inform...moto_tools.htm

Joe Ortiz

My Feedback: (75)

I just got a 5 speed Drill Press from Harbor Frieght Tools, $40.00

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

Joe's right. You can get a nice benchtop drill press for well under $100. Dremel tools and accessories are overpriced crap in my opinion.

LouW

I can’t comment on the Dremel press as I haven’t used one, but I can confirm that a small bench top drill press can be bought for very little more and will be more useful for a lot of things. I have a regular floor mounted press that I use almost every day that I am in the shop. For small drills, I have a heavy duty pin vise with a ¼ in diameter shaft and three collets that will close to zero. It will take drills down to no.80. I bought it from Northern Handyman for about $4.00. Harbor Freight and Salvage has a numbered drill set (no.1 through no. 60) for $20 that is extremely useful for model work. The larger drill press can accommodate a compound cross slide attachment with a vise that will allow precision work not otherwise possible. Harbor Freight has one for $40, but they can be found for less at some of the import sales.

If you get the cheap bench mounted drill press it may require some tuning. One that I bought had a vibration that I traced to an uneven (lumpy) belt. I replaced it with a new belt, which eliminated the vibration.

To summarize, for a little more than twice the cost of the dremel attachment you can buy a drill press with a compound cross slide and vise that will drill from ½ inch diameter down to a no.80 drill (.0135 inch), and do it at the appropriate speed and with precision.

The first picture shows the pin vise and the second shows it in use drilling a .032 dia. hole in a small part.

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

DanB.
What you have is a "mulit-speed" Dremel, not a "Variable" speed. I have a variable speed and it can be slowed down to about 50 rpm.

Spirit,
I agree with those who have posted that you should get a "real" drill press.
Dennis-

spirit pilot

A table top drill press it is

Thanks for all the replies

Thats why I love RCU. A couple minutes posting a question results in wealth of info.

DanFromMich

Hi,

Interesting discussion., I was wondering, I want to mill flat and parallel the surface of a piece of 1" thick boxwood. The largest pieces would measure maybe 12 x 18" so I would only need a six inch depth from chuck to shaft clearance max. I was considering using the dremel press for this.

But is it possible to use a standard drill press with either router or milling bits to do this? Instead of using a cheap version of a Bridgeport mill? Or would I need a professional milling machine to do this?

Thanks for any info.

heli001

My Feedback: (5)

Dan,

I think a Planer would be the best for what you are trying to achieve.... If you have a Millwork/Cabinet shop near you, they would probably run it through their planer for free, or at best a very minimal charge.......[X(]

A drill press is not that accurate for milling (getting the table square to the chuck), and on a milling machine you would have to make many passes. The Dremel Press, is certainly not even close to being accurate for drilling straight holes, much less anything else............JMO