spindle shaft lock washer

It has broken a retaining washer and to have it under warranty it takes at least a month. Assistance is a big problem, hope you do not break something!

Great build quality & features for the money

Having tried hobby-grade pillar drills, I'd been eying up more substantial machines for some time. I was waiting for the new Axminster Trade series to come out and they finally appeared in the last few weeks. They're certainly very heavily built.

The features and usability of the JDP-17 won me over. I spent some time in the Cardiff store with a couple of the staff (very friendly and helpful) and decided to go with the Jet.

While the Axminster Trade Series ATDP17F Floor Pillar Drill machine is well built, it felt less refined and was no stronger than the JDP-17. So the final comparison was with the Axminster Trade Series ATDP20F: a true whopper, with a 90mm pillar diameter. It was impressive, but nearly £100 more than the JDP-17 and lacking some key features, like laser system and 90-degree table rotation both ways. 90-degree rotation of the table allows you to clamp a long work piece, safe in the knowledge that it's aligned to the quill axis.

I've only had the machine for a few days, but I'm impressed on first impressions. When you lock the table on this machine, it really is impressively firm - just no movement whatsoever.

I really needed the chuck travel of 127mm, as I build quite a few bigger pieces, often needing to drill through 100mm boards. So this was a bit of a deciding factor, knocking out some other very nice machines which would certainly suit other people. This machine is generally superbly built. The table is generously sized and the column doesn't give in the slightest. Most impressive of all is the quill: even when locked out at full extension of 127 mm, there is simply no slack or give when I push firmly on the chuck, both fore and aft and left to right. Very impressive at that extension. Changing spindle speed is simple and quick once you get used to it - I'd say no more than 30 seconds, which is good, as it reduces the temptation to be lazy and stay with a given speed when you swap bits.

There are some minor niggles. Few of us use a chuck guard, but the supplied unit fouled the front of the chuck as you rotated it around from its open to closed position. A tad irritating, but I never intended to keep it attached. The laser cross hairs on my unit were accurate, but only after a bit of effort adjusting the two laser units on the underside of the head unit (easily done with a small allen key), After that, I got very consistent results: it just saves a bit of time setting up, although you inevitably get some shadowing with larger bits like forstners.

Unless you're six-foot-four and as strong as an ox, don't even contemplate building the machine on your own. Getting the heavy table onto the top of the column needs three arms and a bit of dexterity. As for lifting the head unit onto the top of the pillar, it's a beast. Don't even contemplate doing this on your own unless you're a gorilla. Phone a strong, machine-savvy friend and buy them a beer. Even with two people, it's a tad entertaining, but once you get the angle right, the head unit seats itself with a firm 'thunk' and all is well.

Overall, this machine is a great mix of price, strength, precision and features. Really nice to use. I’m very happy with it.