7 Best Floor Drill Presses of 2024 – Reviews & Buying Guide
If you need a powerful drill press in your shop, one that can handle large projects with ease, and which comes with lots of accessories, then a floor-standing drill press is your best bet.
Floor drill presses offer the power, speed, and capacity to handle both small and large projects with ease, surpassing benchtop models in everything except portability.
This floor drill press review focuses on providing you with all the information that you'll need to make the right choice, as well as a list of the best models on the market.
Product Name | Power | Speed | Chuck | Weight | Rating | Current Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Delta 18-900L Laser Floor Drill Press | 0.7 HP | 16 | 5/8 in | 261 lbs | 4.2 | |
2. Jet JDP-20MF Floor Drill Press | 1.5 HP | 12 | 3/4 in | 288 lbs | 4.4 | |
3. Shop Fox W1848 Floor Drill Press | 0.7 HP | 12 | 5/8 in | 122 lbs | 4.0 | |
4. Jet J-2500 Floor Drill Press | 0.7 HP | 16 | 5/8 in | 167 lbs | 4.0 | |
5. Powermatic PM2800B Floor Drill Press | 1.0 HP | N/A | 5/8 in | 266 lbs | 3.9 | |
6. Rockwell RK7033 Floor Drill Press | 0.5 HP | 5 | 1/2 in | 48 lbs | 3.8 | |
7. Klutch Floor Mount Drill Press | 0.7 HP | 16 | 5/8 in | 122 lbs | 4.0 |
You can also read other drill press reviews such as benchtop drill press, mini drill press, radial drill press, Delta 18-900L, Wen 4225.
7 Best Floor Drill Presses - Reviews
#1. Delta 18-900L Laser Floor Drill Press
Editor's Rating: 
(4.2 / 5)
- Power: 0.75 Horsepower
- Speed: 16 speeds (170-3,000 RPM)
- Swing size: 18 inches
- Weight: 261 lbs
There are a couple of reasons why the Delta 18-900L is considered the best floor drill press for woodworking and metalworking alike.
It comes with everything you need in a good floor drill press, starting from its 16-speed settings to its twin laser guidance system, work light, and a powerful motor.
The 18-900L delivers 0.75 horsepower of force, which produces speeds from 700 to 3,000 RPM. There are 16-speed settings and you can change them by simply changing the belt drive which uses an auto-tensioning system to make things easy.
You also get a highly precise depth stop system, plus a large work table that tilts both sideways up to 90 degrees, and forward up to 48 degrees. Delta backs this press with a 5-year warranty.
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#2. Jet JDP-20MF Floor Drill Press
Editor's Rating: 
(4.4 / 5)
- Power: 1.5 horsepower
- Speed: 12 speed (150-4,200 RPM)
- Swing size: 20 inches
- Weight: 288 lbs
The Jet JDP-20MF is a top-rated floor drill press that comes with all the professional features you need from a floor-standing press.
You get 12 spindle speeds, ranging from a low 15 RPM for tough metals, up to 4,200 RPM, with its 1.5-horsepower motor delivering all the torque you can ever want.
There's a 3/4-inch chuck, a 20-inch swing, and a large table with a crank that raises or lowers the table height very smoothly.
Jet Tools also includes an onboard light, but the bulb is not included, neither is there a laser guide on this press. Still, it's a very powerful and reliable drill press backed by a 2-year manufacturer warranty.
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#3. Shop Fox W1848 Floor Drill Press
Editor's Rating: 
(4 / 5)
- Power: 0.75 horsepower
- Speed: 12-speed settings (250-3,050 RPM)
- Swing size: 13.7 inches
- Weight: 180 lbs
Shop Fox presents the best floor drill press for the money with this W1848 floor drill press. It's also available in a benchtop form and comes with a 2-year warranty.
There's a 0.75 HP motor driving the press. It uses a 12-speed belt system to deliver up to 3,050 RPM. The table includes a dust port to keep the table clean and it tilts both sides to 90 degrees, allowing you to get special drilling angles.
One more important feature of this drill is its oscillating spindle feature, which allows you to use the drill press for extra jobs like sanding. The package also comes with a sanding accessory kit.
You don't get a laser guide or a work light, but when you consider the affordable cost of this press, then its lack of these extra features doesn't seem too bad after all.
