Customer Reviews

DELTA 17-965 3/4 Horsepower 16-1/2-Inch Floor Drill Press

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Purchasing a drill press was one of the later purchases for my shop. I have used this drill press to do all kinds of things - bore holes in pen blanks, drill mortises, circle saws, hole saws and have found it to work extremely well -- settings for depth of gauge works well, fairly easy to change bit speeds, doesn't wobble -- one of the best shop investments I have made!

When looking at drill presses there are machines that cost the same or less than this one and have comparable specs. (JET) However, this machine had a longer stroke and the Delta name so I decided to splurge for the "Delta name and quality".

I unpacked the drill (it seemed well packed) and assembled it. The directions were ok, not great, but good enough. Cleaning the gallons of packing greasse off of the machine took some time. I plugged it in and POW, it blows the circuit breaker, and I could swear I saw a flash. Now this is the same outlet I have run my table saw from, so what gives? I decided try to try it on a dedicated 20 amp line. I try it again...It started to turn ok, but I saw a couple of blue flashes (at that time I wasn't sure it was normal or not). At least it was running.

On to the "genuine delta" mortissing attachment. (extra on the Delta, included on the Jet) As someone else pointed out, you have to sacrifice over an inch of travel to install the Delta Mortissing attachment by moving the quillion clamp. So much for easy mortising and the longer stroke length. However, once it is set up, installing and removing the mortiser is not too bad.

Somehow I expected it to run smoother, but I proceed to drill a few holes in some scrap wood anyway. It seems to work ok, but the motor sounds funny. Then I notice the stream of SMOKE coming out of the top of the motor. I stop the motor and OUCH, too hot to touch. I guess those blue flashes were not normal. This was after only 5 minutes of running mostly un-loaded. I check the drive belts, nope, not too tight. Just a bad motor.

Even if this machine worked flawlessly out of the box I would only have given it a 4 out of 5 rating. The mortising attachment installation is sort of a cheat and deprives you of stroke length. The belt cover rattles as the machine runs. The table is hard to get very secure to the column. Even after really tightening the clamp the table will move if you bump it.

If I had it to do over I would probably go for the Jet. Unfortunately I fell for the mystique of the Delta name. The jet has a metal pulley cover, where the Delta's is plastic and it rattles. Jet has a built in light socket but I had to buy a magnetic lamp to add to the Delta. The Jet has a TEFC (Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled) motor, where the Delta does not. This is particulary relevant given my bad motor experience. The Jet comes with the mortising attachment, the Delta costs extra. Both are made in Taiwan anyway. I guess the "Delta days" are past.

So now I get to find a way to ship this VERY heavy motor to a repair depot somewhere. Not exactly the Delta quality experience I was hoping for. I would go for the Jet next time for sure.

New info 2-13-2002
Delta refused to let me return just the motor. They insist that I ship the 100 lb + head back to them so they can check the serial number. Nice. I decided to drive it to a local repair depot since shipping the head (for a DOA motor) would cost as much as replacing the motor myself!

The saga continues. Apparently all of the shops anywhere near my house or my job have stopped taking on Delta warrantee work. Each one I called had the same story. They tell me that Delta is very hard to deal with and very cheap. (the actual words they used were less polite) Delta doesn't pay market rates for repairs so they stopped taking Delta work. I had to drive my drill press nearly an hours away to get the warantee honored. This has been a dreadfull experience. For your own sake please consider another brand.

One doesn't wax poetic about drill presses. They perform some functions that are vital to a workshop, but their primary function - to bore straight and true holes into a variety of materials is hardly glamorous. And not one has ever thought to make a drill press look like anything other than it is. And yet, without one, craftsfolk would be limited in what they can do.

The Delta 17-965 is intended to be an economic entry into the range of heavy duty presses. As such it is primarily for woodworking and light metal work. It lacks the architecture and high precision for exacting machining. But it comes very, very close and at a price that makes it a reasonable entry in an economical shop. It also is sold as the Delta ShopMaster DP400.

Basic features are a 3/4 horsepower engine, a 5/8" capacity chuch, rack and pinion table movements and an external depth stop. It is capable of 16 spindle speeds (215 to 2720 RPM), changes manual via the pulley belts. The table can be tilted 45 degrees left or right. The quill can travel 4-7/8", but if you are using the mortising attachment you will need to shift the depth stop up out of the way, which will cost you about an inch.

