Drill Press Questions...

[nycman]

hi, this is my 1st post on this board, but ive been lurking for a while... anyway im about to build a full workshop for plug building. lathe with duplicator, compound miter saw, belt/disc sander, and... a drill press.
i have very little power tool experience, and im sure ive never used a drill press so im a bit lost looking at specs and figuring out what i need. maybe you guys can help...

i want to use it for drilling the hole for throughwiring. ideally i want to be able to make a jig to hold the plugs that i will mount on the drill press so i can drop a plug in, drill, turn it over, drill, and pop in the next one and repeat.
obviously this means i need a drill press that can fit a plug standing up with room for the bit. if i need to drill 10" plugs how large a drill press will i need? i see 8", 10", 12" models, which will be large enough?
does anyone out there have a good cheap drill press they use for this purpose?
any help advice or suggestions are appreciated.

[Tagger]

welcome to nycman .. ok .. I have a floor model and a bench model and it is possible to use a drill press to drill holes to thru wire .. If you set it up right, using a dowel center thats is perfectly centered with the drill chuck . Then you simply put center of plug on the dowel center and drill half way thru ..flip plug and drill the other half thru .. I use a 8 " drill bit and some of that is buried in the drill chuck.. So I'm working with about 6" (no jokes pleeez).. I also use my lathe to drill for thru wiring .. You have to know what morse taper your lathe takes ..either a #1 or a #2.. now all you need is a drill chuck with that morses taper and put it in your live or powered side of lathe .. Put same 8" bit in that chuck .. Holding plug with the center of plug on the center of tail stock slide the tail stock toward spinning bit on the plug where you want the hole thru .. ( A swimming plug will most likely not have the hole thru the center of plug being the lip is centered in most cases and the hole is lower .. not a problem .. Any ways using this method again you drill half way thru flip plug and drill half way thru untill you feel the hole connect .. Do Not buy a 12" DRILL BIT AND TRY DRILLING FROM ONE END TO THE OTHER IN ONE SHOT ... yOU MIGHT GET LUCKY IN MOST CASES YOU WON'T ..whoops hit caps thing by accident .. that is important ,,I'll leave it .. http://www.packardwoodworks.com/ these guys are pretty good .. I bought parts centers and stuff off them ..

[TheRattBoy]

Tag, Thanks for the link, good stuff johnny "tRB"

[nycman]

Tagger, great info, thanks.
what size drill press do you use? with 6" of bit that leaves another 10" of plug = 16" from chuck to table? that sounds right.
i also forgot to ask if there is a minimum HP needed... will 1/3 or 1/2HP work or is a 1HP+ necessary?

[Tagger]

ones a 16 speed floor ones a 5 speed inexspensive tiawan stuff .. Bottom base cranks way down for more than enough room .. I look in want adds ,,drill presses can be expensive..floor one cranks down to like 30" bench 16"

[new jack]

welcome aboard nyc, everybody here is great. As you can see there are a lot of guys on the board who have a wealth of knowledge who are willing to shear.

I've learned a ton already!!

oh yeah, go SOX

[Surfster]

You stick around you'll learn more than you could reading a book.
Super crew ovahea!