Laguna, a woodworking company that seems to have focused all of their energy on CNC machinery in recent years, has launched a new modernish drill press.
The new Laguna DP20 drill press looks to have been heavily inspired by the Nova Voyager drill press, which launched a few years ago.
Like the Nova, the new Laguna drill press has electronic controls. However, whereas the Voyager had a novel direct-drive motor, the Laguna is advertised as having a poly-groove drive belt.
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The most standout feature of the Laguna DP20 drill press is its large touch screen interface. There’s also a rotary dial for things like speed changes.
The main power switch is at the rear of the head unit.
There’s a home for the chuck key on the side, along with a drill speed chart.
Unfortunately, the teeny tiny-font speed reference chart suggests that the drill press isn’t “smart,” at least not in the same way as the Nova Voyager.
The 15″ x 22″ drill press table features 3 t-slots, 10 dog holes for clamps, and a replaceable spoil board in the center.
The single lever side handle allows for 6″ of quill travel.
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Additional features include a motor reverse, 5 memory settings, 20″ swing, MT2 taper, keyed chuck with 5/64″ to 5/8″ (2 to 16mm) capacity, built-in LED light, and laser.
Price: $1999
Discussion
A lot about the new drill press just seems weird to me, although I wonder if that’s because I’m very familiar with the Nova Voyager that launched a few years ago.
The large touchscreen seems interesting, but what’s up with the tiny printed speed chart on the side of the drill press?
Hopefully Laguna tested the display in all kinds of workshop environments. With other types of devices, positive displays (with dark numerals on a light background) tend to be more visible in brighter environments than negative displays (with light or colored numerals on a dark background. Maybe the size of the display helps with that.
I’ve grown to like the built-in reference selections in my Nova drill press, but I suppose a dial that controls a belted motor still beats having to change pulley positions.
I don’t like that the main power switch and lockout is at the rear of the unit.
The single-lever quill lowering mechanism is interesting – I wonder how well it works for more precise drilling. I’m guessing it’s going to be faster than a traditional 3-arm wheel. I’d be happier if Laguna offered both feed options – a single lever and 3-lever wheel.
You still get feed markings on the side, rather than on the quill.
The table design is obviously customized for woodworking applications, but might be suited for some metalwork as well. What kinds of clamps can be used in the dog holes?
I would say that the table design doesn’t look very conducive for adding an auxiliary woodworking table, but Laguna seemingly designed the oversized table so that you don’t need to spend more for a table to go on your table. I suppose if you want a fence you can just add it to the t-slots
There are things about my Nova Voyager that I don’t like – the table adjustment mechanism, for example, never quite worked smoothly. While some of the Laguna’s features are flashy, why didn’t they go the extra step to make it smarter?
Laguna seems to have leapt away from traditional woodworking machinery to focus on CNC solutions, and so it’s good to see some innovation in this space.
The Laguna DP20 is definitely interesting, but it seems a bit incomplete to me.
Robert
Agree. The killer feature of the Nova’s is the smart speed control. At the $2000 price point of this Laguna lacking that seems a fatal flaw.
eddiesky
I’d go with Nova if I had to do variable bit speed work. I detest blue LED or LCD displays: they are obnoxious. And prefer three or four arm for the quill lower-raising – no one odd …why do companies think change is good when it doesn’t improve the use?
Too fancy for my workshop.
David Sheehan
I’m looking at the Laguna differently – I for 1 am quite tired of jamming my finger against my fence with my three arm lever, never mind the requirement for 2 hands to operate it, at my age the large display is welcomed, color doesn’t bother me. sometimes change is good.
Goodie
Good run-down on this drill press. I agree there are some strange choices at play. Laguna can’t seem to figure out if they are a premium brand (CNCs and bandsaws), value (Fusion tablesaws), or digital. This drill press seems to exemplify this lack of identity.
Recommended edit for first sentence:
Laguna has launched a new *”modern-ish”* drill press. *As a woodworking company, Laguna has recently heavily focused on pricey CNC products; this makes some of the design features for this drill-press seem odd.
Stuart
Thanks! I added “in recent years” and a missing comma.
It really seemed to me that they gave up on traditional woodworking machines. I unsubscribed from all of their newsletters today, because all they ever seem to share about is expensive CNC and fiber laser technologies. Even though all of the categories were checked off, they didn’t send a single email about this new machine. I would have missed it if I hadn’t been following them on social media.
I’m sure this machine has some good qualities, but as I wrote in the post it seems incomplete to me.
