Customer Reviews

DELTA DP300L 12-Inch TwinLaser Crosshair Drill Press

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I just unpacked and setup the Delta 12" drill press. Problems: The plastic power switch was broken off during shipping (once the plastic is cracked there is no easy way to re-attach it). So now I have a brand new drill press with a broken power switch! Be warned if you are having this item shipped! It is not packed well enough to survive UPS Ground.

Otherwise the quality of this tool is equal to the price. It's better than a hobby drill press but not quite as good as a professional "shop quality" drill press.

The setup and assembly instructions were OK. But there were many opportunities for mistakes in assembly that could be more explicitly addressed. Specifically, I recommend assembling the drill press - but leave off the laser unit and the bracket for the tool tray. Leave the bolts a little loose. Then using the base plate as the reference point, use a carpenter's square to align the other components (so everything is aligned with the same centerline. Now tighten everything down and add the laser unit.

The laser cross-hair unit is surprisingly not a gimmick! It's actually designed pretty well. But you must follow the instructions to calibrate it (take a moment to contemplate what you are doing and why!) You must first adjust the lasers so they are "exactly parallel" to each other. The next step is adjusting the lasers so they cross exactly where the drill bit touches. Getting the lasers parallel is essential because this is what allows you to move the drilling platform up and down without loosing proper laser alignment.

I would not buy a drill press that is any lower in quality/cost than this Delta otherwise you'll end up with a piece of junk.

I am overall satisfied with the tool.
It is a little difficult to adjust precisely the depth stop.
Same with the laser. I actually found that I need to recalibrate the lasers each time I change the table height slighty if I want them to be dead accurate.

UPDATE: I now have used this drill press for almost a year and stick with my original review. The tool is still functionning properly. I had a chance to use the different speeds to bore bigger holes, it is a little annoying to have to move the belt but the operation is overall easy. The tool is working as it did the first time I powered it, there is no noticable play.

Overall a good buy.

The drill arrived in a box that appeared to have been handled roughly during shipping. I was initially concerned. However, the foam packaging did its job and all drill componenents were in brand-new condition.

Assembly was easy and proceeded exactly as the manual specified. All metal parts have a healthy dose of protective oil. You can wipe the excess oil with a clean rag (but never actually wash or "clean" the oiled surfaces).

The laser alignment process works as advertised thanks to the included alignment pin that fits into the drill chuck. It is important (as another reviewer has mentioned) to align each laser parallel to the alignment pin. Once each laser is parallel, you can adjust where they intersect for perfect alignment below the drill bit regardless of the height of the adjustable table.

For the money, this is an excellent drill press. I haven't used it extensively yet, but initial tests have been perfect.

This is my first drill press and for a sub $200 drill press it appears to be the best in breed in terms of features and quality. Assembling the drill was straight forward and the instructions were clear. The laser alignment was a little tricky and I ended up adjusting it by hand rather than using the method described in the manual. Once set, it was good.

While I was assembling the drill press the movement of the quill was sticky and would not fully reset until after I turned the machine on. I then proceeded to drill 512 1/8" holes in pine and it recessed properly every time. As I drilled the holes I noticed there was a grinding sound emanating from the gear box as mentioned in another review, but it did not affect the drill's operation.

The drill's operation was smooth, but the depth stop is cheap and difficult to set. Once it was set, it stayed set for all 512 holes. The external parts do seem a little light weigh like the handles, the depth stop, the table crank, and the annoying grinding sound in the gear box. However, the drill table and drill base are solid metal, the motor is strong and smooth, the drill accurate, and the speed is easily adjusted.

But it cannot be overstated how bad the shipping box's condition was when it arrived. The box was shredded and the foam packing core was crushed. I have no idea whether the shipper or the warehouse is to blame. However, several other reviewers have stated the same thing. The only damage was the speed belt housing cover clip which was bent. I was able to bend it back out. This was not the first time I have ordered from Amazon and had the product arrive in a damaged box. Hopefully Amazon is looking into this issue.

All in all I am happy with the drill. I got a lot of use out of it and it worked well. The shipping issue needs to be addressed and it cost the drill a star. The cheap feeling parts are what keeps the drill under $200, and have little bearing on its operation. Plus the laser guide is a nice addition. So for money, it is a good value.

And thanks to the reviewers that wrote about the Delta 20-619 6-Inch Drill Press Vise not fitting the DP300L, despite Amazon's advice to the contrary. You saved me time, money, and frustration!

I am a long time amateur woodworker, but until now have made due with a variety of hand drills and jigs. Should have taken the plunge years ago. This Delta DP300L has seen quite a bit of use, for a variety of jobs. Setup, bit changes, belt changes (after I learned the trick) are all easy and straight forward. Power, quiet/smooth/easy operation, and almost zero runout (think bit wiggle that would create an out of round and/or too large hole) at a reasonable price means I would recommend this unit to anyone seeking a quality DP to add to their woodworking bench tool arsenal-- with a few small caveats:

1. This is a HEAVY piece of equipment. Undoubtedly this contributed to the shipping box being totally trashed. I took pictures in case there was hidden damage. My guess is that the shipper turned it end-for-end a few times causing the cast iron table to break loose and bounce around inside the carton. Credit to Delta, the unit survived intact, with just one minor ding on the belt box. Lifting the unit into place on the table I built for it was NOT easy. Get someone to help you if possible. On the good side, all that weight makes for a rock solid performer once in place.

