You may be wondering what drill press "swing" is and how it relates to drill presses in general?
Right?
It is in fact a very good thing to know and is a major factor in deciding on which drill press to go with (if you're in the market). If you're in a hurry and just want to know what "swing" is, then here is the short answer:
Drill press swing is the distance from the center of the spindle (where the drill bit would be inserted) to the support column (the pole that holds the drill press upright) multiplied by "2". So a drill press with a 12" swing is able to drill a hole in the CENTER (6") of a 12" circle (or square) piece of material.
Drill Press Swing Measurement:
Drill press swing is a measurement that defines different drill presses and seems confusing but really isn't all that confusing and a few pictures will really help explain it a lot better.
The image (above) shows the measurement between the support column of the drill press (support bar that holds up drill press) and the center of the spindle itself (or installed drill bit, in this case).
For this example, we will assume that the swing on the (above) drill press is 12", so the measurement between the support column and the center of the spindle would be 6".
Drill Press Swing And Drilling Capacity Explained:
Using the same 12" swing for the same example, (that we talked about) we will now talk maximum drilling capacity for a 12" piece of plywood (easy example to show).
If we have a square (or round) piece of plywood that we want to drill a hole in the center of, then a drill press with a 12" swing would do the job but would be maxed out, as far as maximum swing was concerned. The picture below illustrates this point in better detail.
Common "Swings" Found On Different Drill Presses...
The most common swing that a drill press will have will be somewhere between 8" and 20". There are drill presses that have higher and lower swing capacities but these are the "most commonly found" swing capacities.
Benchtop drill presses will have a smaller swing range because they are smaller and shorter in size, compared to stationary drill presses. From what I've found, these tend to range in size from 8" - 12".
Stationary drill presses have a much larger swing, in most cases and are larger in size than a benchtop model and usually weigh several hundred pounds. The typical swing for stationary drill presses are around the 12" - 20" range (in general).
What "Swing" Size Do I Need?
If you plan on using a drill press a lot of the time and are going to be working with larger materials, than a drill press with a larger swing would be the most obvious choice (12" - 17" swing recommended).
Most of the time (for general purposes) a drill press with a swing of 10" - 12" will suit most people just fine and can usually be found for under $200, for a halfway decent one.
There are specialty drill presses that are smaller and are oftentimes referred to as "mini drill presses". These can be much smaller with a smaller swing (around 3" - 5") but will work much better for smaller pieces than a larger benchtop or stationary press would.
Manufacturer's Use Swing As A Measurement For Marketing...
When you see a drill press that is advertised as a 12" drill press, they are talking about the swing of that particular model. So when you look for a drill press yourself, keep in mind what this all means and you will have a much better understanding of what to expect.
