Best power magnetic drill presses according to redditors

Warning - Incoming Giant wall of text

I've seen a lot of random Amazon topics pop up here, most with incorrect or partial information. I don't work for Amazon, but I've been a very long time and prolific customer, and hopefully I can share some tips and tricks that will save you guys some money when shopping with what is easily my favorite retailer.

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The link in my post gets you to camelcamelcamel (referred to here-on as 'CCC') because it's the first thing you should know about Amazon. I have found their browser add-on to be a very useful addition to my Chrome toolbar. CCC is simply a historical on the prices of various items on Amazon. If you sign up and make an account, it also has price drop alert options via email or Twitter as well as the ability to customize watch lists for products you're interested in.

How to use CCC

It's easy to get caught up in trying to get the absolute historical lowest price on an item, but that's only half the functionality of CCC. Look at a volitile product like this Seagate external drive. From the graph, we can see that this drive often hits the historical low of $99.99 - but usually hangs out around $110. If you were unlucky enough to look at the drive when it was priced at $130+, from the chart you can tell that if you can wait a week or so, chances are relatively good that you'll see this product drop in price again soon - saving you anywhere from $20 to $40.

On the flip side, look at this SKIL Drill Press. We can see that the current price of $117.99 is pretty average, so you might be tempted to wait for another historical low point. Well in this case, if you look at the date of the historical low, note the date - November 29th, 2012. That's right in the middle of Amazon's Black Friday sales. Since the only times that this item seems to dip under the $110 mark seem to be around the November time period, you can pretty safely assume that this item only goes on sale as a "door buster" type item. Note that CCC defaults to "ALL" for the date range. If you switch it to either 3mo or 6mo for this item, you can see that this has been pretty stable at the $113.50 - $117.99 range. If you can't wait until November to see if this goes on sale again, chances are pretty high that it won't change price again very soon so you probably won't see a savings if you wait it out a week or two.

CCC also has Popular lists of items that many people are currently tracking. Their Community page is an aggregate of suggested deals from their users. They also have a page that lists the items which have had the most significant price drops recently. Amazon also monitors web traffic, so if an item gets a sudden increase in web traffic to that page, the price often becomes more volatile.

Ok, back to Amazon.com.

The Amazon Shopping Cart

The Amazon shopping cart is sort of a mini version of CCC. Whenever you go shopping on Amazon and place items into your cart, the price reflects whatever the current price is on Amazon. So if you put some shoes in your cart, go to lunch and come back to it an hour later to check out, you may notice a message that says " Important messages about items in your Cart: 1 item in your Cart has changed price.
Items in your Shopping Cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages."

Save for Later

When you add a few items to your cart and view it, you'll note that there's a two options below the product listing - Delete (obviously to remove the item from your cart) and Save for later. Save for later pulls the item out of your shopping cart and into a separate list called "Saved for Later". Save for Later and your Shopping Cart both keep track of price changes to items. If you had few items that you were thinking about buying but wanted to wait for a price drop, instead of checking the item's page every day, add it to your Saved for Later cart and check it every once and a while. Any changes to prices will be noted at the top of the screen the first time you check after the price changes. Be careful though - if you refresh or click the cart again, the message is gone. Amazon only alerts you the first time you click your cart after the price change. The good thing about Save for Later and your Shopping Cart is that it will list all the changes to all of the items listed in your inventory - even if it spans multiple pages. So if you have 100 items in your Saved for Later list, and Amazon changes the prices on all 100 items, it will list every single change on a single page.

Wish List

Your Wish List isn't just a repository of items you want to eventually grab, it's also another price tracker. Every item in your Wish List remembers the price when it was added. Any change to the price is also noted on the item itself - Price dropped 5% (was $117.28 when added). The Wish List is like a manual version of the Save for Later or Shopping Cart. If you have multiple pages of items, you have to click on each page and scan through the list - there's no bulk summary at the top of the page. The Wish List is great for items that you are moderately interested in, but isn't high on your priority list. You can also build several Wish Lists (and set varying degrees of privacy). I keep one specifically for books, and one with everything else.

