Do you often need to drill holes in the metal? – You might want to consider having a floor-standing drill press that is designed to bore precise holes in metal.
But it is really hard to find a quality drill press that offers variable speed ranges to get the optimum speed to drill on metal. The machine also requires a powerful motor that offers the right torque needed for drilling on metal.
It seems a tricky process to find a proper floor drill press for metal. We’ve done it for you by testing several models to find you the top 5 options below.
Here we’ve reviewed the best floor standing drill press for metal to make the deal a bit easier for you. We’ve also added the process and considerations to make the deal worth your choice. Continue reading for the details.
Best Floor Standing Drill Press for Metal- Top 5 Reviewed
1. JET JDP-17 17″ Floor Standing Drill Press for Metal (716300)
Features:
- Superb sturdy construction
- Included work table with replaceable inserts
- Longer quill travel is great for drilling metal
- Both side mounting of handles
- Built-in light and laser
- 115 volts
- 187 lbs of weight
- Dimensions: 56 x 23.5 x 15.5 inches
- Motor power: .75 HP
After doing a lot of research to find a list of floor drill press for metal, we found this JET JDP-17 716300 with longer quill strokes. The quill travel length is more than 3.25 inches that are a must if you drill metal mostly.
We’ve tested some thicker metal to be drilled with this machine and the depth of the holes was great.
The corded electric floor standing drill press comes with .75 horsepower that is fair enough to deal with metal. It has included a 14″ x 19″ precision-ground work table that is spacious and great for any metalworking job. The base is large and made of cast iron to bring the ultimate stability and power.
Its variable speed settings are easy & quick to set the required RPM for your metal material. The speed range is also great for most work, especially the slow speed ranges for drilling metal.
The floor drill press also features a light with an adjustable angle and a laser. The laser fixed up consummately with the point of the drill.
2. Powermatic PM2800B Floor Standing Drill Press for Metal
Features:
- Sturdy construction
- Variable speed range
- Laser indication for tool point
- Durable and stable
- Reversible handles that you can mount on both left and right side of the machine
- Dimensions : 58 x 26 x 15 inches
- Weight: 246 lbs
- Power: 1 HP
We would recommend this 1 HP floor drill press for metalworking projects mostly. Perhaps, the power is too much for only woodworking projects. The variable speed range is great for any metal material to drill with. The spindle length is also great for metalworking.
The hand-crank speed change permits a boundless change of the drill speed from 250 – 3000 RPMS without changing belts. The chuck is keyless which ensures bit changing a click with no search of a key.
The laser makes it simple to pinpoint the location of the hole. The double lights give splendid enlightenment of the table and shadowless working piece.
It is built sturdily with a cast iron base. The head assembly is the heaviest part that is fairly difficult for one person to assemble. The heavy-duty construction and power make this floor standing drill press an ideal one for industrial metalworking.
3. WEN 4210 Drill Press with Laser, 10-Inch
Features:
- Dimensions: 21.5 x 14.5 x 9.5 inches
- Weight: 51 lbs
- Metal construction
- 3100 RPM top speed with 5 adjustable speed settings
- Battery life: 5 hours
- Depth adjustment gauge for a precision spindle travel
- Comes with a work light built-in
- ½ inch keyed chuck
- Cast iron base
- 2/3 HP induction motor
It is the only floor standing drill press that is light to weight and easy to assemble. But, this one cuts metal like nothing. This 10 inches WEN 4210 drill press comes with 2/3 HP and 5-speed settings.
You can set the RPM from 600 to 3100 which is fair enough to deal with any metal material like steel, iron, aluminum, etc.
We’ve tested this cordless machine for drilling about 150 holes in 1/8 inches angle iron. We kept the lowest RPM and it not took more than 45 minutes excluding the time of clamping and adjusting the work table.
It would be better to use cutting oil to keep your bit from melted while cutting metal randomly. The laser was perfectly spotted on the point of each hole.
It was passed like a champion for metalworking projects. This one can be considered the best industrial floor drill press for metal.
Note:
The work table included in this model of WEN may be a bit smaller for large metal pieces. If you need one for drilling large metal pieces, check out this model “WEN 4214 12-Inch Variable Speed Drill Press”.
This floor standing drill press also comes with 2/3 HP and a variable speed range from 580 to 3200 RPM. The lowest RPM settings ensure successful drilling on almost any type of metal. Highly recommended for industrial purposes.
4. Shop Fox W1848 Oscillating Floor Drill Press for Metal
Features:
- Dimensions: 24 x 15 x 63 inches
- Weight: 122 lbs
- Corded electric floor drill press for metal
- Max speed range 3050 RPM with 12 adjustable speed range
- Easy to assemble
- Includes spindle sander drum kit
- Spacious tilting table
- 2 inches dust port
- ¾ HP motor, 110 V
- Spindle travel: 3-1/4 inches
We’ve got this excellent power tool that comes with a powerful motor and variable speed range options. Its lowest speed range starts from 250 to 3050 RPM in 12 different settings. It was the major reason for getting this product in the queue. The lowest speed settings help to drill on any type of metal material.
Another appealing feature of this is the oscillating spindle for sanding. The floor-standing drill press converts to a sanding machine in a few quick tool-free steps.
It has a tilting table included with the capacity to tilt it 90 degrees to either side of operations. It helps metalworkers to perform from different angles easily.
