Customer Reviews

Palmgren 80153 1/2 HP 15-Inch 12-Speed Bench Drill Press

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When they say this is "Heavy Duty" they aren't kidding. I bought this for my home woodshop - I was attracted by its 5" length of spindle travel (most other drill presses sold today have only about 3 1/2" of travel - what's up with that?) From the look of it I would say that it is built to withstand daily industrial use in a machine shop. It weighs about 200# and has the same heft as a floor-standing model but at about half the height; it is therefore too large not to be permanently mounted on a table. The fit/finish is outstanding. The table is strong and heavy and I can't deflect it with my weight. The depth stop works well and is extremely easy to adjust. Preliminary small gripes include: no central hole in the table for drilling "through" wooden pieces, and no mechanism to lock the spindle in lowered position for rotary sanding. Both of these can be overcome with simple jigs. One thing's for sure: I will never outgrow this drill press.

I've had this drill press for a few weeks now, and it is a wonderful machine. Assembly was straight forward. The only difficulty was the weight. Make sure you have help in lifting the head/motor onto the column. Then an additional hand lifting the whole works onto the bench is very useful. I concur with the previous reviewer - this is a heavy drill press.

Once I had it in place I tried it out. As I started drilling, smoke came from the wood, and it wasn't drilling very well. I looked at it and realized the spindle was turning in the wrong direction - counter-clockwise! There is no switch to reverse the direction. I called Palmgren tech support and was told that I needed to swap a couple of wires (wires 5 and 6). I unscrewed the plate at the bottom of the motor, and pulled out the two sets of wires. One bundle had wires 1,3,6 (plus one wire from the cord). The second set of wires were 2,4,5 (plus one from the cord). The bundled wires should be 1,3,5 and 2,4,6 (all even and all odd) plus a wire each from the cord.

The wires were labeled with the numbers, so identifying wires 5 and 6 was easy. I switch the two around, put everything back in place and tried the drill press again.

It works wonderfully now - just like it should. I considered giving this review 4 stars because of the wiring foul-up, but correcting the situation only took 10 minutes. True, it shouldn't have been a problem to begin with, and points to a quality control issue (I hear these machines are made in China - like most other woodworking equipment these days). But the machine works perfectly.

I like the fact that it has a 5" spindle movement - which is very nice when you need to drill deep holes - which I do with my pen making. Adjusting the belts is a simple matter, and only takes a minute. The table is firm and the drill press itself is very steady. Most importantly, it drills holes that are straight and true.

This drill press costs more than most bench-top models, but I'm very pleased with having a quality piece of equipment.

John

If you're looking for the premier bench drill press, this is it. Rock solid, well packaged, easy belt adjustment, quiet, vibration-free. This cannot be said of its competition. Comparing this to a Delta is laughable. Spend the extra $100, this drill is worth it.

Had I known this item was made in china I would not have bought it. The write up made it seem like it was made in the states but don't be fooled as it is not. The first thing I noticed was the rack gear for the table was assembled upside down according to their manual. The second item was the tapered chuck. It would not stay in the spindle until we put a small piece of paper inbetween the taper. I should of bought the delta instead. The good reviews must of been written by a "importer" as this is as crude of a drill press as they come. This item is a waste of natural resources!