Just assembled a 500w bench mounted pillar drill that I bought from Aldi supermarket for the princely sum of £29.99.

It's obviously cheap and cheerful, the casting haven't exactly been precision machined, but for the price it seems remarkable.

It's got variable speeds up to 2350rpm and even comes with a little work holding vice.

Cheers,

Neil.

mine was about 40 quid without a vice, but i agree that the cheap ones are certainly functional. theres a bit of flex in the platform but it has drilled many holes very well. cant remember the make unfortunately, but i got it off ebay.

The real test is to fully extend the chuck and see how much play there is in it.

Unfortunately I've not yet found a cheap one that meets that test!

James

Got mine from screwfix £34.99,they sent me a different version fron the catalogue pic (i got a sealey one) but i think there all much the same.

The drill has been invaluable during my build and its still going strong after 2 years of abuse.

If i bought another one i would go for something that turns a bit slower.

This one varies between 280-2350rpm but you have to fiddle with the pullies to get the speed.

I know what you mean James about the play, I reckon there's about 1/2mm of play under full extent and side load. Might measure it properly one day.

How slow does yours go Bob? I was wondering if I would be having similar thoughts about speed.

Cheers,

Neil.

I bought a cheap bench mounted drill from screwfix (£49) and although the build quality is poor, it is still much better than using a hand drill. I have used mine a lot over the past couple of months and the slow speeds (under 300 RPM) are useful.

RPS

I set the Aldi one up for mate and it's not bad, there is some play although it's one of the better ones I have seen for the price.

I've got a cheap clarke one and kind of wish I'd bought a more expensive one - it runs too fast, it's not powerful enough and the chuck excursion of 60mm isn't enough.

Kingr

Neil

mie goes down to 300rpm but better drills have more speed settings,i used an old stand drill that went down to 100rpm to drill through some 4 mm stainless and it was much more precise.

quote:

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Originally posted by kingr
I've got a cheap clarke one and kind of wish I'd bought a more expensive one - it runs too fast, it's not powerful enough and the chuck excursion of 60mm isn't enough.

Kingr

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Got the Aldi £29.99 job for fathers day

Very happy with it and (for the price) excellent value for money.

Criticisms.... the drilling platfrom flexes a bit and slight play (as said before about half a mil at full extension)

This is the type of thing we need to keep the 'locost' ethos alive

Glad i read this post, it got me off to Aldi to buy one of those Drills, haven't assembled it yet as i'm waiting till i improve the security of my garage.

While i was there i also picked up a powered mitre saw and am now eying up the 18v cordless drill for £20!

Should i be thanking or cursing you fellas? that's almost £90 of beer vouchers going round the S bend.

PS just received the offers list from LIDL and from thurs 8 July they've got digital vernier calipers for a tenner, very useful for odd bits of measuring internal, external and depth.

B&Q Special £19.99
might be rubbish.............

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/product/product.jsp?CATID=62431&entryFlag=false&PRODID=28834&paintCatId=

I bought one for £40 about 5 years ago, really pissed off that the belt broke a year ago apart from that, very good!

if it lasts for 5 years , not bad really eh ?

I bought one of the B&Q ones this weekend in there 1/2 price sale for less than £20 and for the price you cant argue. It's made by Professional Power Tools, has a 13MM chuck, there's no play in the chuck, the RPM goes from 525 - 2660 and, I might have said this, but you can't argue with £20. If I were building an orbiting space telescope I might want something a little higher in the range and possibly a higher salary, but in value for money stakes I think it’s a bargain.

Incidentally, I use a Clarke MetalWorker at work and the chuck keeps falling off.

i got a b&q jobie about 10 years ago,still goin strong

Just been to the B&Q superstore here. No bloody pillar drills at all!

What a bunch of muppets!

Farnborough tomorrow it is then!

James

James,

The first time I went there weren't any. Collared one of the guys in the "Tool Corral" (yee haaaaaa) who gave me a barcode number. I took it to the sevice desk, ordered and paid for it. They called me when it arrived and I collected. Best to pay for it when ordering as if it comes in when the promo's finished you'll have to pay the full price, or so I'm told.

Well, attempted Farnborough one at lunchtime. The big (semi-decent) ones normally at £135 are half price too but they've run out and aren't getting them back in!
Maybe I'll try a £20 jobbie as it has the same faults I've found with every modern pillar drill I've seen- ie. play in chuck, crap handle, crap guard and crap depth gauge.

Oh for the days of the massive old 'college' ones!

James

Went back to Franborough B&Q. In the five hours I'd been away they'd sold all but one of the £40 down to £20 drills and all the others apart from a £30 one which I went for as it was 50% more powerful than the £20!

James