Ridgid DP1550 15" Drill Press

Take a look in the reviews section on this site. There are 7 drill press reviewed there.
I like my Delta very much.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I have a craftsman that doesn’t even make a good boat anchor—no place to tie the rope. I’d echo Gary—the reviews are great and you will get honest opinions from fellow woodworkers.

-- Maplewood, MN

I like my delta also. I never thought I would need a laser site.. Now I love it too.

-- making sawdust....

I have the Ridgid. It has been very good for me. It is the only drill press I have owned, but for my needs it works great. The fit and finish are excellent in my opinion. I have not really heard any complaints from anyone who owns one.

I have the Rigid too. I would give the fit and finish a “good”, and the functionality an “excellent”.

Being an old machinist has its advantages. After assembly (get a friend to help!), I put an indicator on it and found:

<.0005” ‘slop’ in the quill
<.0015” runout in the spindle
<.002” runout on a chucked endmill

After a minor adjustment, I was able to ‘sweep’ a 9” circle on the table within .002”—that’s square within .0027”/ft. If I put a precise drill (don’t get me started…) in this machine, it will drill a precise hole.

Variable speed would be nice, but I can change speeds in a minute or less.

Here’s the table I recently built for it.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/6476

-- There is nothing in the world more dangerous, than a woodworker who knows how to read a micrometer...