Goodie
I don’t want to pay $2K for this when the Nova is available. While I really like a drill press in the shop, I am fairly convinced that I don’t need a big and fancy one as a woodworker.
Laguna seems to be pushing CNC in their marketing. Maybe there’s higher margin on those tools than their traditional woodworking tools. However, the woodworking demographic is funny. Lots of retired folks (“guys” is generally accurate) and you still see a lot of traditional print marketing in magazines. I am sure Laguna is doing fine on their dust collectors bandsaws, and Fusion tablesaws and probably isn’t marketing aggressively.
I have the 14|Twelve bandsaw. It’s fine, but as you’ve said before, woodworking tools are often “meh”. I will probably upgrade that saw to Carter guides, as the ceramic guides seem to be mostly marketing to me.
Goodie
*marketing aggressively in digital*. I see print adds for their woodworking equipment in magazines.
MM
This could do light duty metalwork but it’s much too light and lacks many key features for serious metalworking. The biggest problem with these kind of electronic variable-speed machines (both drill presses and bandsaws) is they don’t have a good low range. The electronic variable speed control is convenient but it doesn’t provide the added torque that a low range gearbox does. Beyond that, the quill taper (MT2) is too small, there’s no power feed, no reversing function for tapping, no coolant system…
In my opinion this is for woodworkers who value bling more than money or function. Don’t get me wrong, I hate fiddling with belts, but compare this machine to a basic model with stepped belts: it’s substantially more expensive and has less torque at lower speed settings (which is where you need it the most), just for the convenience of never having to swap belts around? That seems like a poor trade-off to me–a drill press that bogs when trying to use a big hole saw or forstner bit defeats the point of having the drill press in the first place. But I bet that big screen will look really cool in the background of influencers’
setsworkshops. Now if they would beef up the machine a little and add a single hi/lo range gearshift? That would be fantastic and would easily be the best of both worlds. My favorite machine tools to operate are older gear-driven types which have been retrofitted with an electronic variable speed drive on the motor: not only can you fine-tune any speed you want with the electronic control, but you still get the advantage of the gearbox’s ability to multiply torque.JR Ramos
According to the site and manual it does have an auto-reverse setting, limited to 600rpm max (can be set lower of course) and is activated when it reaches the defined depth setting. I think that’s a fantastic feature to add although I wonder how big it can go…should be able to handle 1/4″ and 3/8″ just fine which is probably as large as the target audience here would need. Probably great for those that invested in the wood threading tooling, too.
Mopar4wd
i looked at the manual it does have an auto reverse for tapping. Given the torque curve on most motors this should give decent torque down to it;s 60 rpm low limit.
MM
I probably should have read the manual before commenting! It looks like I was mistaken, it does have an auto-tapping function. However, I don’t care for it. If I understand the manual correctly the tapping function reverses the spindle once it hits a pre-determined depth that you can program with the display. That means it can only do one-shot tapping cycles where it goes to full depth and back again; you can’t run the tap down partway, reverse manually when you choose to, then continue tapping the way you can with most other tapping functions. I prefer the systems that use a joystick, foot pedal, or better yet ones that run the motor continually and use a manual clutch for forward/reverse so you can instantly reverse the tap if you see or hear anything going awry.
I would be very surprised if this had decent low-end torque. The description claims its 1.5hp motor makes “constant torque” across its RPM range. If that’s true it’s only a few ft-lb. Meanwhile a belt or gear-drive drill press turning 60 rpm has a whopping 60:1 gear ratio if we assume the same 3600 top speed from the motor.
John
I am perplexed by tools which should be built to last a lifetime are designed to be thrown away tech when no longer supported in 10-15 years.
fred
I remember reading Vance Packard’s book “The Wastemakers” – when it was a best seller. Planned Obsolescence is nothing new. Back in the 50’s and “60’s the “big” changes in automobiles out of Detroit from year to year – involved more gimmick than innovation. They wanted to convince you that your car needed fins – not a more efficient engine.
Goodie
There’s no profit in making things that last for decades…
kent_skinner
It’ll be popular, but won’t end up in my shop.
Old school, analog tools with modern electronics are a mystery to me. At some point, that screen, speed control (VFD?) or some other electronics will fail. Then you throw you $2000 drill press into the recycle bin.
I have a drill press I bought in the early 90’s. It even sat in fairly humid storage for 5 years. A few hours with steel wool and some oil, and it was running smoothly again.
If the motor dies, it’s a standard NEMA mount and easy to replace. It’s a standard single phase motor, so it’s cheap and easy to find. If the belts turn to junk, they are available for $10 at the auto parts store.
