I bought an Arboga Maskiner (Sweden) AM2508 Floor drill for $120 last year , it's 1980's and when I got it it was covered in rust as it was standing in tropical rain for 2 years , no one could tell me what was wrong with it but I took a punt and bought it
We cleaned it up oiled up all the slides and then plugged it in , expecting to see sparks and fire coming out and grinding sounds from the gearbox but bugger me it works perfectly
It has a slight wobble in the spindle but for the work I do a 10.25mm dia hole is as good as a 10mm hole
So I have a 1.1kW 16 speed geared head drill 100-3300rpm with 25mm collet capacity and a 250mm throat and its just beautiful
The only problem for most people is its 380V / 3 phase , I recently upgraded my garage to 3 phase so I can utilise industrial quality gear (looking for a lathe and a mill in the future and my next welder will be 3 phase)
I am still wanting to buy a small el cheapo drill for fine / small work so I would go ahead with buying a cheapie Wooders
BUT scout the auctions and grab a bigger drill when the time comes , you should be able to pick one up for $250
The Hare and Forbes Taiwan copy of this drill is $2,200 (GHD-20) so I hate to think what it would cost new
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Tony G, an expat Aussie in the jungles of Java since 2000 , Jakarta Indonesia
Last edited by javajeep; 05-06-2006 at 12:35 PM.
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