Good quality affordable pillar drill?

Hi all,

I’m in the market for a pillar drill for some upcoming DIY projects. Nothing outrageous, need to drill some timber fence posts, some 3mm steel, use will be fairly infrequent. Any recommendations for something affordable?

Thanks

Matt.

second hand off ebay – you’ll be able to shift it on for what you paid for it when you’ve finished.
I’ve got a Startrite and a Meddings – both are 20-30 years old, and both work like new.

3mm steel – centre punch and cordless will be fine.

Fence posts – proper length spade wood drill and cordless.

Pillar drill is overkill for both of those tasks, unless you just want a pillar drill, which I’d completely understand!.

as above, 2nd hand or machine mart.

3mm steel – centre punch and cordless will be fine.

this plus a slow speed and lots of oil.

I’d try and find an old Meddings or Denbeigh pillar drill. You will find a thousand uses for one.

Old school British made drills will last many lifetimes. Have a look on eBay or gumtree.

Here’s a beauty, quick rub down, new lick of paint, leave it to your grandchildren

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Denbigh-6-Pillar-Drill-/181914787229?hash=item2a5af75d9d:g:-BoAAOSwl9BWHQ2e

Just checked the listing. It’s three phase, not the end of the world, single phase motors can be found cheaply and the switch gear is easy enough to swap

Depends on the jobs you want to do – and more importantly the diameter of the holes you want to drill.
– for 3mm steel – not too much problem – unless the diameter is large.
– Fence post – more things to think about :
Use an Auger bit if you need a deep clean hole – spade is messier – Forstner is often too short.
Pillar drill – old classic ones are great if:
You can get one that is not worn out/broken
You can lift them – my Meddings is over 100kg needs 2 strong folks to move.
You have somewhere to put it – very strong bench/stand
You are prepared to wait find one

New Drills :
Easily available – huge choice and price range
They generally do the job – some have run out or play but actually this
is not a big problem unless you are expecting milling machine accuracy,
decent drill bits and appropriate work clamping/positioning are more important.

Probably the biggest consideration should be what you expect to doing to the fence posts – you will need an expensive/new big/old pillar drill to drill right through the posts.
-typical stroke of modern pillar drill 80-100mm
-my old/big Meddings – 127mm .

You could start the fence posts off in a smaller pillar drill with an Auger bit and finish with hand held drill. This is what I did recently needing to
do an accurate job “on-site” – I used a small morticer (similar to pillar drill )that I could easily lug about and use on the floor with the fence post .

I’d not get too hung up on quality tbh. You could get one that would last lifetimes of daily use, but why bother if you are only going to use it occasionally?

I’ve got a cheap £90 job from Machine Mart, and it’s still fantastic. It’s sturdy enough and has a decent range of speeds. There is play in it, but as said it’s not a huge deal. As always you should use a centre punch, if it’s critical you start it off with something in your hand then the drill bit will self centre into the hole.

As above though – drilling fence posts with it will be difficult with 8 ft of heavy timber hanging off the side. However once you have the ability to drill known perpendicular holes you can do all sorts of things if you get creative. I’ve used mine loads to create jigs and guides for other tools and jobs. For instance, making a shaft gripper to dismantle the air spring in my forks.

Here’s another, this time single phase. The morse taper is a simple adaptor which fits between the chuck and the driven shaft, or you can use morse taper shanked drills which don’t use the chuck at all.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meddings-Pillar-Drill-240V-/291599419566?hash=item43e4ae08ae:g:v9gAAOSwo6lWLfTL