Cameron

This subject has been discussed before in this forum, so searching may help. Master modeler Jack Burgess has recommended the Cameron units several times, see this link, https://cameronmicrodrillpress.com/sensitive-manual-micro-drill-presses/new-cameron-214-series/. It is about $1100 plus shipping, direct from the manufacturer. Precision tools are not cheap and as your review of the reviews has doubtless shown, the cheaper products made overseas typically have a lot of slop in the spindle or other problems that can significantly affect accuracy and satisfaction in modeling. Cameron products retain high resale value and you will not wear it out.

@ Al

Al,

I have the Micro-Mark knock off of the Proxxon machine. I have two major complaints about it compared to my larger benchtop drill press. The biggest and most annoying issue is there is no way to drill at an angle. I don't know if the more expensive version has a tilting table (like a full sized or benchtop version would have). The other issue for me (being in a large scale) is the height of the column. I replaced the column with a similar sized hunk of metaI found at the hardware store. I have much more height now. As far as using it to drill small (60-80) bits, it works great. I've drilled plastic, brass with no issues. Overall for the price point its not a bad in between step between a floor model and hand drilling. 

Craig 

Cameron ?

  I have a Cameron given to me years by my father in law. It's a nice little press, simple and easy to move around but I wouldn't pay the price they want for one now. Any decent press should be good enough for modeling purposes. More important than the press to me is how to position and hold the part exactly where you want it while drilling so I'd spend time looking at ways to accomplish that. ....DaveB 

Micromark

I have a Micromark drill press and use it all the time.  Actually had to replace the drive belt a couple weeks ago after probably a decade of use (found a suitable replacement at a vacuum cleaner repair store.)

Proxxon

I have a Proxxon, and it has worked pretty well for me for close to 10 years. The main annoyance is as Craig says: you have to make your own arrangements for drilling at an angle.

Go for one with a range of drilling speeds …

• With an emphasis on slow speeds.  
• A tilting table
• Slots in table for attaching a small vice
• Clearance between chuck and table for a mounted job (allowing for vice, etc.)
• Chuck large enough to hold largest drill you plan on using

Depending on what I’m doing, I use: 

• A mini-mill
• A cheap 8” drill press which only lacks a rack and crank for raising/lowering the table
• A Dremel drill press stand, or 
• A  Milescraft drill guide.  This rig is incredibly handy for drill in place, hard to get to, setup, etc. jobs. 

Possible solution

Unless doing real precision work or you want something fully professional you may like the price/performance ratio of the Dremel Drill Press Rotary Tool Workstation Stand 220-01. They are available from a number of the big box stores at under $50 retail. I bought one a few years back and like the versatility of the unit. Of course, you would need to have a Dremel rotary tool that is made to be compatible.

I am satisfied with mine, but then I work with N scale so some of the limitations such as travel range is not a problem for me. Some people comment that the plastic construction makes it wobbly, but that for me is eliminated by properly tightened all the fasteners. The plastic is fairly strong, just treat it well and it should give more than just the $50 worth of work. One of the more valuable features other than as a drill press is the holding of the rotary tool while using the flex shaft.

Inexpensive choice

Al,

You know me, always looking for a bargain.  I bought one of these a couple years ago:

https://www.amazon.com/DONNGYZ-Electrical-Bench-Drill-Machine/dp/B07Z8Z9TW3/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=mini%2Bdrill%2Bpress&qid=1639209646&sr=8-5&th=1

The chuck runs dead true with small bits and the motion of the quill is parallel to the axis of the bit, the two most important factors in a drill press.  Downside is the quill motion was not smooth.  I took it apart and used a mototool to grind away some burrs.  The base is cast iron, the column fairly heavy steel tube and the body is cast metal.  Seems to have enough power.

I've a machine like Ted's

I have a drill press like Ted's- it looks almost precisely like his, just with different colors on the controller piece than on the one shown at the Amazon link. There's no brand name on mine, just the usual "Made in China"

I got mine about ten years ago for around $90 new from a tool guy at the big train show at the fairgrounds near Cleveland. One of my buddies who had been a toolmaker for Ford checked it out for a couple of minutes before I bought it and found it fit for my purposes. I haven't had any quill motion issue with mine, and have saved a fortune in #78-80 drills over the past decade. I'm very pleased with it for a low-price tool.

