Yes. I have experience with that machine.
You can find reviews online, however most of them are written by salesmen, i.e. "editors' that work for woodworking magazines or "tool-fool" publications. My review is honest simply because I have nothing to gain or lose from the truth.
Like many new Taiwanese machines, this is actually pretty good and represents a good value.
Taiwan, unlike America, invested a lot of money & effort into schooling, particularly in engineering and science. As such, Taiwan has a booming economy with a vital work-force of trained technicians and engineers. Though the average hourly pay for workers in factories there is less than one-quarter of American wages, they DO NOT yet have a "Federal reserve" ; a central, privately-owned bank that prints money out of thin air. As such, there is little inflation so that lowly wage buys four times the comparative luxuries of a full time GM employee here. The workers are highly motivated, well-trained and happy to have such good jobs compared to the local mean. Nowhere is this more apparent than in their high-tech electronics and manufacturing industries. Grizzly-brand machines are a perfect example of that.
This particular machine is robust and fairly accurate. Spindle deflection was less than .002" per 6-inches of travel. Assuming the operator knows how to set it up, that means it is quite good, even by WWII American industrial standards, which were second only to the Swiss.
The base-plate or 'table' is too small for woodworking, but OK for small metalworking projects.
The radial arm is almost perfectly straight in extension, but it deflects over .250" when fully extended under torsion.
If the operator understands gravity, he will know to approach the workpiece from above so that gear-lash-back is not an issue. Otherwise, this accounts for a .01 to .001 variance in depth. That's because the gears are not precision-ground on the column. Taiwanese engineers understand that experienced users know this, so they saved money by cutting manufacturing costs here.
they also saved costs on the table by rough-grinding only. The commonly accepted engineering principle is that average height is predictable, so long as machining-grooves are uniform. In other words, the table is accurate over large areas, so long as the piece you drill is mounted to a vise or is large enough to average-out minor discrepancies in surface-flatness.
Since I do mostly woodwork, not machining, these small inaccuracies were not important to me or my friend who bought it. We have used this drill press for several months now, and we both agree; it was worth the money.
The motor seems strong enough, though universal motors are very susceptible to minor fluctuations in line voltage. Since we petitioned our local electric service to install a new transformer, that has not been a problem.
The right-handed arm-lever and standard depth-stop features work just fine, though a light coat of oil helps them work smoothly. Set-up was a little troublesome as the manual was translated, and not very well. Ninety percent of the manual is the standard legal disclaimers, warnings and warranty info. The remaining 10?s either so obvious it requires no manual, or is difficult to understand because of poor translation.
Changing belt-speeds is OK, but just as cumbersome as old-fashioned methods since it relies on WWII simplicity. In my book, that is a positive trait, because it is simple and it always works. (unlike digital speed control)
Overall, I'd say that if you know what you're doing with this type of machine, you will have no trouble and it is worth the money. So long as you're OK with buying foreign-made stuff, it works fine.
One warning. Like most other radial machines, this one will tip if it is not securely mounted to a heavy work-base. When the radial arm is fully extended, the slightest weight or working-pressure makes it front-heavy. Therefore, I recommend that you attach it to a massive bench or table. Otherwise, it's a good tool, well-built and engineered to last far beyond its warranty-period.
Answered By: Aleph Null - 12/1/2010 |