Thought I'd provide a follow up...
I received my harbor freight small drill press today - this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/5-speed-bench-drill-press-60238-9067.html
Calling it junk is a serious insult to junk. Though it can be made to be useable, I do not recommend it at all out-of-the-box. Of course, folks will say "It's so cheap, what did you expect?" I guess I expect that if any product is sold, it has to at least do what it is made to do...at least in a minimal way. If you care any more about the details, read on.
Moving the quill down/up will literally send chills up the spine of even a total non-mechanical person. No one could think that the gritty feel could be right. That plus the ratcheting sound of the quill return spring is enough to make you think that the moving parts were lubricated with sand at the factory.
I plugged it in and turned it on...nothing. I discovered if I turned it on and pushed/held the switch against the stop, it would run...with much vibration and a heavy rattling/screeching/rubbing sound. Clearly this thing should go directly back for a refund. However...I have some sort of oddball "make it work/bring 'em back alive" sort of biological imperative so I decided to see if I could make this POS into a usable machine.
I took it completely apart, washed all the very extensive grit out of any part that moved/rotated/slid. I disassembled the switch and found that it was packed with grease so viscous that the spring-loaded contacts couldn't actually touch each other when the switch was on. We're taking grease that is probably too thick for locomotive use! I cleaned that out. I discovered that the screeching was due to the motor pulley and part of the pulley housing trying to occupy the same space. So I had to loosen the pulley and raise it about 1/16" to clear the housing. Of course, then I had to raise the quill pulley so it would align properly with the motor pulley.
I flushed out all the sliding/rubbing surfaces and had to chase all the screw/bolt holes before the screws/bolts that had to hold things would actually screw far enough in to do that. After it was all cleaned, I relubed everything with actual lubricant(!) and put it all back together/set it up.
I hit the switch and it was now much quieter except for a serious rattle from the belt housing cover. A couple of pieces of duct tape over the rim where the cover/housing met took care of that. Though much improved in overall feel, it still sounded a bit "grindy" when running...bearings. So I went up to the hardware store and found some bearings that fit the quill shaft. I removed the oem bearings and installed the new ones for a major improvement. Apparently the hardware store bearings were made with ROUND bearings as opposed to random-shaped bearings.
So in it's current condition, it is acceptable. But I don't think most people are interested in assembling a drill press from a kit.
However, if you miss the days when you used to build Revell models, and you want to spend a couple of hours of cleaning/lubing, about 12 bucks and a trip to the hardware store to put decent bearings in this kit, it will end up marginally OK. But remember, you bought those Revells KNOWING they weren't anything until you assembled them. This drill press kit requires you to DISASSEMBLE it first. Revell would have never been successful that way...