5. Delta 18-900L 18-Inch Laser Floor Standing Drill Press for Metal
Features:
- Dimensions: 59 x 30.5 x 13 inches
- Weight: 261 pounds
- Corded electric floor standing drill press for metal
- Comes with an auto-tensioning belt drive system
- 6 inches spindle travel (that is great for drilling on metal sheets)
- Adjustable depth stops and scales for more precision and repetitive metal drilling task
- Unique twin laser provides a red crosshair on the tipping point of the metal sheet
Delta brings this floor drill press with heavy-duty ¾ HP motor power and variable speed range from 170 to 3000 RPM. The motor provides enough torque and the lowest RPM settings allow to drill on metal sheets.
There is no issue to adjust the speed accordingly to the types of metal sheets. Delta provides a slick way of belt changing along with a spindle lock.
The led lighted floor standing drill press also comes with a large work table that is beveled 0 to 90 degrees and tilted 0 to 48 degrees. It allows the metalworkers to perform from different angles easily. The machine also features a modern LED light to make the surface visible for you.
The twin lasers mechanism spot the x mark that ensures a precision drilling experience. Calibrating the laser indicator may be a bit harder without following the instruction.
The price may seem to you a bit higher but worthy of what it will do for you. It gets your metal projects done as well as wood.
What to Consider for the Best Floor Standing Drill Press for Metal?
It’s pretty easy to say that you need to choose a floor-standing metal drill press that boosts up your drilling tasks. But, you need to consider a few things for that as well.
In this section, we’ve tried to find all the necessary information regarding investing in such a powerful tool. The following factors will help you determine the successful drilling machines for different types of metal pieces.
Weight
Floor standing metal drill presses are powerful and bigger than the benchtop models. Anyway, the bigger size makes it a heavy-duty machine that is difficult to move easily.
It’s better to find the right location to place the drill press on the floor before purchasing. So, you don’t have to move the heavy-weight for a longer time.
Precision
When it comes to drilling on metal, accuracy and precision are the most necessary factors you need to look at. Most of the floor standing drill presses offer varying rates of precision that the machines can achieve.
Check out the specifications twice to find it even closer. Ensure that the floor standing machine can handle any complicated metal projects before buying.
Power/Torque (Important features to consider the best floor standing drill press for metal)
It’s the amount of force applied by the drill press to drill on any metal pieces. Metal objects require a huge power to drill holes on them. It should be chosen at least a 2/3 HP motor that is proven to drill through most metal pieces.
Make sure that the floor-standing drill press can apply the right torque on your desired metal pieces. If you are dealing with the thickest metal, should invest in a floor-standing drill press with a powerful motor.
Variable Speed Range (Floor standing drill press for metal requires to set at a low RPM)
The rotating times per minute (RPM) determines the speed rating of your floor standing drill press. It’s really important to consider variable speed settings if you are dealing with different metal materials frequently.
You should know that different metals ask for different speed settings to be drilled on. So, it’s always preferable to choose a variable speed floor-standing drill press that can adapt the required speed according to the thickness & type of metal.
Therefore, you should set the speed slower for the thick metal objects and increase the RPM for the thinner metal pieces.
Drill Bit
The mechanism of a metal drill press is drilling to metal objects with hard metal. Typically, it produces a higher temperature to deal with the drill bits. So, it should be the harder one like cobalt material that can deal with higher temperatures with no issues at all.
Otherwise, you may have ended up with so many broken drill bits. It’s good to use cutting oil to enhance the drill bit’s ability from being melted.
Size of the Chuck
The tri-jawed part on your floor drill press is a chuck that holds the drill bit tight in place. The size of your chuck directs the size of the drill bit. The bigger your drill bit size requires a bigger Chuck to accommodate it perfectly.
You should know the types of drill bits first before finalizing the purchase of a floor standing drill press. Otherwise, it may waste your money.
We found a few floor drill press for metal that allows changing the size of the chuck. It ensures that you can use multiple drill bits depending on the thickness and type of metal.
Spindle Travel
What is spindle travel on a drill press? – It is known to be the measurement of the depth of drilling holes. It’s the length traveled by the chuck and bit when rotating the spindle. It would be better to choose a floor standing drill press with a 3.5 inches spindle travel that is standard for most metal objects.
If you want to deal with the thickest metal, try choosing the spindle travel length up to 6 inches.
Material
It’s an obvious thing to determine the best floor drill press for metal. They should be made of metal material like steel or cast iron.
Double-check that any parts are made of plastic before investing in that machine. The complete metal construction should be the deal for you that will save your future repair costs.
Warranty & Customer Service
This section depends on the floor drill press brand you are going to deal with. However, always consider the best brands by their quality, warranty, and customer service.
A few of the cheap brands offer the highest warranty with nearly no customer service at all. They don’t even reply to your problems for years.
We’ve kept in mind this thing while choosing the best floor standing metal drill presses. These brands own a good reputation for their customer service.
Work Table
The work table comes with a floor standing metal drill press makes the drilling job quicker, efficient, and easier. It’s always better to have a spacious work table to deal with the large metal pieces easily.
Conclusion:
So, how to determine the best floor drill press for metal? – Well, that’s the topic I’ve covered in this article with the top floor drill press options for metalworking projects. The ultimate things we’ve checked for all the machines are the torque and speed along with their construction quality.
How we’ve tested each floor drill press that was good or bad for metalworking projects?
The first thing we’ve tested the power of the motor. We’ve got the thickest metal piece to drill with each of the drill press and listed only those that were capable of that.
The 2nd thing was the variable speed range that starts with the lowest RPM accordingly. Drilling metal sheets requires performing at a lower RPM for getting the best results.
These are the important things to consider for detecting the floor drill press is great for metal projects or not. We’ve already done it for you. Now, it’s your turn to consider the rest depending on your needs to get the ideal floor drill press for metal.