An early warning for people used to manhandling a benchtop press. Most of the 195 pounds of this press's weight is in the head - particularly the motor. Delta designed the head so that there is no easy way to get a grip on it. Assembly should really be a two person job. I'm not a weight lifter, and getting the head down into my workroom was a near disaster. And then I had to winch up the head so that I could lower it on the stand.

It works beautifully. I've been cutting long pegs out of Honduran rosewood for a project, which takes a lot of torque and precision. It has worked smoothly throughout. The mortising attachment also works beautifully. For the price this is a tremendous amount of drill press. You could spend more and be less satisfied.

Although it looks good just sitting there, the only way to REALLY appreciate this drill press is to USE IT.

It is quiet, solid, has a fine finish and is altogether a refined, well-engineered piece of machinery. Simply put, it is a pleasure to use. I believe it to be an outstanding value for a tool that is one of the cornerstones of a woodworking shop. (It's value is even greater when you consider that a very good $mortiser was thrown into the deal for a total price of less that $--and was delivered to my door.)

While all drill presses of this general size may appear to offer pretty much the same features, this one has some very significant differences that make it stand out above the rest. The features that are of great value in working with this press are the quill lock, the quick-set depth stop and the extra long quill depth. The value is, of course, what you save in set-up time.

Some brief suggestions: Buy it. Buy it from Tool Crib / Amazon. Buy it while the mortiser is thrown in. Put it on a base, as is recommended in the instructions. (Consider a mobile base, whether you build it or buy one.) Can be put together by one person, but a little help is wise. Don't wipe off the light coating of grease that is on bare metal; wipe off the table top (and coat it with a good wood paste wax), otherwise leave the coating to protect the metal. If the plastic pulley cover rattles a little, don't complain; simply do something smart to make the rattle go away . . . .

In reading other reviews, I have found that having some insight into the person writing the review is very helpful in assessing the value of the review to one's own circumstances, so here's a little on me: I am a 51 yr old professional paper pusher and amateur woodworker, with a two-car garage workshop that is shared with two cars. I am a home-owner and have done and can do most anything necessary to keep things fixed around the house. I have built on a large and complex screened porch, wired the house myself when it was built and am otherwise pretty "handy". I select tools after reading everything that I can get my hands on and then literally putting my hands on the tool, if possible. I expect high quality and precision in the tools I purchase and I try to home in on tools that add significantly to my ability to create finely crafted works in a reasonable period of time. When I bought this drill press, it was with the expectation of using it for the rest of my life and passing it along to one of my sons. As you may gather, my expectations are high in every respect. The Delta meets those expectations. It would be wonderful if every tool I ever owned was as fine as this one!

Good job, Delta!

I purchased this drill press because of the long spindle stroke. After using it almost every day for a month I can say that it is a wonderfull machine. The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is the rattle. The top cover and switches rattle during use. I found that if I leave the top open just a hair that seems to stop the noise, but I shouldn't have to. This sound doesn't affect the operation in the least, but it is annoying. Get some help during assembly unless you are a power lifter and even then, the head is very awkward.

When I opened my new drill press it appeared to have survived shipping just fine. It was well packed. Assembly took just a couple hours with a well written manual and parts catagorized in plastic bags. Only one item was missing, the chuck key.

The trouble came when I switched it on. Nothing happened. Disassembly found that the inner on/off switch (which is right behind the on/off buttons that the user operates)had broken free from its mount.
I was able to test the tool by pressing the inner switch. The tool came to life but the motor sounded funny. Kind of a high speed clicking sound....like something loose.
Delta customer service promised to send out the parts right away. One chuck key, one switch mounting bracket and one new motor. These arrived in less than a week.
After reassembly all seemed great for the first 10 minutes when all of a sudden, a POP sound and a flash of light from the new motor!
Another call to Delta and another new motor arrived within a week. This one has worked out fine.
I give this tool 4 stars instead of 2 or 3 because of the great service from Delta. Almost all tools available to the DIY'r or small shop owner today are overseas imports. What sets one brand apart from another is the willingness of the company to stand behind the product if something goes wrong. Delta came through for me.

