I do a LOT of drilling small to medium (2”) holes in aluminum aircraft panels.
I use a 1/2” benchtop drill press from the Canadian equivalent of HF. I bought it at a ridiculously low price, so low if I didn’t like it figured I could flip it CraigsList for a tidy profit. That was in around 2001, I still have it, and still use it very regularly.
The only problem with these little cheapy drill presses is they aren’t robust enough to take the required down force to drill anything capable of fighting back.
I did however upgrade the chuck a few years back when a friend upgrade his and I took his ‘hand me down’ original chuck.
