Nova Viking 16 inches Dvr Bench Drill Press

I was swapping out my 20 year old Delta full height VS drill press and couldn't decide whether to get the benchtop or full height Viking. I looked at the Voyager, but it was just more drill press than I wanted to move around (i.e. one of the reasons I was getting away from the Delta). I ultimately went with the benchtop because it would be more mobile when placed on a Dewalt planer stand, which is a terrific base for the Viking. No regrets other than it precluded me from using Woodpeckers drawer mount for their drill press table. I'll survive and can create storage another way. Packaging and delivery were first rate. Everything was very well protected, and what little assembly is required is straightforward. Every large tool setup should be this easy. The drill press itself is nothing short of impressive. It's much much quieter and more stable than my Delta. The VS is super easy, and the self start and depth stop features are incredibly useful. I wondered if they would be gimmicks, but self start in particular makes me wonder how I used a drill press without it. The only comment on the depth stop is to make a test hole. Perhaps because I use brad point bits, the depth stop runs a smidge deep on mine. For example, if I set it to .5", the hole measures .565" deep. But if I drop the depth setting back, it's perfect. I was actually duplicating some holes that another shop had drilled and wondered why they had holes that were .565" deep. I think I know the answer. There is a lot of chatter about the accuracy of the included chuck. I'm not doubting anyone's experience, but here's mine. I purchased a 6" lathe test mandrel with runout of less than one micron (.0001). The runout measurement at the far end of the mandrel is slightly less than .0015. I wouldn't dream of buying a new chuck to try to improve on that. I've never longed for a keyless chuck on my drill presses, so that is not an issue for me. All told, this is a terrific drill press at any price, and an incredible value at this price.

Been enjoying this machine for a couple of years now. Wow. This is SUCH an upgrade from traditional drill presses. Seriously, it looks a little non-traditional, but that's a good thing. The oversized engine increases torque when the drilling gets hard. The refined control and ease of access on rotation speed is simply awesome. The build, the quality of the workmanship, the auto-turn on feature, the ease of drill depth setting, updatable firmware... It's really an awesome machine. I have had few tools that deliver the kind of satisfaction that I've had with this drill press.

It's a great drill press. It's very powerful, surprisingly quiet, no belts to mess when changing speeds - I really, really like it. It's one weakness is a marginal chuck. To reduce runout, get a good chuck like a Llambrich or Albrecht. I bought a Llamrich L31408B keyless chuck for mine. I would advocate buyit it off Amazon Prime to get free shipping. Other plates said shipping would be $150-200. UPS delivered it in great shape. Assembly is quick and easy. You'll either need a friend or a lift table to get the drill into position given it's weight and being top heavy. Again, great press - I'd very much recommend it.

Slight damage and too heavy to send back. Good product.

My Nova Viking DVR Drill Press arrived on time (in 2 days) but the box was smashed pretty bad, like it had been dropped on its end (most likely during shipping), but I took delivery of it anyways to see how bad the damage was. Inside I found that most of the parts were just fine except the fan cover that sits on top of the motor was smashed in bad enough that fan would hit it if it were turned on. I removed the cover and smashed it back close to its original form, keep in mind I run a cabinet shop and function is more important than looks. Got the machine assembled and cleaned up in less than 15mins. Here is where I noticed some issues. 1. It seems like a solid machine, but the finish seems to lack a little bit. For the most part it's great, but some of the milled surfaces left sharp edges and a couple rather large burrs. Nothing a file can't fix but I was expecting a little better at the $1000 price. 2. The electronic depth stop DOES NOT stop the chuck from moving past the set depth. The brains inside this machine will stop the chuck from spinning once the set depth is reached (and will reverse directions if setup that way), this is how they stop you from drilling deeper by physically stopping the bit from spinning. This results in varying and inconsistent hole depths. If you drill down rather quickly you can blow past the set depth before the machine stops the bit. This can be remedied by using the mechanical depth stop (which this machine DOES have even though it is never mentioned in the listing or in the manual), but what I have found is that using the mechanical and electronic depth stops together is kind of pointless. So, I will probably just use the mechanical depth stop from here on out. 3. The mechanical depth stop (which again is never mentioned in the manual) stopped working after one test use, and the manual does not tell you how to fix it. So, I spent 30min dissecting the "Handle Assembly" on my brand new $1000 drill press to find that a small machine screw had unthreaded and fell out causing the mechanical depth stop to stop working. Being that this is a brand new machine I can only assume that screw was not threaded in very deep from the factory and to make it worst it didn't look like there was any kind of thread locker on the threads to stop the screw from backing out over time. So, a little thread locker and 15 minutes of reassembly later, the mechanical depth stop is working again. All in all, I think that this drill press has a lot of potential if you can work around some its quirks and/or quality control issues. Having the built-in depth DRO is a great feature and comes in handy when setting the mechanical depth stop. Other awesome features include the "Auto Start" function (which I can see myself using all the time), and the ability to instantly adjust the chuck speed without changing belts around (one of the main reasons I bought this machine). We will see how this drill press does over time, I am concerned about the electronics holding up to everyday use in a cabinet shop, but only time will tell.

This drill press does it all. Not sure why anyone would purchase anything else. It has laser cross hair light, work light, auto depth, speed adjusted electronically with a knob (no belt change), direct drive, zero limits, etc. Yes it is on the higher end price but with the features you get it is well worth it, I could never go back to my old drill press.

Really didn’t want to write this but Teknatool customer support warranted this. Solid machine but mine had a serious run out issue with the chuck. I contacted tenknatool multiple times, sent back videos showing the problem via dial indicator and drill rod, no answer. Reached back out after the drill chuck and MT arbor came out under normal drilling 3 times in a row, this time Teknatool agreed to send me a new chuck. I received the drill arbor, no chuck! If this was a $20 harbor freight tool I’d understand. But for a $1200 drill press to have this kind of customer support is disappointing. In the end I purchased a 3rd party $33 MT#2 keyless chuck on Amazon. Made a huge difference. Really disappointed with Teknatool however.

I kept trying to decide between a smaller bench top drill press at a lower price point and the Viking. It seems that a lot of people who buy smaller presses eventually find that they need to upgrade to something larger. I also wanted the easy speed change as opposed to having to change belts like most older machines require. The drill press was sold by CPO Outlet on Amazon and there was a special during prime days. Delivery by UPS was flawless. Unpacking was easy and everything arrived intact. The machine weighs 154 pounds and is very top heavy so be careful when setting it up. Probably best to have a second person help. There was minimal assembly. It took longer to build a mobile table to secure it to. The instructions were simple and clear. Be sure to remove the sticker over the digital display or you’ll think it isn’t working. I’ve tested the press on soft and hardwood. The laser guide is spot on although I’m not sure I’ll really need it. Speed changes are instant and the rpm display makes it easy to know what speed you’re using. I’ll update the review once I put it through the paces but so far I am very pleased with the build quality. It arrived with a normal amount of shipping grease (I read a review complaining about this). Every large machine I’ve bought new had been packed this way as it helps protect surfaces.