Reply by crank49

I have a benchtop drill press I put into storage because it only has 2” of spindle stroke.
Never had enough room between the chuck and the table at 10”.
I hated this machine because of these two limitations.
It’s been re-assigned to the garage for metal work where the stroke is not so much of an issue.

This mill/drill has 2” of spindle stroke and 13” between chuck and table.
This will be very limiting in my opinion.

On the other hand, the head is on a dovetailed column which would let you partially make up for the short spindle stroke by drilling in steps and the accuracy should be great due to the construction.
And, the x-y positioning of the table would be real nice for things like drilling out mortises.

I bought a big table top drill, 41” tall, 18” between chuck and table, 3 1/2” stroke.
I just ordered a Palmgren x-y cross slide vise to address the positioning issue.
Total cost for drill and cross slide vise is under $300.
I have been very happy with this machine.

-- Michael :-{| Diapers and politicians both need to be changed often; and for the same reason.