I purchased this drill press from Amazon and it came in perfect condition. It is heavy and I needed a helper to assemble it. It runs great and is not noisy if the belt tension is set properly--not too tight. The other drill presses in this price range do not have the same great features, such as: (1)Deep plunge ability, you won't need to adjust the table as often.(2) A fast action nut on the depth gauge to quickly and acurately set the depth.(3) A hold-down feature set with a small knob to check location and depth of hole to be drilled. I have had other drill presses but none have had these features. I purchased the light seperately which is far better than a built-in light,you can put the light on the work. Amazon forgot to send the mortising attachment, but after an E-mail it was sent. For the furniture maker or small shop you can't do better than this without jumping into the [higher] price range. I love it!

Well, after reading all the reviews you convinced me to finally purchase this floor press. It came in one piece with no damage. Assembly was very simple but the instuctions need revising in order to plumb the press head and the vertical table guide. It is indeed a little flexible (per another readers comments) Whether that is intentional or not is a mystery. Run out measured at .002. The depth stop feature is fantasic and sure makes quick work of multiple drills at static depths.

To make sure the drill head is directly over the center of the base is to use a good old fashioned plumb bob. Simply tighten up the chuck and let the bob hang down. Once you've got it centered, tighten up the 2 hex set nuts on the column. Repeat the same steps for the vertical table guide. Tighten up the "one" collar hex nut once the guide is plumb. The only thing that needs modifying is the belt housing unit. It vibrates to no end. A quick fix is to use a velcro strap wrapped tightly around the housing to eliminate the excess noise. Finally, use the HTC mobile base using 4x4's and 3/4" plywood. It REALLY makes this unit stable.

To the point made on vibration, I found that what was vibrating on mine was the heavy but short steel handle that tensions the v-belts. It's got a little play in it and, being on the heavy side, makes a loud noise when it vibrates. Motor was made in China, I believe.

I greatly quieted it down with a rubber band holding the handle in place.

Regarding the table tilt adjustment, I too was frustrated to find no tool included. I bought a round 15/16" wrench and it just fits into the space available to make the adjustment. The table also was either frozen or painted in place so I had to knock it loose to tilt it. So far I've been slightly discouraged from using the table tilt because of the struggle to tilt it.

One further point: the press could benefit from a bolt to hold the spindle DOWN closer to the work. That way, you could just use your left hand for a quick adjustment to set the bit just above the work, rather than the more laborious table-height adjustment (with possible roller-support adjustments on the sides). If you can place the bit just above the work, you have a finer, shorter travel for your right hand when doing the boring.

But the deep travel is fantastic. What a pleasure for me to move up from a cordless drill to this precision machine.

I got the store to throw in a mortising attachment. This is the smartest thing I did buying the press -- the fence that comes with the mortising attachment is very heavy-duty and I don't know how I'd use the press without it. Haven't used the rest of the mortiser yet, though.

After reading all the reviews on drill presses I decided to buy the top rated Delta drill press. My only concern was the recent move to Chinese manufacturing, but since most tool manufactures have made this move to remain competetive this became a moot point. The drill press arrived on July 9, 2004. The driver was helpful off-loading it, and I proceeded to set it up. At 5'-7" and 130 lbs I was still able to assemble it by mounting the head while the column was on the floor, bolting the base to the mobile base and tipping it up. Overall the quality of the castings and machine work was good. Installed a forstner bit and drilled a couple of holes. While the holes came out fine, it was not very smooth running. Further examination revealed a lot of belt dust and pulleys that were not aligned. I aligned the only adjustable pulley (at the motor) to the idler (center pulley). Vibration was less but still unacceptable. The idler puller was at an angle to the main spindle pulley. Delta service offered to send a new crank arm but after checking that it was not the problem. The bore for the crank arm was drilled out of vertical. Delta service wanted me to take the head to the nearest service center and have it rebuilt. Called Amazon, they ordered a new one. Two weeks later the replacement arrived. I carefully removed the shipping bands, opened the box and tipped up the head to check the pulleys. Sure enough, same problem, only worse ! Back it went. Delta has serious QC problem. There could be hundreds of these defective heads out there. I am going to buy either a Jet or Rigid press. Unfortunately it is now two months later, no drill press for my woodworking shop, and I am out my $50 Fathers day discount. Five stars to Amazon, one star to Delta !