Steel City Toolworks 17" Drill Press

Jay Lock

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Hi everyone

In another post I mentioned that I took delivery on a new drill press yesterday.

One of the reasons I bought this was the sale they are having along with a $75 rebate (ends by the end of the year)

Then it had a 6" quill travel -- I have drilled things on my little bench top unit by drilling a hole as far as I could , then moving the table up and then drilling again, not a pretty picture. Hopefully this will solve that problem.

Someone here suggested that I look for a press with a quill lock, and this had one so..............

I haven't had a chance to drill any holes yet, but so far things look great. I've enclosed a bunch of pictures, sorry the light in the garage isn't that great. A mobile base is in the offing. I took the DJ20 mobile base that had (another story, check classified section if you're interested) to a machine shop today to get the base cut. I thought I would spend the bucks instead of cutting the beast by hand.

The unit was very nicely packed as you can see, not TOO much protective coating smeared on everything -- some WD40 took care of it pretty easily. I have to wax the machined surfaces (quickly) to prevent rust.

It went together fairly easy, except for hoisting the monster head up on the column. Thank goodness for strong young neighbors! Assembly was easy, the manual is excellent. The only source of confusion was that somethings were already assembled that the manual said were required, but after the first go round of looking for parts, not finding them, then looking on the machine and seeing the parts hanging there (DUH) I checked the machine first when doing the subsequent steps.

The only problem was some slippage with the quill lock, but a quick call to SCTW got me right to technical support and they couldn't have been nicer.
A very easy adjustment.

I think the chuck key is very cool, never seen one like this, there is a spring loaded rod on the tip, you can't leave it in the chuck, it pops out as soon as you let go.

It runs smooth as evidenced by "the nickel test" and looks like it will be a positive addition to the shop.

Drill press table next on the list once the mobile base is finished, more pics to follow

Jay
 
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Congrats in the new drill press, Jay. :thumb: I really like the idea of 6" of quill travel. When the day comes for me to upgrade from my little cheapie Delta benchtop, the SCT press will be at or near the top of the list.

Enjoy the new toy -
 
That is really nice Jay! What a pleasure to have a good drill press. It looks like that they took the Delta 17-965 and even made it better. The start/off switch is a good idea. There will be no mistake when you want to, or more importantly, need to shut it down.
 
Looks like a sweet drill press. Hope you've got more patience than I do with that chuck key though. That's the same type my mortiser came with and after a while I couldn't stand it any longer and pulled the pin out of it. It's smart from a safety standpoint, but "it pops out as soon as you let go" also means every time you reposition your hand to turn it, it disengages from the gears which can get a bit annoying.
 
Alan

Thanks for the heads up but I can't see the page, I'm just getting a Yahoo signin

can you paste the URL?

Jay
 
Alan

Thanks, I'll think about it. I've got plans for a table from shop notes but by the time I buy the track and other hardware I may be close to the cost of this one.

Jay
 
jay, that looks like the ol` tried-n-true design others have been offering for years........simple and effective. the 6" quill is a really good thing! how `bout some under the hood shots for comparison? thanks for the review! tod
 
Tod

This is the only hood I could find

What other shots would you like?

Jay
 
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that`s the one jay! from here it looks like the delta/powermatic/jet/ect. units all except for greater quill length......the design has been proven in lotsa shops for both metal and woodworking...it should prove to be a good dependable drill from what i can tell.......congratulations! tod
 
Tod

I just look over the flyer that came with the drill. company founded by Scott Box and Mark Strahler

Strahler was VP of sales and marketing at Delta before he founded Orion

Box served as director of product development for Delta before leaving to head up the Powermatic division of WMH Tool group.

No wonder the resemblance

Jay
 
jay, i`d say they`ve shown good sense not fixin` what ain`t broke.....so many tool manufacturers are letting some wet behind the ears kid redesign the tried-n-true to be "new and improved" at the consumers expense.
 
I agree, looks a lot like my 17-965. The extra, what is it, 1 3/8" or 1 1/8", quill travel is nice! And like allen mentioned, I like the off switch a lot. One other difference... looks like the table support to the pole is different. Does this arm twist to tilt the table side to side? I also don't see the lock down lever to lock the position after cranking the table up or down that my Delta has.
Very nice. Lucky for my wallet, I shouldn't ever need another DP!! Jim.
 
Lock and Rock

Jim

Here is a picture of the table height lock, and the tilt scale. The table tilt locking lever is underneath, I think you can see the small chain attached to the locking lever

Jay
 
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