Karl
When it comes to tools, you get what you pay for.
The $40 drill press has a 1/3 HP motor, an 8" swing and only 5 speed with no real low speed. It apparently has smaller #1 Morse taper chuck.
The $80 drill press has a 1/2 HP motor, a 10" swing and 12 speeds with reasonably low speeds circle cutters, and big drill bits. It has a larger #2 Morse taper chuck.
A larger taper takes more power and is less likely to slip with a fly cutter so that's a good thing. You're less likely to get in trouble with a fly cutter with the lower speed of the larger drill press, however as with any cutting tool the trick to keep the cutting tool sharp. It think the extra money was worth it.
I don't like the cheaper flycutters for wood, and if given a choice, I would turn centering rings on a lathe or by using a rotary table on a milling machine. The trick with the flycutter is to use a good one and don't go too fast or take too large a bite. Easy and slow, and make sure the wood is clamped so it won't jump out at you if the cutter jams. A way to do this is to clamp a piece of sacrifical plywood to the drill table and use machinists double face to attach the the centering ring plywood to the base plywood. Cover one entire side completely with tape. The turn the ring i.d. and o.d, unclamp the base wood and pry off the centering ring. That way nothing goes flying. Once you get the hang of it, you can make several rings at once this way by stacking several sheet of ring stock together and machining the stack.
Bob Krech