Benchtop Drill Presses

I am wanting to purchase a benchtop drill press but I need advice. Would like to hold the price down but I don’t want to sacrifice quality either. I do mostly wood work.  I have been looking at Jet JDP-12, Shop Fox W1668, and General #841427 from Woodcraft.  Does anyone have an opinion on these or suggest another quality benchtop drill press for under $450.  I like the larger tables, ability to sand, light included, easy adjusting tables, capability of sanding, and not sure to go with variable speed adjustment or manual adjustment for speed.

No experience with Woodcraft. The Shop Fox stuff is alright. Better than HF, but not what I would consider high quality.

Jet is good shit from my experience. It would certainly be my pick of the 3 named.

I would agree with conductor. Jet is a safe bet. As far as speed control it kind of depends. Automatic speed control will surely cost more money. I really don’t mind adjusting the speed on mine and it’s manual. Maybe it’s the maintenance guy in me but I sometimes worry about some of this extra stuff like electronic speed controls being another thing that could eventually shut down and stop your equipment from running. Where a manual system all you really ever have to worry about is the condition of your drive belt……..

I second Mustang’s comment about electronic controls. The more electronic controls you have, the more likely you are to have problems down the road.

What do you think of the Jet JDP-12  only 1/3 horsepower compared to the JDP-15 at 3/4 horsepower but $150 less in price too.  I am finding the JDP-15 for $374 and the JDP15 for $529

The JDP-12 gets awesome reviews. 1/3 HP is plenty for woodworking projects.

Wallydone wrote:

I am wanting to purchase a benchtop drill press but I need advice. Would like to hold the price down but I don’t want to sacrifice quality either. I do mostly wood work.  I have been looking at Jet JDP-12, Shop Fox W1668, and General #841427 from Woodcraft.  Does anyone have an opinion on these or suggest another quality benchtop drill press for under $450.  I like the larger tables, ability to sand, light included, easy adjusting tables, capability of sanding, and not sure to go with variable speed adjustment or manual adjustment for speed.

Funny, I’ve been shopping around for woodworking drill presses, and stumbled across your post. Created an account on this forum just so I could share what I’ve found.

Finewoodworking did a test of 9 benchtop drill presses back in 2007: https://www.finewoodworking.com/tool-guide/article/tool-test-benchtop-drill-presses.aspx

Hope this doesn’t go against forum rules, but I’ll post part of their conclusion:

“… General International 75-100 tested best for drilling power and all-around performance. If you can afford the $450 price, it’s the best you can buy. Or, the Jet JDP-15M might be the drill press for you. It rated second for power, among the best for speed- change and depth-set ease, has the largest table, and at $350, is more affordable. We rated both models best overall. “

OOO: We have very few rules here and sharing outside reviews is not against either of them.

Now that you’re here, you might as well stick around.

Dang, I gotta remember TWO rules?

Conductor562 wrote:

OOO: We have very few rules here and sharing outside reviews is not against either of them.

Now that you’re here, you might as well stick around.

I read that in Dale’s voice, startled me for a sec lol.

BK13: Yep, we have 2 rules. No religion and No politics. Beyond that it’s the wild west. We really don’t need many rules. Everyone here gets along, acts like they have good sense, etc.

OOO: I’m very Gribble like. A friend of mine calls me Hank Gribble because like Hank, I have a million tools all very neatly organized, I’m kinda old school about things, and I’m overly attached to my dog.

I’m built like Dale, I’ve smoked since I was 12, wore the same hat everyday for years until it literally fell apart, have no regard for personal protective equipment or safety, and my wife is way hotter than my looks dictate that she should be.

I just hope she isn’t boning an Indian on the side.

I’m interested in a drill press with the same criteria as well.

Has anyone checked out the Rockwell RK7033, or Wen 4210?

Jet makes good stuff.

I have two powermatic drill presses that are probably 30 years old. They perform flawlessly. 

I have a ShopSeries RK7033 drill press. It’s a decent little drill press. Especially for $179 Solidly built, powerful motor, great price, and quality. But. it doesn’t come with lights, lasers, table roller extension, and variable speed. Here is a proper review on it https://pickadvisor.org/best-benchtop-drill-press/