Customer Reviews

Fisch Precision Tools DP2000 1/3 Horsepower 12-Inch Bench Drill Press

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

 

 

I had a two hundred dollar Gift Certificate from Amazon sitting around and decided to get a new bench top drill press. Read all the reviews and quickly decided against Delta products. I happened on this one and said..."oh what the heck, I'm feeling lucky"...and lucky I was.

When I opened the box I noticed that it was made in China, (not such a bad thing anymore), I felt bad. Thinking of all those kids chained to benches making them, slaving away for peanuts. But I quickly got over that as I noticed how well packed it was!. I don't like to assemble things, but this was a snap, just a few things to do and clearly indicated on the instruction book. All pieces were oiled and wrapped for shipment....don't see that anymore.

I was looking for a heavy drill press without all the cheap plastic do-dads that Delta and others put on. I just want to make holes. This unit will do it. Easy belt adjustment for changing speeds. If looks are more important than function to you, don't buy this. This is just a well made heavy drill press. Nice oversize handles, great depth stop adjustment. One thing to mention. As it is metal and not plastic, the first 50 or so reps pulling down the handles you might experience some resistance. This worked itself away as I used the machine and the gears began to meld...considering the price...five stars.

I love this machine! I bought this DP soley on the basis of Tom Frederiksen's review and I am very happy I did. Just what I wanted - A well made bench drill press with 85lbs of substance and no plastic anything. I even think it looks good - manly not wimpy. I looked at the Delta's at Lowe's and there is no comparison. Easy to set up right out of the box with a few screws to attach things. Depth stop adjustment is solid and easy. Belt easy to adjust. Can't beat the price and even better there is no delivery charge with this monster. Buy it now and you even get $25 off.

I just recently purchased this drill press to replace my 40 year old 16-inch Continental floor drill press which finally broke. The Fisch drill press has all the features, only slightly smaller than my full size press.

The Fisch drill press is well packed, the instructions are first rate and assembly took me less than half an hour. Overall the unit appears to be built much better than any of the 12-inch Delta units on the market.

It is a heavy unit, and the tilting table seems like a great addition, since it is easy to tilt (my old drill press required loosening two bolts - the Fisch has a simple lever release).

My only complaint is that Amazon advertises that the drill press comes with the custom clamp in the technical data (see below), but mine sure didn't. I'll be trying to work on Amazon on this issue.

Overall its a very good buy for the price.

"Also included: Custom Clamp"

After many hours of online research on bench top drill presses, and after reading the reviews here on Amazon, I bought the Fisch. Beautiful machine! Heavily constructed, easy assembly. It seemed to NOT suffer from the drawbacks mentioned about most other competitors. I had a question, called the number, and don't faint, talked to a live person who helped me quickly and courteously. While I haven't used it much yet, my hunch is it will be a great performer. Amazon came through once again on price and free deliverty, enabling one to get a better quality product for the same money as other sites offering lesser machine plus freight.

Like previous reviewers, I checked out all the usual benchtop drill presses available at home centers and wasn't impressed... way too much plastic and too many flimsy cast aluminum parts. So, based on all the positive reviews I read here, I ordered the Fisch. What a difference! Well-built, lots of cast iron, and no unnecessary "gee-gaws" or frills. A real pleasure to use this very solid, smooth-running machine.

I had been looking to buy a decent bench top drill press for quite some time. I had planned on buying a model made by Jet, until I read the glowing reviews I found on Amazon for the Fisch 12" model. The unit was delivered in a beat up box, but the parts are all cast and it took the beating in stride. Set up was easy and straight forward. I attached it to a cabinet I cobbled together and it is running flawlessly! Two negatives: External depth stop gauge is not calibrated correctly. It does not come with a built in light for lighting the work surface. Both are easily corrected on my part, so I expect years of enjoyment with this drill!

I received this tool-the first time- in generally good condition, although the plastic switch housing was cracked and required a large wad of duct tape to hold it safely in place. Emails to Fisch went unanswered as did an off hours phone message. When I finally did contact them, the person said it would be "months" before the replacement part would arrive. Ok I can live with that..
After several weeks I tried to adjust the free play in the stop collar by tightening the adjustment bolt. After a turn or so I heard a cracking sound and found that the stop collar casting had cracked.
I contacted Amazon and they replaced the entire tool within a few days. The replacement tool came in a box damaged to an extraordinary degree; even the styrofoam packing was shredded. Remarkably, the tool was in good condition; I switched out the defective components, repacked the defective parts into the shredded box-with ample use of the remaining "popcorn", plus liberal use of duct tape and then started the UPS tag game. After a week of abortive shipping attempts by Amazon/UPS, I drove the 91 lb package to the UPS Store and it was gone.

This tool is still generally a good product and also a solid looking tool.I measured runout on the drill shaft at +/- .001"....not bad for a $189.00 product.
Unfortunately, the quality issues lead me to suspect it may not have the longevity I look for when I make a major tool purchase, hence the 3 star rating.

After reading reviews on Amazon I purchased this drill press and found it to be a nice smooth running machine. Nothing was broken in shipment as several other reviewers had stated. Very easy put-together instructions, only took me about 15 minutes. Like everyone else I was trying to stay away from all the plastic, the switch box and also the top cover that swings open to get to the belt is also plastic on this machine, which I can live with. All the adjustments on the table works nicely and the depth stop adjuster with it fine thread adjustment and scale is better than others I'v used. The chuck also works smoothly and seems to tighten up on the bits well. The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is the spindle travel is 2-3/8 instead of the 3-1/4 travel on a lot of other benchtop models. All in all I'm happy with my purchase and it will make a good addition to my shop.

I bought this drill press based on the reviews I read here. Here's my two cents. The first drill press I received was defective. The heavy metal casting which holds the upright cracked completely through (!) just by hand-tightening the wingnut which keeps the workpiece support at the desired height. It was either a defective casting or cheap metal or both. An e-mail to Fisch resulted in a replacement unit, which seems OK so far. Since reviewers here also seemed to like the customer service at Fisch, I wrote them to ask about a part of the press which was not explained in the manual. Fisch ignored this message - never replied. My impression is the item & company seems average - no more, no less. You may be satisfied with the unit you receive, but I don't think it deserves 4-5 stars.

All appeared well, until I noticed the on/off switch housing was broken in shipping. I contacted Fisch(very nice people) and was told they were out of the switches. They said that so many people had received them broken in shipping that they were out and would not get some for awhile. I requested one when they arrive. I guess time will tell. From what I can tell so far this is a pretty nice drill press. It could use a lever to help tension the belt after making a speed change. I also think that this item is a bit overpriced. Looks more like something I would have expected to pay $99.00. It would also be nice to get another 1/4 to 1/2" of travel (needed to drill through longer stock (pen tubes). It is nice looking but not outstanding. Well, I didn't buy it for looks. Have used it now for awhile and it appears to be a nice drill press. I called the factory rep again, several months have gone by. I was told that the switches are still on back order. Still sound like nice people but I'm having a bit of a problem understanding a switch backorder of many many months.

Chuck