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My situation is such that a full-on drill press isn't feasible due to space/storage concerns. Has anyone had any luck w/ those drill stands where you put your hand drill into a little device that operates pretty much like a drill press? Will it work to drill holes for tuners and controls at least?

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My situation is such that a full-on drill press isn't feasible due to space/storage concerns. Has anyone had any luck w/ those drill stands where you put your hand drill into a little device that operates pretty much like a drill press? Will it work to drill holes for tuners and controls at least?

I've got one. As a paperweight, it's pretty good. As a woodworking machine, it's basically worthless. Even if you manage the clamp your drill in so it's square (a big *if*, btw), the stand will flex as soon as the bit touches wood, and there's no telling how far it will wander. Controls and tuners can be done by hand with a little guide to keep you pretty square. A benchtop drill press might be a good idea, too... they're small and pretty cheap, and they work much better than those drill stand things.

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Thanks. Not what I wanted to hear but beats screwing up good wood.

Sorry for the bad news, but those things really are useless. A cheap little benchtop press like this would take care of those tuner holes and other small stuff for you without taking up too much space or breaking your wallet. It's hard to argue against a full sized drill press if you can swing it though... I use mine easily more than any other power tool.

My drill presses, old one on the left:

drillpress.jpg

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My situation is such that a full-on drill press isn't feasible due to space/storage concerns. Has anyone had any luck w/ those drill stands where you put your hand drill into a little device that operates pretty much like a drill press? Will it work to drill holes for tuners and controls at least?

I've got one. As a paperweight, it's pretty good. As a woodworking machine, it's basically worthless. Even if you manage the clamp your drill in so it's square (a big *if*, btw), the stand will flex as soon as the bit touches wood, and there's no telling how far it will wander. Controls and tuners can be done by hand with a little guide to keep you pretty square. A benchtop drill press might be a good idea, too... they're small and pretty cheap, and they work much better than those drill stand things.

If you get one make sure ther's a goos distance between the pillar and the bit. I bought one the works well, but when it came to bridge stud (T-O-M) holes on my Cs356 DIY it wouldn't allow me to line them up. I ended up doing them on a friends big work one.

RobSm

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Sorry for the bad news, but those things really are useless. A cheap little benchtop press like this would take care of those tuner holes and other small stuff for you without taking up too much space or breaking your wallet. It's hard to argue against a full sized drill press if you can swing it though... I use mine easily more than any other power tool.

That Harbor Freight one I was just about to ask about. Believe me, I would love ti buy a full-sized drill press but to keep it around, I'd have to sell all my amps so I would have space to keep in the living room. :D I have a friend who has one which I will just have to continue to use for the time being.

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Sorry for the bad news, but those things really are useless. A cheap little benchtop press like this would take care of those tuner holes and other small stuff for you without taking up too much space or breaking your wallet. It's hard to argue against a full sized drill press if you can swing it though... I use mine easily more than any other power tool.

That Harbor Freight one I was just about to ask about. Believe me, I would love ti buy a full-sized drill press but to keep it around, I'd have to sell all my amps so I would have space to keep in the living room. :D I have a friend who has one which I will just have to continue to use for the time being.

A small tabletop press takes up just about as much room as a drill press stand, and is about a million times better. Most will be good enough for tuner holes and basic 'square drilling', and probably less than ideal for drum sanding, etc. None of these are what I'd call 'full size', but they're all more useful than a stand. If you've got a friend with a good one, though, you should be able to get away with not having one. Bit annoying, but something you can live with.

I built my first 8 guitars with a drill press stand, and believe me, I wish I'd gone and bought the cheapie I have now (was about 80 bucks, including the 19% sales tax we have here) much, much earlier. It's less watts than my hand drill, but it's so much quieter, smoother, and lets me do tuner holes. The only reason I want to upgrade the darn thing is, well, I'd like to be able to actually reach the middle of the guitar and drill string-through holes and the like. Not possible with this one.

Mattia

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I'm always looking for that happy medium. I once had a massive heavy duty benchtop drill press, very ancient and of Japanese origin. It was 16 speed, basically remove the top and move the drive belt to a different pulley to change speeds. But I had no place to keep this behemoth, weighed about 200 lbs! I managed to flog it for a $50 profit. I have a little dremel drill press accessory attachment that might work well at drilling pilot holes. Once you get them in straight you could finish them off with a hand drill, bits should just follow the path and run on through.

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Since it looks like I'm gonna end up getting a drill press anyway, what would you all think of something like this oscillating drill press? I can already see it coming in handy for sanding. It's gonna cost a fortune to ship so I think I might end up having to make do w/ what's available at my local mega super home warehouse store (where I might as well set up a base camp for how many times I've been there in the last two weeks).

Edit: Shipping from Girzzly for that particular model is only fifteen bucks. I was going by what I was seeing on eBay which was more along the lines of forty since they all do that thing where they make all their money from the shipping and handling fee--unscrupulous if you ask me.

Edited by Logical Frank
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What a coincidence, I just picked up a drill stand at a garage sale. Its an older heavy duty unit, couldn't resist for only 5 bucks. :D

Drillstand.jpg

I'll look for an older electric drill (all I have is cordless) with a locking trigger. So long as its set up right I can't see any problems drilling straight holes with this one. Just gotta start small, ie. drilling pilot holes and finishing with the proper size.

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I saw something similar to that on eBay today. Definitely seems to be of a higher quality than the newer ones. Still, I ultimately just went w/ a small benchtop model. Had to wait for some auctions to go through to get the money so I didn't order it until today. It's definitely a cheapie but I think it can get the job done for my purposes. (It's not the oscillating model I mentioned above. I couldn't figure out if you could turn the oscillating function off. I do well enough w/ a drum sander so I figure I might as well keep it simple).

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I just picked up a very old "Skil" drill, cast aluminum body, 1/4" chuck (all I need for this kinda thing) for only 10 bucks at a pawn shop. It was made for this drill stand, even has a special hole for the hold-down bar to fit. LOL, I brought it over to the counter and had the guy plug it in and give it a spin. The chuck key was taped onto the chuck. When he pulled the trigger the key flew off and darn near took his eye out! Its a torky little bastard and spins REALLY fast. I've got it mounted onto the stand but have to do some fine tuning to get the alignment perfect. Once that is done the drill will stay there permanently.

Edited by Southpa
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