Limitations of the Shopping Cart, Save for Later, and Wish List

Note that any item added to any of the three lists above only reflect the price from the seller you added it from. In other words, if you added an item sold by Amazon Warehouse, and the price for Amazon.com drops lower, it will only tell you if the price changed for Amazon Warehouse. The same goes for any third party sellers. You should also know that the historical price change notification on both the Shopping Cart and Save for Later does tend to glitch out now and then. They removed the functionality completely for a few weeks last year either as part of an upgrade process, or simply forgot about it. Either way, there was quite a few requests for the functionality to be re-added, so it's back now. However it seems like if Amazon.com has any problems whatsoever, this is the first thing to go missing. So if you're watching a specific item intently, it doesn't hurt to manually track it or use CCC.

Amazon Warehouse

There seems to be a lot of questions about Amazon Warehouse - hopefully this will help a few of you out.

The Warehouse is Amazon's version of the "Open Box" or "Customer Returned" or "Damaged" isle at a big box store. It is not the same as the Amazon Outlet. The biggest difference between the Outlet and the Warehouse is that the Outlet items are considered New goods (although they do have refurbs), where as the Warehouse items have been opened and/or used previously. Warehouse items are limited in number and are often not marked down as much as you might think. The Outlet is comprised of items that have usually hit the 30% or more markdown price point (from MSRP). They're usually seasonal or overstocked items.

Biggest tips with the Warehouse:

• Look at the condition options - Every item listed on the Warehouse will come in various conditions. Each item sold will have the overall condition listed as well as notes on why the condition is graded as it is.
  
  
• "Every item I've gotten from the Warehouse has been Like New / Broken / Missing Parts" - The grading on products is manual and probably done in a rush. I would suggest avoiding items with tons of parts - if a previous customer opened up a build kit with 800 screws, the chances are high that you'll probably end up with a few missing parts. Meanwhile a blender will most likely be fine. Also, the worker's definition of "small cosmetic imperfection" may be completely different than yours. Be aware that you probably won't get something that looks perfect.
  
  
• Always check Amazon.com's prices - You don't always save a whole lot by buying used. You have to ask if it's worth getting a used item versus a brand new item just to save $2-3.
  
  
• All items are covered by Amazon - All items on the Warehouse are no longer covered by Manufacturer's Warranties but are covered by Amazon's A-to-z Guarantee Protection. All items are returnable for Amazon's standard 30-day policy.
  
  
• Neat Link - Amazon Warehouse Deals Brand Listing. Just a quick link to the brands currently available on Amazon Warehouse.
  

As someone working through this but a few years ahead of you, I'll pass along the list of stuff I've bought and/or wish to buy...

Hand Tools

1. You say you have screwdrivers, but ifs worthwhile to have a full complement of them. You might consider getting a hand tool set like this one. Also, diagonals. Can't stress that enough. Eventually, you might upgrade a lot of these, but it'll get you started.
   
   
2. Ratcheting wrenches, along these lines. Conventional wrenches are functional, but these are much more so.
   
   
3. Ratcheting hex key set. In fact, this one looks good. If you have any Ikea furniture in your future, these will be worth their weight in guld.
   
   
4. Maybe a vise. That particular vice is mid-priced, but you can find well-reviewed vises at just about any price point.
   
   
5. A good range of sand paper grits: 80, 100, 120, 150, 180. You might also pick up a sanding sponge.
   
   Power Tools
   
   
6. A Dremel
   
   
7. Maybe an electric circular saw or a jigsaw. I really don't know which I'd prioritize, but you should probably have at least one of them.
   
   
8. If there's money left over in your budget, I'd suggest a random orbit sander.
   
   
9. A drill press
   
   Also, there are fluids to consider
   
   
10. Simple Green
    
    
11. Penetrating oil
    
    
12. Wood Glue
    
    
13. Mineral Spirits
    
    
14. Linseed Oil
    
    Of these, I'd focus on the hand tools, fluids, and the Dremel. You can always ask someone to buy you a saw for Christmas. If you have these things on hand, there probably won't be a job come along that you can't handle at some basic level. I'm assuming you don't need yard grooming tools, because that's an entirely different list.

Here's the same one on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/3320-02-120-Volt-10-Inch-Drill-Press/dp/B003LSSS0W/ref=pd_ybh_7

Some acrylic blanks are just predisposed to doing that. I've had more than a few that would develop a crack along an invisible fault line during drilling and come apart, even with plenty of lubrication and a slow, sharp bit.