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#4. JET J-2500 Cast Iron Floor Drill Press
Editor's Rating: (4 / 5)
- Power: 0.75 Horsepower
- Speed: 16 speeds (200-3,630)
- Swing size: 15 inches
- Weight: 167 lbs
When it comes to choosing a professional and very good floor drill press for your shop, Jet Tools is one of the brands you can always trust and this Jet J-2500 offers a lot.
First off, it features a cast iron head with a large quill. Other features include permanently lubricating spindle assembly for a long life and a precise depth stop for making holes with the right depths.
There are 16-speed settings to help you get the right amount of speed and power for each job, and the press produces anywhere from 200 to 3,630 RPM from the 0.75 horsepower electric motor.
You can use up to a 5/8-inch drill on it for cast iron or a 1/2-inch for mild steel. This press has a 15-inch swing and Jet Tools backs it with a 2-year warranty.
When it comes to disadvantages, there is no onboard light and no laser guide for precision jobs. The table also only tilts to 45 degrees and not to a full 90.
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#5. Powermatic PM2800B 18-Inch Floor Drill Press
Editor's Rating: 
(3.9 / 5)
- Power: 1.0 Horsepower
- Speed: Variable
- Swing size: 18 inches
- Weight: 266 lbs
Powermatic's PM2800B is a high-quality floor drill press, designed to offer everything you need from a drill press in an easy and efficient way.
The PM2800B starts off with a variable speed mechanism, which lets you easily select your desired speed without needing to touch any belts. It also features a digital speed display, so you can know what's going on.
You get an adjustable depth stop, plus a laser guide for high-precision drilling. There are also two independent and fully adjustable LED work lights to illuminate the table without any shadows and the table itself can rotate up to 90 degrees.
You get a large cast iron base for stability and a safety key, which prevents accidental starting of the press. On the other hand, there's a price to pay for this machine and its variable mechanical speeds keep torque constant at all speeds.
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#6. Rockwell RK7033 Shop Series Floor Drill Press
Editor's Rating: 
(3.8 / 5)
- Power: 6.2-Amp motor (about 0.5 Horsepower)
- Speed: 5 speeds up to 3,100 RPM
- Swing size: 10 inches
- Weight: 48 lbs
Whether you want the best floor drill press for the money or just the cheapest floor drill press you can get your hands on, this Rockwell RK7033 will surely catch your attention.
It's offered at the lowest possible price for a floor drill press, although it does come with impressive features, including its 5-speed setting system to choose between 620 and 3,100 RPM.
The table is from cast iron and can tilt up to 45 degrees for drilling angled holes. You get a 1/2-inch chuck and a 2-year limited warranty on the press, and all at a low-price offer that's hard to resist.
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#7. Klutch Floor Mount Drill Press
Editor's Rating: (4 / 5)
- Power: 0.7 Horsepower
- Speed: 3,400 RPM
- Swing size: 13 inches
- Weight: 128 lbs
This floor drill press from Klutch is a compromise between a high-quality press and an affordable one. You get all the features of a professional floor-standing drill press but at a very affordable price.
It's powered by a 0.7-horsepower motor and comes with 16-speed settings, which produce up to 3,410 RPM. You also get a depth lock mechanism for drilling precise holes and an onboard light.
The table is large with its 11.4-inch diameter, plus the press has a wide 13-inch swing. This floor press is simple, straight to the point, and its price is also right. It's backed by a 2-year warranty.
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Benchtop vs. Floor Drill Presses
Benchtop and floor-standing drill presses both have their advantages and disadvantages. If you are considering an option between the two, you'll need to look at their differences to find out which type is perfect for the job at hand.
#1. Benchtop Drill Press
Benchtop drill presses get mounted on the workbench in the shop. You can either bolt them or let them be, depending on how you choose to do your work. Following are their advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
- More Affordable. Benchtop drill press models use fewer materials and usually come with less professional features. This, in turn, also makes them cost on average, half of the price of floor drill press models.
- Compact & portable. Being overall smaller than floor-standing models, benchtop presses are more compact and portable as a result. They are great for moving around occasionally and for even storage if you happen to need more space in the shop.
- Ideal for Small Jobs. If you're just doing small jobs from time to time, then a benchtop press offers you the most value for your money.
