Shop Fox W1668 3/4-HP 13-Inch Bench-Top Drill Press/Spindle Sander

I was very nervous to purchase this drill press, but it got great reviews elsewhere and had the capacity and features I need to complete the woodwoorking projects on my plate.PACKING/SHIPPING: Amazon did the best job they could in getting this to me undamaged. The manufacturer did not. The box the press was packed in had minimal cardboard and styrofoam - some of which was plainly broken. The table support. a heavy cast iron piece, had broken its styrofoam surrounds and was floating about. Thankfully it didn't damage itself or anything around it. The headstock has about a half inch of styrofoam in between it and the outside of the box - and this is where a delicate plastic housing is. Thankfully, it wasn't broken, and Amazon did their best in double boxing the junk box the thing was shipped in.INSTRUCTIONS: Others have complained that the instructions were out of date or hard to understand. Mine were neither - the press went together in about 30 minutes, including the time it took to wipe off the manufacturing and shipping grease. (Pro tip: wipe that junk off with naptha. Came out clean as a whistle.) There are photos to guide you through assembly and it even includes some tools to put it together. Points off: There are no instructions for installing the motor lock screw! There's also instructions on assembling the table lift crank - but it's already assembled. (2nd pro tip: don't overtighten ANYTHING. There is weak metal here and there and you don't want to strip a screw hole.)SUPPORT: I didn't need any, but kudos to a company that puts their email address and phone number on the front of the manual. Others have reported great customer service.BUILD: Mostly good. The base and table are cast iron, ground flat, and are pretty decent. The table support and headstock housing are also cast iron. The paintjob is mostly okay. I didn't buy it for its looks. The chuck is heavy duty 33JT tapered mount and gets the job done - for my use, it's perfect - but know that you have options to replace it if need be. You can spend the entire cost of the drill press on a keyless Jacobs, but it's not really necessary unless you're drilling metal to tolerances of .00001". The table adjustment mechanism works great for me. The crank lift is still breaking in, I think - it's still quite rough to move up and down, despite the grease I applied. I'm not sure it'll ever be perfectly smooth, and it's not a precision table height mechanism.OPERATIONS: Out of the box the press was very noisy. After determining that I had not installed the motor lock screw, I adjusted the motor mount bolts, and changed the motor speed by moving the belts. The press was instantly quieter with the belts properly adjusted for tension. I tried out the oscillator; it works as advertised and I see myself doing some drum sanding in the future. A few test holes in some scrap turned out great - this is a powerful drill with a heavy duty motor. I suppose a 1" Forstner bit in some oak might slow the drill down a little, but for general work, the drill didn't hesitate at all going through 3/4" of poplar. Quill operations leaves something to be desired; the handles are short and the quill just isn't as smooth as it could be. The quill return spring on mine was not an issue and returned it to the zero point every time. (Pro tip #3: after using the oscillator, manually rotate the pulley to return the quill to the zero point, so your depth stop works properly again.) Speaking of the depth stop....the sticker on mine is wrinkled a little, leading to an inaccurate depth. The stop mechanism is okay.OVERALL, I'm pretty happy with the build, capacity, the assembly and operations of the drill and I'd buy it again in a heartbeat given the chance. The shipping is terrible, but if you manage to get one undamaged....it's a great value for what it does. This press is quality enough to last for years and be handed down to my son when he's ready to start messing with wood projects. For now, I'm going to drill some holes in a solidbody guitar build I'm working on and enjoy the money I saved buying the Shop Fox.

I read the reviews and spent a lot of time looking at other comparable drill press models (JET JWDP-12, Grizzly G7943, WEN 4214, GI 75-030, etc), This shop fox drill press in my mind, is reasonably priced, has a simple clean setup, and is a heavy duty machine. I am giving it five stars for its powerful motor and straightforward mechanical adjustments. I have used this machine heavily for many woodworking projects (plantation shutters, framing projects, etc.) as well as light duty metal work, and still stand by my the five star rating. I have rechecked the run-out on the spindle without the chuck attached and with the chuck attached, it is still within manufactures specifications.However, I do agree with other reviewers (one star reviews), damage to the drill press seems to occur somewhat regularly in the shipping process. The machine, when assembled weighs approximately 130lbs. The drill press has three pieces of plastic, the switch, the switch box cover(where the wiring is at), and the chuck safety guard. The rest of the machine comes comprised of large cast iron or steel items, with the lightest piece probably being 20 lbs. The machine comes with the motor/head-stock disassembled from the base and column. All three of these items are heavy, large and may have an awkward shape, with this definitely being true for the head stock piece. These three pieces and the rest of the drill press would be okay, if there was very little movement or abuse in the shipping process. However, I am not sure if this is possible, considering UPS/Fedex workers (drivers and warehouse packers) are trying to probably get there job done as quickly as possible to get back home to their families. The items in the box will eventually bang around against each other and breakdown the shipping material depending on the shipping process for the day. Once these pieces start hitting each other, your are absolutely guaranteed to have some type of damage, either cosmetic or affecting drill press operation. Thankfully for me, the customer service (Micheal) at ShopFox was outstanding, even though I bought online through a seller (Factory Authorized Outlet) on Amazon, they were willing to stand by the product and send me out replacement pieces for the damage items (luckily the damaged items did not require returning the whole drill press). I could see why some wrote a negative review, receiving a damaged product does not put a smile on your face.I tried to write this review in terms of my experience with operation of the drill press, this is why I gave it five stars. Once up and running, I checked the drill press for run-out, the angle of the table in relation to the drill bit, and depth of travel. Everything was either easily corrected, or as stated in the specifications. I did not have problems with excessive run-out (I read a review where it seemed this problem was present).Saying all that, I am a firm believer in using the right tool for the job. You have got to have understanding and knowledge in both to get a tool which suites your needs. This machine does not have a laser scribe/sight, digital RPM read-out, electronically controlled variable speed. I find this perfectly acceptable and do not consider them affecting drill press operation. I am impressed with the power of the motor and simplistic setup.