which one

[dredgewelder]

planning on buying a drill press in the next day or so. looking at jet 15 in or the wilton 15 in both are floor models. was wanting some input on them to see which one yall would go with. dont want to spend more then 600.the jet is about 350 and the wilton is about 530. also want to say keep up the great work and i have learned alot from u guys and look forward to more

[TomVeatch]

I'm not familiar with either of those drill presses, but I've been using a Jet JDP-17MF drillpress in my shop for a few years now and am fairly well pleased with it. I don't know what the differences between that and the 15" might be, but from the product photos, they appear to be very similiar. I'm assuming that you are talking about the JDP-15MF.

Mine (JDP-17MF) has 16 speeds from 200 up to 3600 RPM selectable by positioning two v-belts on the motor, idler, and quill pulleys, and is adequate for my DP needs - mostly woodworking with some metal drilling. I do feel that it has a little more vibration than it should and am not particularly impressed by the depth stop and lack of a true quill lock.

I guess my only other complaint is that I have it wired for 220v and that prevents use of the built-in worklight unless you can find 220v 60w bulbs that will fit the worklight cavity and socket. The only ones I've found are physically too large. The alternative is to rewire the machine to apply 110v to the worklight or leave the motor wired to run on 110v.

[SundownIII]

dredgewelder,

Can't comment directly on either the Jet or Wilton drill presses but I would recommend you also consider the Grizzly lineup.

I have their model G7948 which is a 12 Speed, 20" press equipped with a 1 1/2 HP motor. Sells for $495 plus $85 shipping. That drill press is a brute and has received positive writeups in many reviews. It's been around for awhile and has been refined over time.

I have always had good luck with Grizzly tools and they stand behind their products after the sale and replacement/accessories are readily avail.

[HMW]

Funny question, I just bought one Saturday. My wife made me take her shopping all over Virginia beach, so I showed her by buying a new drill press. I bought the Craftsmen model 22901. List for $529.00 but was on sale for $479.00. Its replacing an older HF model I have. Pretty nice this one seems. very heavy. You can check it out on Sears web site. Good luck findin one

[TomVeatch]

...I have always had good luck with Grizzly tools and they stand behind their products after the sale and replacement/accessories are readily avail.

I will second Sundown's comment - at least the second half. Their customer service has a very good reputation, and my experiences with them have been excellent! I bought a horizontal bandsaw from them that was a lemon, but customer service went further than I ever expected to address the problem.