Craftsman Professional  Universal Drill Press Work Center

when you are trying to rate something this poorly made it is hard to know where to start. guess I will start with the main part the work surface. It should have been made out of a solid material capable of holding a screw. The piano hinge screws were stripped out, had to replace with larger screws. Who knows how long that will last. next it wasn't screwed on square to each piece of cheap particle board that was used so the ruler markings from one side to the other are off by 3/16". Next the tracks for guiding and holding the fence to the work surface are held on with 1/4" screws at best, and when using the clamps to hold down a work piece they pulled the tracks out of the work table. The insert for the hole where your bit can pass through the table does not set flush with the work surface. I really like craftsman tools and for the most part have had good luck with them. Its sad to see craftsman approve of selling such a cheaply made product.

I put it togather and I really like it.

Very easy to set up on my bench top Sears drill press, took less than 30 minutes. Comes with all essential accessorises and tilting is a big plus. Feels like a true professional product. I have not put it to full use yet but expect good results. Will see.

I thought this drill press work center was a very bad piece of equipment and I took it back to the store where I bought it. It was very difficult to attach to my drill press. It made it hard to square my drill press. It was very hard to adjust. The hold downs caused the fence to tilt back. All in all a good idea that was poorly done. There are better products available for less money. I don't recommend this product.

Assembled ok, no hardware was missing. Expands the table to a more useful size, but precludes the attachment of a vice without first removing the table. Not a big deal. The dust port effectively removes the 1% of chips that enter the opening in the table. The rest wind up on top of the workpiece, just as you might expect. The fence is handy for drilling a series of holes the same distance from the edge of a piece. The hold downs that attach to the fence to hold the workpiece are a nice thought, but are a joke as they provide little holding power. When used as shown in the picture on the box/web site, the fence flexes and moves up and away from the piece if even a small amount of pressure is applied to the workpiece using the hold downs. If you tighten them down hard, I suspect that something will break. So, if there is a binding risk, don't rely on the holddowns. T-slots in the fence constantly fill with chips, which is a somewhat unavoidable nuisance. A little compressed air clears them out.

Upon recieving the Drill Press Work Center, it was missing two of the specialized nylon bushings that were supposed to come with it. After having to customize bushings from the hardware store, I was able to continue on with putting the thing together. In the process of putting it together, all 5 of the tiny screws (1/8" - 3/16" long) that hold on the hinges pulled out of the particle board leaving large holes. Once again after visiting my local hardware store I was able to put it back together and fit it to my drill press. I finally got it on the drill press and noticed that the range of motion (sliding the work center relative to the drill press) was minimal at best. I will need to modify the slots where the mounting hardware fits in order to increase its usefulness. I have not used it extensively yet but like another review pointed out, the sliding fence really binds up when you slide it. Im hoping that as it gets a little worn, it will get better. All in all, I feel like it was a nice thought but not a really good purchase/product. With the exception of the hardware, for the money I think I could fabricate a better quality product myself.

Upon recieving the Drill Press Work Center, it was missing two of the specialized nylon bushings that were supposed to come with it. After having to customize bushings from the hardware store, I was able to continue on with putting the thing together. In the process of putting it together, all 5 of the tiny screws (1/8" - 3/16" long) that hold on the hinges pulled out of the particle board leaving large holes. Once again after visiting my local hardware store I was able to put it back together and fit it to my drill press. I finally got it on the drill press and noticed that the range of motion (sliding the work center relative to the drill press) was minimal at best. I will need to modify the slots where the mounting hardware fits in order to increase its usefulness. I have not used it extensively yet but like another review pointed out, the sliding fence really binds up when you slide it. Im hoping that as it gets a little worn, it will get better. All in all, I feel like it was a nice thought but not a really good purchase/product. With the exception of the hardware, for the money I think I could fabricate a better quality product myself.

First of all, the work center needs a little refinement. It is akward to assemble to the existing drill press table. The overall concept is good but the adjustment knobs for the fence(they release and tighten in slots on both sides of the table) bind constantly when trying to move the fence to a new position. I have tried to reposition the guides for the tightening knobs several times but they always bind when repositioning. Would be a worthwhile table if outfitted with slot guides that move in an effortless manner.