2. Setup was fairly easy with all parts present and accounted for and print directions OK except for one or two places that were a bit hazy on the details. Most important point is CAREFULLY tapping chuck in place using a wood block and mallet to keep everything square and avoid excessive runout.

3. For woodworking you'll really need a bigger table with a fence. This is not unique to this unit, just be prepared to build or buy something. Mine is a piece of 15x32 melamine coated shelving with a Rockler router table fence mounted. Works well to balance/clamp larger pieces and provides stops for repeating/aligning holes. With a fence in place, the laser is partially blocked, but I ended up removing it anyway-- not really necessary, and the laser housing impedes the upper end travel of the table.

4. Moving the belt to change speeds was tough the first couple of times I tried until I hit on an easy solution. Speed changes are accomplished by moving a single belt up or down two stacks of pulleys-- one above the drill bit (small to large) and one above the motor (large to small). Changing the speed means one pulley gets larger, and the opposing parallel pulley gets smaller. Hint: Always start with the pulley stack where you want to move to the next smallest pulley first. Pull the belt slightly outward and towards the other pulley stack while pushing it up/down toward the next smallest pulley. The pulley does the work-- the edge catches and pops the belt off giving enough slack to easily move the opposite end from smaller to larger pulley. The best analogy I have in place of a picture is the way a derailleur system works on a 10speed bike-- it pulls the chain sideways and lets the movement of the chain pull it onto the next gear sprockets. Here, your fingers are the derailleur and there are belt/pulleys instead of chain/sprockets, but same principle.

There is no better benchtop drill press but the Delta customer service couldn't get any worse. I don't know who to blame, Amazon or Delta. The box was beaten up and I realized that the chuck key was missing. I wrote Amazon and they told me to contact Delta or send the drill back for a complete replacement. Delta didn't respond and I wasn't about to send the drill back and risk having something worse happen to the replacement. I've purchased a few power tools on amazon and I don't remember any package showing up clean. The good out of this is Delta helped me make a decision on what table saw to purchase... SawStop thanks you Delta. I recommend purchasing this drill from a local retailer so you can deal with them versus amazon or delta.

As for the drill press itself, putting it together was semi-challenging due to the poorly written instructions. What really stunk is adjusting the dual laser to hit the center. It's nearly impossible to do this due to the design of the adjustment levers (located inside the individual modules). The instructions tell you to remove the cap from each laser module but when you do this, the module wants to fall out of the base. After making the rough adjustments, because that's all you're able to do, you screw the cap back on and you end up trying to twist the module in the base to get the center. If you're lucky you'll get it close enough to give yourself a ROUGH idea of the drill center,,, TIP - don't get greedy and thinking you can get it dead-on you'll end up screwing it up and cursing the darn thing. For my adjustment I know the drill center is a smidge back from the crosshair intersection.

After all of this the max score that this drill press could achieve is 3 stars because the drill itself is outstanding; minus 1 for lack of customer service, minus 1 for the frustration factor (missing chuck key, dual-laser calibration instructions/design).

This drill press has been great, but I ordered the Delta 20-619 6-Inch Drill Press Vise recently and it does not fit the DP300L drill press! I'm putting the review here since the Amazon "customers also bought..." is misleading. Only once side of the vice lines up with the slots, the vice slots are a little too wide. The only way to get it to work is to bolt one side and clamp the other, which kind of sucks.

If you look at the reviews for the drill press vice, you will see that other people have had these same issues too. On several websites this list the vice as fitting this drill press, but it does not. I wish I had read the reviews of the vice a little closer beforehand.

I have had this drill press for four years. (Actually, it is an upgraded DP300, which is the same except for the addition of the laser cross-hairs, so I added that via replacement parts.) It has had infrequent use. When I have used it, it has had light use, not repetitive use of industrial environment, as I am a weekend woodworker only.

The other day the chuck itself jammed up, so that it would not open and close freely with no bit in it. You have to use the key to open and close it past certain parts where it gets jammed, with a fair amount of effort. As such, it takes several minutes of struggling to change bits of fairly different sizes, where before it was a quick operation. It still spins fine with the motor on, of course: the problem is with the chuck, not the motor and drive mechanism.

I researched ways of fixing the chuck by searching the Web. The closest I could find was putting a Jabobs-made chuck into a vice, bottom side down, just the rim, to open it. But there isn't enough of a rim on this chuck to get a purchase on it.

It's hard to understand what went wrong. The chuck appears to be sealed. There must be some kind of crud is in the works, and I can't find a way to disassemble and clean it.

The replacement chuck I bought - Röhm 666572 - cost half of the price of a new drill press. I could have gotten a direct replacement from Delta for about a third of the price of the press, at the risk of having the same problem a couple years from now.

