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The poor build results in a lot of vibration especially at higher speeds. The idler pully shaft and the shafts used as part of the belt tensioning system ride in holes drilled in the head casting. I haven't measured runout because I wouldn't bother using this drill on any precision work. This drill press represents the worst in mainland Chinese manufacturing. The casting are rough throughout. The pulleys are unbalanced, the drive belts are stiff. The laser adjustments are poorly designed and the beam width at working distances are too thick for precise hole designation. The best I can say for this drill press is that it will drill a hole.
Delta is squandering their good name with products like this. No bushings are used and the play can be measured in fractions of inches. I wouldn't expect it to last for long however. As you apply tension to the belts, the motor shifts upward causing the drive belt to skew upward.
I think on all these types of tools they scimp on the hardware.Overall it really does the job. I do use this product alot and it is a very nice drill for the home or garage only drawback i encountered was the table.In my eyes it is build very cheaply but i'm used to being around 5000$ clausings. I've recently purchaced the drill with expectations of a 500$ item and that's what i recieved. But for all the wood and metal i drilled so far i haven't stalled it lol. All this tool needs is a little tlc and some home made hardware.
After some use and tweaking of the pullies, it did get better results but I will be repalcing the stock belts to see if this settles it down a bit in the future. The unit was delivered with no problems. The laser took a few minutes to set up but does work very well at various table locations. The external light came with a metal clip to anchor the electrical chord versus the plastic units shown in the manual. The quill lock is easy to use and the depth gauge changes rapidly.
The Delta 17" had decent power, a large wood and steel working table that tilted forward and a laser which made it a logical choice. The T-slots work excellent with clamps and make the unit very easy to use. It's price through Amazon along with free shipping made it a good and economical choice for my shop. I was able to square the table to the chuck in both directions with no prbolems and the chuck had 0.005" of runout.
I had been looking for a floor mounted drill press for some time to replace my Craftman benchtop press. Although it is not terrible, I expected a little better. A drill press is a pretty basic set up and the manual covered everything in plenty of detail. The only reason I gave this press 4 stars was the vibration in the unit. Also other manufactures provided an explanation for the drift key to change the drill chuck, which Delta left out completely. it was in my shop ready to be set up. The table is great for using C-clamps as there are no edge rigids on the underside.The belts change very quickly and the press does what it is supposed to. reviews.
I purchased this drill press on a Wednesday morning from Amazon with Free Super Saver Shipping and by Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. I don't mind the time for belt changes versus the varible speed Powermatic, so I placed the order. However, the manual for the Grizzly and Steel City presses are superior and provide better set-up options (i.e. I was very interested in the Powermatic PM 2800 but the cost, poor or mediocre reviews, with it's limited ability to drill into steel/metal combined with what appeared to be a difficulty to mount standard drill press vices on its table drove me to look elsewhere.
The instructions gave no indication of where to put the metal clip, but a close inspection of the press head identified a threaded hole near the motor where the clip mounted perfectly. The Grizzly and Steel City 17" presses looked nice but they had standard metal working tables that did not tilt forward and the Jet had poor/o.k. install press head on pole and then lift up, not anchor the press to the floor and lift the head on top of the pole). A nice thing Delta did provide was a chart with drill bits and speeds for you to post in your shop as a rapid check for the belt set-up.As for the press, it is well constructed and went together very well.
Grizzly did a nice job on providing basic instructions on how to properly and safely use the press, which would be nice for a novice, a fact which Delta left out completely.
My husband is extremely pleased with the drill press. All of the parts arrived safely and assembly was quite easy.
The assembly manual states that unless the stand if fastened to the floor, an auxiliary stand of 3/4 plywood is necessary. It is tricky to align. Oh, and if you want to use 230 volts, you need to change the switch.The laser sight is quite convenient, but the mounting system is not yet well developed. A well built drill press solid enough for accurate work. I made mine about 6 inches to either side, and a couple of feet more in the front for convenience in standing. All in all, though, a good tool for the price. I put thin strips around part of the edge to slip a dolly under it in case I want to move it.
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