30+ years ago I was doing a clutch job on my 914. It was my only car, so I was on foot or bike with no car. Anyway I get to removing the flywheel and one of the flywheel bolts just stripped. All the rest came off with no issues. I whip out my 20 year old cheap Craftsman bits and start making noise. 10 minutes later there was a tiny little divot from the bit. It was going to take years to get the easy out in there. So I bummed a ride from my neighbor to the tool shop a few miles away. I bought a set of Cobalt bits.

It was simply mind blowing how fast the cobalt bits ate the bolt. Seconds of drilling, and in went the easy out, and out came the bolt.

I drove the 914 home on a Friday afternoon after a 8 hour day of work. Remove all the hoses and wires and cables on Friday night. Saturday was get the engine and transmission out, do the clutch job, reassemble the drivetrain, and get it placed back in the car. Sunday was the opposite of Friday, just hook up everything and drive off by noon. 100% by myself in my tiny one car garage.

Several years later when I bought the EL Camino it would not fit in that garage. With the front bumper against the drywall, a foot of the car stuck out the door.

Wen has a model for $88 on amerzonk

I've heard it is decent

Not if it's a really bad chuck - one where the jaws stick and descend unevenly when you try to tighten a bit.

My experience has been that the chucks on the cheaper presses is the main source of the problems with these things. The quill bearings aren’t as bad as the runout in the cheaper chucks. You can upgrade one quite a bit by just changing to a quality, American made part..

No idea how many revolutions there are to my old Craftsman's credit, but it's still going strong.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624991252.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624996912.jpg
My faithful old Craftsman from I think the '30s

No step drill for me. Only quality twist drill and a bit of oil or tranny fluid to help with cooling. 9mm that's 5/16 thick or close to that. I would use a 3/16 or 1/4 drill bit and chase out the hold with the correct size after. I feel the 3/16 or 1/4 bit has a bit more meat on the bit to keep it from wobbling under force. I know, I know, were are suppose to use the correct feed rate. Who does that?:D

Make a U with a couple sticks of lumber on a piece of plywood and mount a Destaco or hold down clamp to keep it from moving and holes will be super accurate. Oh, do clamp that plywood to the drill press table.

Built this using Herman-Miller drawers.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1625013114.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1625013288.jpg

Very tidy! And organized.

I have a huge pile of blunt drills. I don't even know which ones are HHS.