craftsman drill press?

[xsefan]

I am looking at a couple of craftsman drill presses staring at the 12 inch. I am see low prices on them the same or close to harbor freight. I'm just not sure if this is a great deal or has the quality just come down with the price? I don't want to spend more than $300
After that I should look at a mini mill. It will mainly be use on 1911 bobtail work. I might do a sterling tube or 1911 side plate. Ak builds
Most will be done with end mill bits and or undersized then reamed to finish size.
Has any one bought a craftsman drill press lately or know if they are better than harbor freight units thanks

[shafferds]

A drill press is not a mill you can break the collet, bit and mess up your parts. Use a mill.

[GunDog]

Forget Sears Craftsman and Harbor Freight. I'd recommend buying your power equipment from Grizzly Industrial....

https://www.grizzly.com/

[xsefan]

I would love to buy a mill. I just don't have 5k for a used one. Or 800 for harbor freight mini mill.
The grizzly mill is the harbor freight mill. Only the color is different.

[xsefan]

A drill press is not a mill you can break the collet, bit and mess up your parts. Use a mill.

I would be using a drill press to drill holes. Not as a mill

[2shotjoe]

Forget Sears Craftsman and Harbor Freight. I'd recommend buying your power equipment from Grizzly Industrial....

https://www.grizzly.com/

Grizzly Industrial scales where on a rating chart?

[subrvin]

www.littlemachineshop.com Awesome mills, and everything else you may need. Located in Pasadena.

[ar15barrels]

I would love to buy a mill.

Watch out for deals like this:

http://ventura.craigslist.org/tls/5479018068.html

A Mill Drill will do everything you need.
There was one last week for $500 in Simi Valley.

[lostark374]

i have the craftsman 12" press. i bought it about a year ago. its much nicer then the HF presses. but to be honest for what you are looking to do you should hold out and find a used rf clone bench mill and just be done with it. i found my round column for $550. i have seen some square columns pop up in the 750 - 1000 range recently.


by the time you spend 150 -200 on a press and 550 on a mini mill you will be money ahead buying a mill/drill.

be prepared tooling will cost you way more then the mill or drill press.

[Psychbiker]

I'm in the same boat. Really want a milling machine like a Bridgeport. Be nice to be able to mill serrations in slides and sights.

I was pricing out what it would cost to have serrations, front back, sights front and back done on a slide and it's probably around $400.

Those Harbor Freight/ Little Machine Shop mill/drills look nice but I've heard their accuracy isnt there like in a Bridgeport or Lagun.

[lostark374]

either is the price. i look at it this way. when my skill exceeds my mills ability i will look to upgrade. till then i will learn and beat on this and then pass it on to someone to learn on.

[xsefan]

I see the hb mill on craigslist. With in $50 of what they are new.
I am working on a business plan. I want to buy or start a gun store.
I dont want to spend 5k on a large mill that will need work. Not untill I can be profitable. I did a killer job on a bobtail with 150 work of tools that's including a jig. My skill level in better than entry on afew things. I think great tools will make any job faster with a better out come. As of now I am a dremel master. I know what one can and can't be used for on a gun. Basically light sanding minor grinding lots of polishing.

[kalibeltfeeder]

Watch out for deals like this:

http://ventura.craigslist.org/tls/5479018068.html

A Mill Drill will do everything you need.
There was one last week for $500 in Simi Valley.

^^+1, I picked up a mill/drill with 3 milling vices, collet set, step block and clamp set, and a few hundred dollars worth of endmills for $500 off of CL, I had to drive a couple hours to go get it. If your patient, one will pop up. I also picked up a slightly used Porter Cable floor drill press for $125 at the flea market once. So deals are out there.

That being said, my first drill press was a cheap little HF tabletop, it got me by for years, and still occasionally gets used.

[lostark374]

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/tls/5510224988.html

[xsefan]

Ended up with the hf 270$ one. In a week I have demilled 3 ak kits and put the trunion holes in the receviers. My hf 12 ton press populated the barrels and pressed the rivets . I wad thinking of getting the milling vise. I would not try and use this set up as a mill but it might be faster to move from drill sight to drill sight. Has anyone used that vise for this purpose?
My next step will be end mill bits for citing barrel pin holes. I have 5mm and 7mm reams I still need a 3mm