[ryan50hrl]

Anyone have any cons to a radial drill press....seems more functional than a standard drill press....

 

[Dave Paine]

If you were within driving distance I would give you my bench mounted radial drill press.

The biggest issue is that these machines flex more than a fixed head by nature of the design.

I used mine for decades. I did not use the head tilt feature often, but I did move the head out for certain projects.

Another con is they take up more space.

My unit was rather underpowered, but this is common for bench DP's. I think mine may be 1/3rd HP.

I upgraded to a 1HP Powermatic floor standing unit. Now I am not short of power. :icon_smile:

 

[cabinetman]

I had one years ago, and the extended reach came in handy, and so did being able to drill at angles. It can also do horizontal boring, which is a plus with long stock.

.

 

[J Thomas]

I have an old (AMT?) radial drill.. It was in the shop when I took over but have never seen the need for it.
I plan to pull the motor off & use it in building a dust collector for my planer.
The remainder is going via yard sale / craigs list / junk for scrap metal.
..Jon..

 

[rbk123]

I use mine for lathe-style tasks at times. I just rotate the head so it ends up with enough free space around whatever I'm spinning (ex: sanding cork handles - both the outside shape and the inside diameter - for fishing rods I make).
I don't think I've ever used it to drill at an angle (no real reason, just no need).

Only negative I can think of is it sticks out further from the wall it's up against, vs. a normal drill press.

 

[Fred Hargis]

I have always though they would be better for woodworking than a standard DP. Yet every time I see this question asked, the majority answer is along the lines of don't waste your money. But the additional functionality sure seems like it would be a good thing.

 

[FrankC]

The common Delta style with the sliding tube are not very rigid, ones with with the cast arm and heavy post are much sturdier, like any other tool depends on what you want to spend.

 

[BWSmith]

1947 Walker Turner here.The one with the "heavier",full base.It has 32 speeds....16 from factory and we put a two sp motor on it.

It's about 15 or so feet away from its brother.....a '51 W/T 20",production table.

The former is used in machineshop to augment the BP........the 20" is at the end of cabinet shop.Meaning the radial is close to cabinet shop....the 20 is near metal shop.There is only a small amt of wood done on the radial.Probably because of the net worth of the 20?

The radial does however have a lovely layout table.No it's not pink granite,but for down and dirty layout and fixturing it sees almost daily use.The benny to this overall design is that you get to utilize the table "more better",because the drill head/arm swings out of your way.And occasionally use the chuck as part of a metrology setup(the tilting axis).

Ours is near mint condition,bought off C-list for beer money.It takes an inordinate amt of space/realestate,and is stupid heavy.......I'll keep it because it gets used right much.But would say 90% of folks would be way better served with a big honkin,"regular" DP.

Edit to add;The 20 has "power downfeed"....and if you ever get a chance to look at a W/T with this feature,it's rather interesting.