Drill Presses for Hardwood Flooring

Drill Presses are machines that can drill in holes on hard surfaces such as metal or wood. It’s constructed with a locked chuck, a rack-and-pinion wheel system, a flexible wide table, and a large band-driven motor.

There are two types of drill presses: benchtop and floor-standing. Benchtop drill presses are preferred more as it can be used by setting it on a workbench or a table, takes less space in your workshop and is also portable (with a bit of help). Whereas, floor-standing drill presses are large and heavy machinery that takes up space but is more powerful at drilling than their counterpart. It is mostly used in large factories or workshops.

Benchtop Vs. Handheld

All drill presses have 2 main components: a locked chuck and a flexible table. The chuck is where you insert drill bits much like in the handheld drills, only larger and attached permanently in a straight down position. This is an advantage compared to a handheld drill as it can drill holes accurately and perfectly at a 90-degree angle. Handheld drills will not provide accurate results as you have to hold it perfectly vertical to get the best results, which is usually a little difficult to do.

Benchtop drill presses are safe to use as all you have to work with is the wood board or metal to drill holes, there’s only one hand working with the board, and can result not only in imperfect drilling but also can slip and cause an accident.

Benchtop drill presses also have a large motor than any other drills combined which means more power. Besides, handheld drills have motors that drive the chuck directly through a trigger. The more you pull the trigger the faster it’ll drill. Whereas, benchtop drills come with a switch that determines whether to drill slow or fast. For instance, wider drill bits require the drill press to slow the motor while thin, sharp ones require faster power to drill through metals.

Which one to Buy?

Now that you are up to date about drill presses, you may wonder which to pick that would help you with your work. If it is a small project, working with a benchtop drill press is fine, but if your project is big, and you have a large workspace and big-budget, try the floor-standing drill press. It has more power compared to benchtop presses and can easily drill holes in the thickest of materials.

Types of Hardwood Flooring

For woodworking projects, such as floor installation, benchtop drill presses are the best tools you’ll need with half the price of a floor-standing one and also less space.

There are different types of hardwood available when deciding to install it on your floors. If you are looking for the best type of hardwood flooring to use, you can try some of these:

Oak & Maple

One of the most popular and also the most durable woods there is, they come in many different colors and are resistant to wear. It gives a timeless look to your home.

Benchtop drill presses with three pulleys can provide the best drill holes for these hardwoods and it’ll work especially well if the press has a laser marking to help with the drilling.

Rosewood

Mostly preferred for making wooden furniture, these are new on the market to be used as flooring. They have unique grain patterns and range in colors from yellow to purple. These are perfect if you want to install wooden doors.

Cherry

While it looks quite elegant when installed, it also changes colors to a pinkish hue over time. Besides, the floors tend to scratch easily compared to other types, but with regular refinishing, it may become long-lasting.

Ash

If you’re looking for something less expensive, ash hardwood is the one. There are about 45-65 ash trees to choose from so dig into a bit of research before selecting the one that’s right for you.

It is easy to install hardwood floors by yourself and don’t necessarily need any professional expertise. If you are on a budget, then do some research and get ideas on where you are going to get your money, and how much it will cost you before tearing up your floorboards.

How to use Drill Presses for Hardwood?

If you are not worried about accuracy then a hand drill will be enough to drill holes on wood pieces. However, when it comes to floor installation, measurement is everything. In that case, a benchtop drill press will help you get that perfect vertically aligned drill holes. It has a sturdy motor and the quill and chuck are kept in alignment with the flexible table to get accurate results.

Next is using a mortiser. This is used to cut the pieces at the same size, whether square or rectangle shapes, out of an adjoining wood by using square-shaped drill bits. Before the advent of the latest machinery, these shapes were chiseled into shapes and usually, one or two may be found mismatched. You can use a drill press to cut the sides of the board and with the help of a sharp chisel, bring it to the shape you want.

Some woodworking projects call for many mortise and tenon joints, in that case buying a hollow-chisel mortise may be the best option to save time. However, drill presses and sharp chisels can do the trick but it’ll be time-consuming and take a long period for you to finish your project.

If your hardwood needs to be sanded from curved cuts, an oscillating spindle sander can do the trick. If you don’t want to purchase extra tools, do not fret! If your drill presses’ chuck has a barrel sander attachment, the job will be done quickly and swiftly.

Lastly, dowels (small, circular, and evenly cut sticks of wood) are inserted in perfectly matched holes of corresponding boards and when it is glued together, it becomes a strong, woodworking joint. The only way this is possible is by using a drill press because if the holes aren’t accurately matched with adjoining boards, the joints won’t hold well and the alignment of the wood pieces would be wrong.

Benchtop drill presses are highly useful tools in terms of woodworking projects and have multiple uses to it as we have just discussed above. So, when installing new hardwood floors, this tool will provide you with the best, accurate results, consuming less space and is light on the wallet. Do your research on which drill presses suit your needs and make an informed decision.