Delta 18-900L 18-Inch Laser Drill Press

I ordered this during a short sale which Amazon was having. I saved about $150 off the everyday price of 899. That in of itself is amazing. I have never seen this drill press that cheap. I replaced the Big Box "L" stores' Porter Cable which regularly sales for 329 with this model, and I would have to say that it is clearly worth the asking price. When compared to the Porter Cable model, you can clearly see the difference. This unit is significantly heavier and far more sturdy. The larger base helps a lot, but the overall construction and near complete cast iron body make this unit significantly more sturdy and better balanced. I mounted it to a recently made base cabinet in my garage. All garage floors are uneven and slope to the door. I make a base which is scribed to floor. This created a perfectly level base upon which I was able to construct perfectly square cabinets. My base unit is about 2 feet larger than my cabinets, (on purpose), and creates a perfect place for the drill press. I used 1/2 inch by 2.5 inch lag bolts, lock washers, and flat washers to fasten the Drill Press base to the base cabinet. This makes the drill press super sturdy and prevents the possibility of tip over. The only caveat to the base cabinet system I used, is the drill press is now approximately 5 inches taller than it would normally be. I am nearly 6 foot and I have to stand on a small ladder to adjust the pulleys which change the speed. Not a frequent operation, and I knew this when I set it up.The box arrived in near perfect condition on a pallet. The scheduled delivery driver was extremely courteous and super friendly. I scheduled the delivery for late afternoon, after work. I received a polite call early in the morning asking if I would be interested in an earlier delivery. I explained that I was at work and the delivery company said no problem, we'll get it to you this afternoon. The delivery driver was a bit early and had to wait until I got home. He already had it unloaded with a pallet jack and up by my garage. I got home, opened the door and he moved it inside for me. Definitely an A+ rating for them.I had a few things to move before I set it up, but unpacking and assembly were quite straight forward. The instruction manual is well written and the pictures are as clear as to be expected in black and white. I took my time and from start to finish assembly was about 3 hours. This included the trip to HD for the lag screws and the slight extension I had to build for my base unit. The manual is not joking when the say you need a minimum of 24 by 29 inches of clearance around the drill press. My base units are only about 24 inches deep, so I had to extend the one where the drill press lives by 5 inches.After I got it assembled and cleaned from the anti-rust protective coating, I went about setting up and aligning the laser. I jointed a two by four on all four sides to use a guide. I also ensured that the base was perfectly level before I started. I had to adjust the table "0" set screw down about a quarter turn. That is fairly simple, you just need two open ended wrenches, a 9/16s and an 11/16ths. Loosen the upper nut and then slowly turn the bolt until the table is perfectly level. Tighten up the upper nut against the base and you are set. I had to play with the lasers a bit to get them perfectly in line, but adjustments are simple.I would definitely recommend picking up the "Yellow D labeled" set of allen style bits at your local home improvement center. It comes with a small hand ratchet and all different sizes of hex head drivers as well as square drive and your standard Phillips and slotted bits. (Ratcheting T-Handle Set 31-Piece Model # DWHT70265). It was about 20$ and well worth the investment. The included allen wrenches are perfectly acceptable, but the driver makes assembly of the unit a lot easier.Speed adjustments are quite simple and fairly quick. There is a diagram in both the belt chamber and in the manual. It is easy to understand and well illustrated. I will probably make a photocopy and have it laminated as a reference card to keep near the drill press.The table is probably one of the best components and one of the main reasons I made the purchase. It is large and designed for a wide variety of tasks, unlike the PC table which was clearly designed for metal work.If I had one complaint it would be the chuck. It seems, at least with the 1/16 bit I used for laser alignment, to have a bit of wobble. I don't have any fancy tools to measure run out, but I suspect that it has some. Just an FYI, the chuck is the exact same one as the one included with the Porter Cable unit I had previously. I will probably purchase an USA made chuck at some point in the future. I am a but disappointed, but I am not surprised. I may also call up Delta and see if they will send me a replacement one. The chuck is close enough for what I do, (mostly wood drilling) but I want it as close to perfect as I can get.My over all impression so far is excellent. The Drill Press is of a high quality and definitely worth what I paid for it, which was about 150$ less than normally advertised. Amazon is amazing and they are one of the few places which still have this unit in stock.I would highly recommend this unit if you are in need of a serious drill press. Heed the book warnings and mine; it is heavy!! It is possible to assemble by your self, but I would not recommend it. The head is probably between 120 and 150 lbs by itself. I was able to lift it on to the base unit by myself, but there was certainly a "puck" factor and I was worried for a bit about dropping it.I will probably be adding a fence in the near future and possibly a table. I will update my review in the future with my impressions after using it.

For under around $2500 or 3000, as far as I know the only currently-manufactured floor presses have two 'features' that cause concern to shoppers: they are made/assembled in China, and the casting around the quill isn't split. The former can be associated with quality and politics. The latter means that you can't extra-rigidly lock the quill (e.g.) as you can a milling machine's. This Delta is no exception to these observations.The table is more-or-less perfectly designed. It can be rolled in both directions all the way around using the included wrench, and you can pitch it down by 45 degrees without tools. The center has a nice sacrificial block. It can carry a lot of weight if necessary; the manual says 250 lbs.I like the work light and laser system, though the latter has to be carefully adjusted. Following the instructions carefully to clean the tapers before assembly, I ended up with unmeasurable (by me) run-out. Speed changes are easy, and luckily I didn't end up with a unit that had bent parts as others mentioned. Similarly, the quill actuation is smooth and didn't require any dis-assembly or cleanup. On the other hand, having read what happened to others, I wouldn't have bought this unless I was willing to deal with those things; the alternative would be to part with thousands of dollars more for a US-made unit. The metal plate on the housing says "... DO NOT USE IN DAMP LACTIONS," so I expect that even the metal plate text was composed in China; you would think Delta could have at least proof-read it...I'll update (possibly adding or subtracting a star) after I do a couple of projects with this thing. At the moment, I think I will enjoy working with this unit for many years to come.---Update, Aug '14: The press has been in my garage in moist Louisiana all summer, and is still working well. My only additional observation is that the Delta company spare parts web site seems to be permanently out of stock on a number of parts. If you use your press much more than I do, or are much younger, you might be worried about this.