I find that the drill vibrates more than it should when I am not lowering the chuck/bit for drilling. Not a big deal except that it is a bit more noise than I expect. The vibration and noise decreases as I lower the chuck, so it does not affect the actual drilling. If I did not have the chuck problem, I would call it four stars for this vibration.

Ten years ago, a Delta drill press would have lasted my whole life. The Delta table saw I bought ten years ago was made in USA and looks like it will last for my lifetime. That's why I decided on Delta for the drill press. Unfortunately, Delta was sold and the new owner moved manufacture to China. I don't have a problem with Chinese manufacture (which is inevitable these days) but note in passing that China's biggest problem (though not universal) is quality control.

The guys at the industrial store where I bought the Röhm chuck told me that had I spent a few more dollars on a Jet drill press, the quality of all parts would be better, but they seem more expensive than that.

I do have a very workable press now, with a high quality chuck, but it was more expensive (and more effort) than I bargained for. In the end, you usually get what you pay for. At least the Delta press is relatively inexpensive and can be upgraded.

The Box:
I purchased this item from Summit Racing and it arrived in disarray. A thin cardboard box was all that separated many of the cast iron parts from the world. The styrofoam inside was all but disintegrated and there was only one piece of tape top and bottom and 3 straps holding it altogether (86 lbs mind you). Upon opening, nothing looked damaged and all the broken foam stayed in place.

Assembly:
I've never seen a tool more covered in grease. Much of the cast parts had a sticky residue, most likely cutting fluid during the last machining operation. Everything was oily, including the bag the manual was in and all the hardware bags. Parts seemed to fit rather sloppily and hose clamping the tool table behind the table height rack seemed like an afterthought in design. There were bits of what looked like sand from the casting process in the table mount clamp. Everything went together as expected until I got to the final step, attaching the chuck.

The Problem:
The chuck has a tapered hole that you're supposed to just mallet into the tapered end of the spindle. The first time, it fell back out so I obviously didn't hit it hard enough. I made sure there was no grease or particles in the taper and tried again. To make sure it stayed on, I pulled down on the chuck and the WHOLE SPINDLE FELL OUT. Upon examining the spindle, there looked to be a groove around the bottom of the splines for a snap ring. This was confirmed when trying to reinsert the spindle as it wouldn't go back in. A call to a repair center confirmed that I needed to remove the drive pulley from the top in order to get to the snap ring, still lodged inside. They advised me to use an impact wrench since there was no way to hold the pulley still while wrenching off the retaining nut. Following their instructions, the top of the stud came off with the nut and the pulley still wouldn't come off.

After Delta tech support returned my call, they confirmed that the repair procedure was accurate and that the best course of action would simply be to return the unit and swap it out with another one. I live in CA and Summit Racing is in NV. To ship the unit back one state ground cost me $65. I've spent $65 on a $200 press that I never even turned on. That's an expensive lesson in my book.

Conclusion:
I've only heard good things about Delta products. Norm Abram on the New Yankee Workshop seems to swear by them for decades and I've never a problem with any of their sister brands such as Dewalt or Porter Cable. This purchase has been a grave disappointment that will cause much hesitation when considering another Delta product in the future. Given the poor reviews for their other model, the DP350 along with my first hand experience, I would NOT recommend ANY Delta drill presses until something significant changes in both their design and manufacturing abilities.

Best of luck on your search.

Overall, I am very impressed that a drill of this quality is available for under $200. However, there were a few things that were less than perfect here.

1.) Tool holding table is very misleading - in the main amazon photo this tool tray is shown as being attached to the adjustable table. In actuality it is clamped to the tube (the clamp goes under the raising rack) - see amazon's second photo for what is actually going on here. This will restrict the movement of the adjustable table - you will need to clamp it as high as it goes to not restrict vertical movement, and it will restrict side to side movement to some extent no matter what. It is unsettling how the raising rack scrapes along the clamp whenever you move the table from side to side. I am planning to just take it off, although it is a convenient place to hold things.

2.) Expect some minor damage - consistent with other reviews where, I saw a few places where paint was scraped off of components during shipping - still works OK though.

3.) I'm not too impressed with the quality of the laser - it works but was difficult to align as the lasers would shift as you tried to screw the housing back on after aligning.

4.) I agree with the other reviewer on the grease and anti-rust liquid - this is probably all over everything to prevent rusting in storage and transit, so I will not hold this against them - you will want some latex gloves to assemble this. Dust is sticking to this thing like nobody's business - if someone knows a good way to get this stuff off and still protect the castings let me know.

5.) Watch out for the weight - amazon lists the weight as 42 lbs - actual weight is 85 lbs - not sure what is going on here.

6.) Changing speeds is 'easy' but it does require you to manually change belt positions by hand.

7.) The lamp is a bit of a pain - it will not seem to hold positions where I want it and kind of goes where it wants to. Keep in mind that it does not recommend standard light bulbs, you will need to go out and get a "track type" bulb under 40 watts - socket type is the same as a standard bulb.

I am very happy with the noise level - it is quieter (and cheaper) than my Makita cordless power drill. It seems do be drilling just fine. So if you are just looking for something that does the job and is cheap, and can accept the caveats above, go for it - otherwise you may have to dish out quite a bit more for a higher end unit.