The drive belt is a big soft plastic O-ring that holds up decently well- I've replaced one since I've had the machine (I'd over-tightened it). A lot of the replacement belts I've seen have at least a little hitch in their git-along, since the ends aren't always aligned well when they are fused to make the belt.

The specs say 16,000 RPM

Is that a typo?  Or the top speed with a variable controller?  If the latter they look decent. 

Same as Ted and Fritz

Got the little drill press and it works for me.

Good Advice

Thanks, all,

Good advice and I appreciate it.  I can always count on the collective wisdom of MRH Forum readers.

Regarding that link that Ted provided, there appears to be to models - a 340-watt and a 480-watt unit.  Reviews looked pretty good (Amazon), but they were all for the 340-watt unit; no reviews on the 480-watt unit.  I think either will work fine for my needs; just need to figure out if I need the higher-powered unit.  Most of my use will be on wood, plastic, resin - stuff like that.  I don't do much with metals.

Again, appreciate all the info/comments!

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA

16,000 RPM?

The smaller the bit the higher the speed should be. I can't remember offhand what the max speed of my Cameron press is but it's probably in that range....DaveB

MicroMark

HI Al,

I recently purchased the MicroMark MicroLux 3 Speed Mini Drill Press. I've struggled with a Dremel workstation for years. The Dremel workstation has too much play too ever be accurate enough for my tastes. Also, the lowest speed on my Dremel is 5000 RPM which is often faster than I want to drill plastics with.

I researched Cameron, Proxxon and MicroMark. I've used my friends Cameron and its great, but I had to rule it out due to price ($1400 with a chuck). The real choice for me was between Proxxon or MicroMark. They look very similar. The Proxxon is capable of a slower spindle speed of 1800 RPM vs 2100 RPM for the MicroMark. 2 things made me favor the MicroMark.

1. Price - The drill press and accessories were less expensive. The Black Friday deal was incredible.
2. Collets vs Chuck -

• The Proxxon comes with with an array of collets. To me it looks similar to a Dremel system. This could be advantageous as I already have a Dremel keyless chuck. But it just reminds me too much of a rotary tool hybrid as opposed to a real drill press,
• The MicroMark has a keyed 3 jaw chuck that fits on a 3/8" spindle. To me this looked like a more robust option. I'll probably buy a keyless chuck that fits this spindle.

I opted for the 3 speed model (as opposed to the variable speed) because it was much less expensive and I can always add an aftermarket variable speed controller for around $40-$50.

I received it yesterday, so I've only tested it lightly. Its very stable, there is no perceptible wobble in the drill bit, which is a big improvement over my Dremel Workstation. It comes with an adjustable fence and an Allen wrench to tighten it. I purchased the vice that fits over the fence. It is OK, but I probably wont use it much as I tend to hold my work pieces or tape them in place. I also purchased the XY table, but its kind of a pain to setup, so I probably wont use it much.

XY Table

Greg,

Once you get the XY Table just install it and leave it. That's what I do. When I need to drill multiple holes that are evenly spaced it's a life saver. And it's really easy to set up and use. 

For those of you are are drilling larger holes, 60-0 I'd suggest investing in a set of center drills.

Thanks for the replies to OP, this is a useful thread

I'm really glad to hear from people that the cheaper drill presses are not totally unusable. I'd read some stuff in other threads that made me think anything under $1000 was terminally wobbly.

For those of you who have to adjust a belt to adjust the speed, how often do you find yourself doing that? And for those who have a variable speed drill press, do you change the speed every time you use it or mostly leave the speed set to some value that's good for your main material?

I have a few questions if

I have a few questions if folks don't mind.

On the XY table.  what do you use to secure the object being drilled?  (i have the MicroMark drill press and the XW table) 

Also on the MM drill press mentioned above, is that a tapper or a 3/8” threaded connection for the chuck?