Disadvantages
- Less powerful. Manufacturers usually outfit benchtop presses with smaller motors than the floor standing models. And although they may sometimes produce the same speeds, they usually have less torque than floor drill presses.
- Smaller Swing. Benchtop presses also have smaller swings, and this limits the size of workpieces they can handle.
- Light duty. They are basically not designed to handle heavy-duty jobs like floor drill presses can handle. This includes features such as engine power, chuck, and overall size.
#2. Floor Drill Presses
Floor drill presses stand directly on the floor and don't need mounting on anything. This means that you should have enough space for it in your shop. Following are the advantages and disadvantages of a floor drill press.
Advantages
- More powerful motors. Floor drill presses usually come with much larger motors than benchtop presses and this provides more torque to do tougher jobs in less time.
- Higher precision. Unlike benchtop presses, which are mostly geared toward hobbyists and DIY folks, floor drill presses offer more precise handling to meet the needs of professionals.
- Wider swings. Since they're larger, floor-standing drill presses also come with wider swings, which means the operator can work with larger materials than with a benchtop model.
- More flexibility. Floor drill presses have a higher column and this opens up more flexibility to work with unconventionally-sized workpieces.
Disadvantages
- More expensive. As a result of their larger size and professional features, floor drill presses cost much more than their benchtop counterparts.
- Large & bulky. Being larger than benchtop models makes floor drill presses less portable. They're probably not the ideal press for you if you need a press to move around from time to time.
How to Buy the Best Floor Drill Presses
In order to pick out the best floor drill press for your shop, you'll need to know what to look out for. Following are the important aspects of a floor drill press that you need to keep in mind when making your choice.
#1. Purpose
Before anything else, you should first consider your purpose for buying the press. Are you into wood or metalwork? And do you need any special features in the press? These questions should clear your mind on the exact type of machine that you need.
#2. Power
This refers to the total amount of force produced by the motor and delivered by the spindle. Power is usually given in horsepower and used to produce speed and torque on the spindle.
The faster the spindle rotates, the less torque it produces and vice versa. This makes very powerful drill presses ideal for drilling metal because they produce very high torque at the low metal-drilling speeds.
#3. Chuck
The chuck is the part that takes most of the force and friction, so it should preferably be of high quality as well. A larger chuck up to a 1/2-inch or wider is preferable for floor drill presses. You should also opt for a keyed chuck or one you can tighten with a wrench, as opposed to keyless chucks.
#4. Speed Selection
The ability to select different speeds is what makes drill presses outstanding. You can, for instance, choose lower speeds for metalwork and higher speeds for wood.
You'll need to look at how many speed levels the press offers and how easy it is to switch between them. Often important is checking to see if the speed changes also change the drill's torque.
#5. Tilting Table
A tilting table is a necessary part of a good drill press because it enables you to drill angled holes that you wouldn't drill without it. Some tables will only tilt up to 45 degrees, while others will tilt to a full 90 degrees.
Fewer tables will tilt both left and right, and also tilt forward. Without a tilting table, you'll need a drill press vise with tilting capability if you want to make such angled holes. So, it's better to watch out beforehand.
#6. Depth Stop
If you have to make repeated drill runs that each needs equal depth, then there's no better way to do it, than with a depth stop. This is especially important when you're running a commercial shop because it saves you tons of time.
Most floor drill presses will come with one form of a depth stop or the other, depending on the manufacturer's technology or mechanism. Still, it's important to make sure that it's there.
#7. Extra Features
Although drill presses were originally developed for metal workers, they have become useful for a range of jobs, including drilling wood, sanding wood, and milling.
With the right accessories, you can easily extend your press' functionality, so it's important to check if the manufacturer added any to the package you are about to buy.
Other important extra features include a work light to illuminate your table and laser cross-hairs that improve your drilling precision.
#8. Warranty
A good manufacturer will back its product with a suitable warranty and in this case, the longer the better. So, if you happen to consider two similar presses, then remember that the one with a longer warranty gets more points.
Conclusion
We've reached the end of this best floor drill press review and you've seen the different presses on offer and their features as well.
You've seen the low-priced budget ones and the high-priced premium models with all the bells and whistles an operator could ask for.
The final decision though is yours to make because you're the one that knows the exact features that you need, as well as your budget.
Last Updated on August 7, 2020 by Tom Bradly