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

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.

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!