4.5 to 5 inches is ideal but you can cheat that somewhat. My press is around a 3.6-inch travel. If I need to drill deeper than that, I can drop the bit a little
and take another bite.
Quill travel, I found when shopping, is the most expensive option to consider. You can get a stand-up drill press for less than $200 if you can deal with a sub-4-inch quill travel. To get to 4 inches, the price goes up to around $350. To go to 5 inches, there's one press from Dayton that you can get for around $500 and everything else is in the $700 range. To me it's just not worth the extra premium, especially if you're going to be drilling for yourself only.
As for HP, that's secondary to getting a variable-speed press that can operate at the RPM range you need.
Jess