On the downside, it takes longer to change the speed on mine.
I can put it in my will, because it’ll still be running when I’m dead. I don’t know what I paid for it, but I assure you it was less than the equivalent of $2,000.
That said, I don’t care how other people spend their money, and I assume this will be popular.
It has a really nice table however.
fred
I don’t know how to comment. Considering my 1970’s vintage Rockwell-Delta drill press has never had a hiccup despite lacking what might be considered modern features. My much older Walker-Turner Radial Arm drill press also still soldiers on (after quite a refurbishment project) – I’m sometimes inclined to recommend buying quality used machinery versus something new that has a large number of possible failure modes. My only complaint about my Rockwell 2000 machine is the lack of higher speed (1250 RPM max) – but at 125 rpm – the machine has plenty of power to drill larger holes even in thick plate. While it’s never been used in a production setting – the only parts to have worn out have been belts – easy to source and replace.
JR Ramos
I don’t know about “smart” or that I would even want to entertain the idea of a “smart” drill press, but this has some pretty smart features that really expand what can be done well in the home shop. Still a 15A motor but it’s DC with control for constant speed – that’s excellent (as long as it’s worth a hoot).
The auto-reverse (based on depth control setting and limited to 600rpm max) for tapping is a real standout feature to me, and that could be useful for other applications as well. Reversible motor is nice at any rate even without the tapping feature – opens up some opportunity with left hand bits (metal or carbide brads, etc).
The power switch in the rear was an alarm call to me at first but I see that the touch screen controls the power there as well, and the auto start/quill movement feature can be turned off. And a guarded panic stop…that’s great. I like that the manual depth lever can be mounted on the left side if you choose…that actually seems quite handy to not have to fiddle with the quill and the lock on the same side of the machine.
At first the “smart” feature of the chuck holder locking out the motor for bit changes seemed like a good idea but then I wondered if that would preclude enjoyable use of a quality keyless chuck, but it looks like you can configure everything to your liking and just set it to full manual mode if you want.
Speed range looks excellent and well in the range for smart use of larger forstners, hole saws, and I’ll bet twist bits could be run to at least 3/4″ or 1″ without issue depending on material (and bit quality/condition).
All in all – assuming that motor is worth a hoot – I don’t see anything to complain about. It’s giving a 20″ press on a normal home AC circuit and has great extended travel as well as respectable vertical capacity, plus some very nice extra features like that auto-reverse and quill-activation start-stop. I can see those being great in a home or light production capacity and it has what a lot of furniture and cabinet making woodworkers need where other presses fall short. It’s not terribly expensive for what it is and what it offers, and someone on the level of woodworking skill/creation that will appreciate the features probably wouldn’t balk at a couple grand for a good machine.
Post is still only 3″ and table flex could be an issue but it would seem to be pretty capable overall of a fair amount of metal work if you can find a happy medium with work holding options on that table surface design. I didn’t read fully enough through the manual to see if 240V wiring is an option but that would be something to consider there. Call it an Advanced Woodworking Plus machine maybe. I’d want to see it in person and run it a minute but I’d seriously consider purchasing one myself.
SamR
I saw a review video on YouTube. I loved how accurate it was, and no runouts!
The only downside, an issue related to my shop’s electricity, is that it is not v220-v240.
Brad
I upgraded a used shopsmith to a Mark 7/PowerPro, which uses a version of the Teknatool/Nova digital variable reluctance motor. The 2MT could be limiting for some, but it’s entirely digital, 2HP, and provides terrific, steady torque under load. Couldn’t be more impressed with it.
Goodie
My ShopSmith using friends tell me the drill press and horizontal boring functions are the best working features of the ShopSmith.
Travis
I’ve been using a Craftsman Professional 18″ drill press with a single lever for quill for about 20 years. It has an indexing pin so you can set it in just about any position on the 360°that’s comfortable for the user. I’ve been holding off on buying a new drill press because all of them have the 3 lever. I’m definitely checking this out.
Bill
The problem I have had with drill presses made in the past fifty years, aside from machines made and priced for a production environment, is spindle run out. IMO, the quills are not designed well and the quality of bearings used in them is poor. A chuck wobbling around with an 1/8 inch drill bit may not bother many people. However, a large diameter tool jumping around not only leads to poor results, it is dangerous.
Bob
If I needed more features than I have on my old 1 HP floor model HF drill press, I would add them myself, using standard hardware, motors, controllers, etc. That way, if anything went wrong, I could fix it myself. If I didn’t have one at all, I would spend my 2K on the best manual machine I could find, and it would be a very good one indeed for that much money.