Official Luthiers Forum!

Will benchtop drill presses and portable or smaller 10" table saws do all necessary work of luthiers?
If so, please inform me of the best tool for each and what should I look for-good and bad-when examining possible purchases.
Thanks much,

Will they do the job? Yes. But so will a back saw and a brace/bit. I don't think you'll be happy in the long run with the smaller tools but if that's all you can afford or can give up space for, hey go for it. Just keep in mind that you will most likely outgrow them and want something better in the future.
Sorry, I don't have any recomendations for you.

I don't even use a table saw in my guitar building. I haven't had the money to afford the quality one I want. My drill press is a small bench-top Delta that I picked up second hand. It drills fine holes, but someday I want to upgrade to something with more depth and power.

JoshJosh H38698.4995138889

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
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The thing about most portable table saws is that they have direct drive motors with the blade mounting to the motor, which can lead to vibration. Not to mention cheaper table top saws are more geared towards weekend carpentry type work, not precision woodworking.

If you're looking for a good inexpensive table saw that will do precision work, check out the Ryobi BT3100. There was a recent thread about more entry level table saws that's worth a look. That's the saw I have and I have been nothing but happy with it. Regular price is $300, there's currently a $50 rebate until Jan 6, 2006. You just missed an incredible sale at Home Depot for $199 (before rebate), though some still have it marked down so it's worth a look. There's lots of info at BT3 Central, a sort of non-official "fan site" for this saw.

I have the Delta 12" benchtop drill press, it's been fine so far. I do wish I'd just bought a 16" floor standing model. The smaller size hasn't been completely prohibitive, just annoying sometimes to have to work around the small size. And it hasn't really saved me any shop floor space.

I've found a lot of the limitations of tools come into play when you're building jigs and shop fixtures much more than the actual guitar itself, so keep that in mind. (I only mention that because that's something I often forget when looking at tools).

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I have a Delta 12" bench top drill press and it has done everything I ever needed it to do. I don't have an expensive table saw but my 10" Sears has also done all I required of it after I "tweaked it up" by setting up the blades parralleism with the table and squaring up the fence and mitre. Both were reasonable cost wise. I would just advise you to avoid the "smaller" drill presses and table saws, you really start to lose out in power and accuracy.

As far as drill presses go, I have a bench mounted press that is built like a floor mounted one. weighing in at 67kg (150lb for you guys ) it does everything that a luthier could possibly need. The fact that it is bench mounted also makes the building and fitting of dedicated tables with fences (for SafeT planer and drum sander etc) much simpler as they are just bolted to the bench either side as needed.

Colin

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Thanks all.
Colin, what brand and model do you use?
Thanks,

I use a smaller delta drill press and I love it.

Don't own a table saw, although my father in law has said he will give me his cabniet table saw...gonna have to take him up on that.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

[QUOTE=bob J] Thanks all.
Colin, what brand and model do you use?
Thanks,[/QUOTE]

Bob this is the one I use It's a Clarke 401B, it's a big solid machine (as I said 67kg, 150lb) the head assembly is 71cm (28") front to back so it needs a deep bench, and I love it to bits, after my bandsaw it's the most used piece of kit I have and it replaced a floor mounted one which I found much less convenient. I use it for bobbin sanding, SafeT planer, disc sander all with dedicated tables and fences, oh and I drill with it as well. The problem is I'm in the UK so I guess you won't be able to get it in the US. But is the sort of machine I would recommend



ColinColin S38699.5067361111

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I just bought a drill press. I decided to get a bench top radial arm drill press. I got the Shop Fox W1669. The radial arm is a lot more versatile - you can drill any angle and use it as a horizontal boring machine. I turn it sideways and use it as a buffer. You can pick them up for about $200.
Shop Fox W1699SteveS38699.9820717593

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

That Clarke machine sure does look a lot like the Delta 12" bench top model that I have. It's a good little drill press. If I ever buy another it will probably be a radial drill press.
I had a Ryobi 10" table saw/with the sliding table. Don't remember the Model. I didn't like it, so I took it back after about 2 weeks and traded for a Delta 10" with the up graded fence. It's been a pretty good saw for the past 6 years.

I prefer the mass of the cast iron table saws over those with sheet metal or sheet aluminum tops.D.L.Huskey38700.0091087963

I have my choice of drill presses up to some $10000 ones, and I have to say there isn't a lot of difference between a decent bench model and the expensive ones. I have a delta I bought 12 years ago, and it's well worth it. The thing that's missing is torque. Of course I don't put a side load on mine any more since I knocked the chuck off of it a few times. I also would like a floor standing model since mine is on the floor anyway. When they are on a bench, they actually take up more space than the floor models. Obviously, you're not going to drill a hole much more than an inch diameter in anything other than wood with a bench drill press, they just can't do it.

And given that the Ryobi BT3x00 is going for $200 at Home Depot, that seems like a no brainer. It definitely will do whatever a big saw will do, it's just a little tweaky.

I always say to buy the best tools you can, because you'll be living with them for a long time. But sometimes it pays to be realistic.

Thanks everyone!

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