-Doug M

EW

IIRC my little drill press has adjustable belt and a varispeed knob. They really don't do much so I just leave it at a set speed and it works fine for what I'm drilling which is mostly styrene and wood.

XY Table

Doug,

The XY table has some clamps that are available as extras. The extra step clamps work much better than the clamps that are supplied with the XY table. It's even possible to do light milling ( yes I know you really shouldn't).

https://www.micromark.com/Step-Clamp-Set-for-X-Y-Table

Great Responses

Many thanks to all of you who contributed these great responses!  You definitely have provided a lot of information that I hadn't known before, reading reviews and such.  Not sure which way I'll go yet, but I'm leaning towards the MM unit.

Greg, thanks for making and posting that very useful video.  Nice to see the drill press in action from an actual user like you.  I also watched MM's own demo video, which I found useful as well.

The collective wisdom found here on the MRH Forum is invaluable!

Thanks,

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA

Price reflects quality

At first glance, a drill press is a basic machine that should be cheap as chips right.   Maybe not..

Drilling small holes in typical modelling materials is actually quite a challenging task.  If you want predictable results without breaking bits every few holes then I would respectfully suggest that most budget machines aren't well suited to the task.

A drill speed chart such as this one https://www.sserc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/drill-speed-chart.pdf recommends speeds of 3000rpm and up for the small drills we hope to use.  Drilling any given material at the correct speed should be like cutting butter with a hot knife. Conversely, drilling at the wrong speed can be very frustrating and costly.  For many modelling tasks the correct speed is 3000rpm or above.

When using drill bits below 1/16" in diameter it is essential to have the bit running as true as possible. Any wobble at the tip of the bit is not likely to end well.  Budget three jaw chucks are notorious for large values of run out and even mid price  chucks can still have significant run out.   A better option is a proper collet chuck such as an ER 16 which can hold drill bit  sizes from .5mm to 9mm. 

In addition to the chuck the motor spindle needs to run true.  Again, a budget machine is unlikely to have a quality spindle.  However, is the average modeller likely to bother with spending the money to get a drill press with tight run out values at the chuck?  Probably not.

Changing the belts on a drill press is widely recognised as an activity that is seldom likely to occur in any given workshop.  In other words the belts are set once and then never changed during the life of the machine.  Belts are the only way you can easily change the RPM of an AC motor.  DC motors can have variable speed control but require special circuitry to hold sufficient torque as speeds decrease.  That circuitry costs extra.

So sorry to be a killjoy, but unless you spend the money, you are unlikely to get good results with a budget drill press.

i can but hope that post was sarcasm

because if it is not….

In other words..

“If you cant afford to at least buy a BMW or a Mercedes you wont be happy and should just walk”..

Frankly this is perhaps the most absurd elitist attitude i have yet to encounter on this site.

While a $50 drill press is going to have issues, if you buy a Micromark or Proxon or equal you will ne perfectly fine. Will you break a drill bit?  Maybe.  Depends on the size of the bit, what you are drilling into an a few other factors.  As for needing special electronics to keep the torque..  What are you drilling into?  Titanium?

Will a $1500 drill press work better?  I am sure it will.  And a $3000 or $10000 will be better yet.  But come on.  you  Literally could DESTROY beyond any salvageable level 2 to 10 brand new locomotives and still be better off  financially then these ultra precision machines.  

-Doug M

How about this

Here's a good start. Not a bad price.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115129655781?hash=item1ace4321e5:ggcAAOSwZcZhrlo-

Then you add this.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185210186818?hash=item2b1f632c42:g:jusAAOSwggthtRL-

And you'll have a very accurate drill press.

Bernd

Or...

..you could spend $20 on a quality pin vise and achieve outstanding results.

The question is Doug will spending $400 on a Micro Mark drill press give you the results you want? 

There are any number of budget drill presses on the market and most will suit the average home handyman just fine.  However, this is a case of caveat emptor (buyer beware).  Using drill bits below 1/16"  is tricky at best.  If your powered drill press has run out then you may be better off using a hand held pin vise. 

My post was aimed at pointing out the possible flaws of budget machines.