Update on the Craftsman 8" Drill Press

In this entry I talked about the Craftsman 8" Drill Press model 315.11970 that I had purchased off eBay.

Since I've been doing some turnings, I've needed to use a drill press to make accurate holes in the workpieces.

Too bad I don't have a press capable of drilling accurate holes!

I mentioned that it was "unstable as hell". I recently took it apart to determine why it was so unstable. After all, who would sell a drill press that's unstable when new?

Craftsman would. That's who.

I found that the red plastic housing is the entire framework. There is no metal to metal connection between the drill motor and the post.

Note to engineers: Cheap plastic does NOT provide rigid connectivity in a power tool!

I made a slight improvement by wedging a piece of wood scrap into the tool between the post bearings and the plastic housing. It helped, but not much.

As far as I'm concerned, this thing is completely useless. I get more accurate holes using a hand drill.

If anybody wants to donate something that ISN'T a complete piece of crap, I'd be more than happy to accept!