Skil 3320-01 10 in. Drill Press with Laser

I used to own a previous version of this drill press, 3320-01, for the last 5 years, which wasn’t great but usable and decided to add the “new” one, 3320-02. In the intervening time, SKIL got acquired by Bosch, and I figured, at least some aspects of the previous model would be improved along the way. What a wishful thinking.Among three or so distinct 10″ drill press designs (all made in China), SKIL stands somewhat alone in that it has a different belt tension system (the motor slides in and out instead of side-swinging) and it uses a 60mm column as opposed to 58mm (2.25″) found in Craftsman and WEN models.But that’s where the “positives” end. The rest is an exercise in cost cutting and reducing quality control (if that’s possible):1) The column base collar is made out of cast aluminum, instead of cast iron, as on ANY other drill press. Someone figured that a 50lb head, under constant vibration and stress would be fine sitting in aluminum collar, which isn’t even a solid casting, but ribbed. When tightening the screws you can literally see how it begins to distort under pressure.2) My press came with a buzzy, rattly motor and no effort to tighten it up or adjust the belt tension made any difference – it buzzed and vibrated the entire head.3) The unit comes now equipped with aluminum quill (!) The quill tube (or the spindle sleeve, as it’s called sometimes), the part that slides up and down driven by the feed handles through the gear shaft is probably the single most important part of any drill press. What a great way to save a few pennies. Wonderfully, this isn’t even a solid aluminum either, but has ribs on the inside, as you’d often see in cast parts.On my unit, the quill came dry as a bone (not a whiff of a lubricant) and had about 1/16″ (1.5mm) of lateral play. Somehow, even WEN (which I looked at too) – which isn’t exactly synonymous with quality brand – figured how to remove any play in quill tubes, but the German-owned SKIL apparently cannot.No fear, I’ve got grease and there is that set screw on the side that’s there to tighten up the quill, right? Wrong! The quill adjustment set screw, instead of ending with an extended point (“dog point”), is simply flattened on the sides. The flats are apparently intended to match the quill channel, but the side-effect is that any adjustment would have to be made in half-turn increments! (And of course, since it’s on the inside, you cannot really see whether you aligned the flats with the channel or not).We still have customer service, surely SKIL still has US-based, trained technicians? Not! After about half an hour on the phone with a very nice girl, to whom I explained the intricate differences between the drill press quill, the bed spread quilts, and the porcupine needles, we figured what replacement part I needed. She volunteered to locate the part – and then called me an hour later notifying they are no longer available, discontinued, obsolete, no more manufactured. You can actually check this yourself on boschtoolsservice.com. No third party sites carry replacement parts either.Waxing a little philosophically here, I can’t but wonder who decided that a 10″ drill press *must* cost $120? Maybe, in the grand American tradition, you’d get a better quality, when you go with a bigger model (and everyone knows that a bigger car is always better, as is the fridge or a washing machine)? But I have no use for a 12″ or 15″ drill press or desire to haul a 100-150lb unit into my workshop. On the other hand, I’d gladly pay $200-300 for a quality 10″ unit made with correct parts and with stringent quality control.This SKILL drill press is basically a piece of junk, essentially disowned by the manufacturer, and the only thing it’ll do is to further alienate any discerning customer from the brand.

I’ve had this drill press for about 2 1/2 years now, and for the money, you can’t beat it for your first drill press. If you have limited space, it is especially handy, because you can carry it over to your work bench, clamp it down, at start drilling. Then stow it somewhere in a corner. However, after these 2+ years I am hitting up against some limitations that I will itemize below:1. Worst problem of all is the unreliable depth-stop feature. It is confusing and clumsy to set, and it sometimes GIVES WAY! The first time that happens and you drill through the show face of your work piece you will not be a happy camper!2. The up/down range of the table can be limiting. Not evident at first, but when you start using longer bits and trying to drill deep holes in a tall object, you suddenly find yourself swinging the table out of the way and building a lower, makeshift table.3. Runout (i.e. wobble) – if/when you try to do precision work, this unit starts to fall short; you need a table that is dead square to the bit (in 2 dimensions, mind you), and adjusting the table angle is clunky. I am not sure if the chuck/bit is exactly parallel to the post.Tip: Get yourself a good vise to sit on the table (or on a wood table that you build). The torque from the bit is very strong, and tends to cause the workpiece to move to the left (esp. with Forstner type bits)