My number one question is: are you free-handing your drilling or are you using some kind of vertical drilling jig that holds everything steady and fairly square? Reason I ask is that it appears your blank did not blow out in a shattering sense, but rather is simple suffered a stress fracture. Blowouts are usually very jagged and "chippy," but this appears to be a fairly clean crack like what would happen if there were lateral (side to side) pressure from inside the hole...possibly from uneven pressure during drilling.

Anyway, to help when you drill acrylics, get a squirt bottle and mix 3-4 drops of liquid dish soap with a full bottle of water. Keep your borehole nice and wet and that will help reduce heat and lubricate the cutting process to produce better holes. Remember that when you do this, you'll need to let the blank dry for a few hours to remove any residual moisture.

FWIW, the jig I mentioned would be similar to this one which is available at your local big orange store. One summer long ago when my drill press was inoperable, I used one of those to drill some pen blanks. It required some patience, setup, and more patience, but it produced results roughly on par with the drill press.

This is the vise I used. It came with handle, but its nothing you couldn't whip up with some off the shelf parts if you wanted to.

The only thing I do not like about it, is that none of the material that came with it said what the thread pattern of holes used to jaw face on is. I had to play guess the bolt until I found one that fit.

Here is a gallery of some pics I took while doing it. I first cut down a few scraps to get the height right and did a test fit but didn't like the way that came out, so I decided to do the inset.

My inside cut was a touch off so I wound up with bit of a gap on the left side. Then I ripped down the 2x4 to a width that would fit on the face and secured it with wood screws both into the top and the 4x4s. I found a rough cut maple 2x4 that was a scrap from a furniture factory and cut that down for the outside jaw.

Then I bored all of the bench dog holes using a 3/4 forstner bit and a drill guide to keep them plumb. I had to make them wide so I didn't hit any of the vise parts. I bored four more holes in the face of the 2x4 that I can slip the bench dogs in to support long pieces.

Frankford Arsenal Universal case trimmer is brand new, interchangeable shoulder guides and neck collets should make it universal. I haven't used it myself, saw a review on YouTube that looked very interesting and promising.

Here’s an amazon drill press light one my friend

Something like this
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004T82L?psc=1
Or a homemade jig

Or spend the $55 for a drill press:
http://www.harborfreight.com/8-in-5-speed-bench-drill-press-60238.html


http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Drill-Straight-Holes-with-a-Hand-Drill-Usin/

well I borrowed my father's drill jig. and then just stacked some scrap wood on either side of the desk to keep the width consistent. The jig handily has some screw holes on the bottom to attach it to things.

I have been meaning to buy this, but have not had a project where I needed it.

General Tools & Instruments 36/37 Accu Precision Drill Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004T82L/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_G.W4wbXZ1J87Y

Yessir, this one

I'm using a 2x48 Dayton belt grinder

A little cheapo Skill drill press

A 5" vise

A kydex press (Homemade)

A little buffer

A dremel tool + Kit

Tons and tons of abrasives

A lot of files

___

Here's a few from my instagram :) https://imgur.com/a/6o8zm41

So I have recently started doing my own scale work. It is quite fun but can be tedious work with how precise you MUST be for drilling screws or the knife wont go back together properly. Blade centering can be screwed up etc.
Anyways the main tools that I use are as follows:

Skil Drill press

Dremel 4000

Dremel Shaper Table

Swivel Benchtop Vise

You will still need other assorted accessories like sanding wheels, cutting wheels (if you dont have a table saw for cutting down G10/Wood/Whatever media). While I am not a pro and I am just starting these are the essentials. Please feel free to PM me or email me [email protected] if you have any other questions. I would be more than happy to help. It is extremely rewarding when you complete a set. The first few may not be perfect but you MADE them yourself :)

The only 2 I have successfully completed. I still need to work on my pattern technique

Glad to hear people are getting good results with a 6 ton & detached plates. Just bought this yesterday for $99 to upgrade my highfive press, its plates/controller are great, but the press leaves something to be desired when unmounted & the press bar should of been mounted on both sides, not 1 & had a central handle for better pressure distribution.

https://www.amazon.com/SKIL-3320-01-10-Inch-Drill-Press/dp/B003LSSS0W