Love this drill. Accurate drilling. Excellent clamping ability. The one draw back is that I actually had to read all the instructions to work out how to work it. But it was worth it because it’s an amazing drill. Recommended by me.

 

Fixed the drill on top of a US Pro tool trolley. See picture
Adjustable drill speed and drill depth accuracy makes precision work easy and a pleasure to see the results.
Highly recommended, serious value for money.

 

Finally bought this as I needed a small footprint bench drill which was a good balance between quality and cost. Overall, I am very happy with this drill as it meets my needs as an amateur woodworker. However, there is a little side to side movement in the drill shaft which I have observed can allow the drill bit to be deflected by 1-2mm sometimes – which can be a real pain when you want accuracy. I believe this can be fixed, but I would have hoped it didn’t have this flaw out of the box. Other than that, happy with my purchase.

 

My husband loves his new drill. Makes his life 100 times easier so he says.

 

Wanted one of these since they first came on the market but couldn’t justify the initially high price tag.
I already had a bench drill that I rarely used do thought it not worth the investment. When the price dropped a little I decided to treat myself and very please I did too. One of the reasons I didn’t use my old bench drill was the faff of setting it up speed by having to adjusting belts and drill height etc but this is so easy to use by comparison I use it all the time on my various DIY projects as it can be adjusted in seconds. Height is adjusted by levers at the rear, speed is easily adjustable and speed controlled so even if you apply additional pressure the speed stays relatively constant speed. The laser is slightly off though I dare say it can be adjusted at some point but to be honest I usually line the job up by eye anyway.
An excellent feature is the digital depth read out so you can see how deep you are drilling as well as a mechanical adjustable depth stop.
The work piece clamp is brilliant, holding the item securely while drilling and quickly released once complete.
Bosch really gave thought to the design of this drill through with every possible extra you can think of to make the job easy and accurate.
For me a perfect all rounder, very happy with my purchase and would highly recommend to any competent DIY’e

 

Haven’t used it much but when I have its been a joy to use , a lot less fiddly than others I’ve used .

 

A revelation after using bench drills with pulleys to change speed. Depth control is great once you are used to it, and accurate to 10ths of mm. Plenty of power for hobbyist use.

 

The pillar drill chuck float is more than it should be, but still a good bit of kit for the price

 

The clamping mechanism provided is a hold-down, not a hold-in-place, and is a bit clunky. It would be helpful to be able to rotate it around the column so that it could drill large items (eg into the edge of a table top). (Not a usual requirement for a bench drill, but I need it at times. It would be easy to fix it – then it do the job of a free-standing drill.) It is very much a mass-produced, mass-plastic tool. Nothing really wrong with that, except that more of the redution in mass-production costs should be passed on as price-savings to customers.

 

Overall I love this machine. Quick and easy chuck change and lock. Light, laser, variable speed, mobile, lightweight, depth lock. So consistent holes. Ok! its not perfect by any means. It does have issues such as slight chuck wobble. (can be changed to 1/2 ” lockable chuck for more accuracy. Some ideas on utube)
The base is hollow, if you have it bolted to your workbench, the build up of dust falling through its slots can’t be cleaned without unbolting it. Maybe fill it with Styrofoam board before you actually bolt it down. (just a thought) Clamp can be a bit tricky to unlock at times. But my main gripe is that handle

Awkward is the only way to describe that wheel handle. Its just to small. I find using it to make deep holes awkward, as you cant make a full turn of the wheel without adjusting your hand. (Those of you who have this drill I think will know what I’m talking about).

So I added a pair of spinning cone knobs to the wheel for easier and smoother control. This way I can control the movement of the drill more easily and safer. I did initially install one cone, but then added another as its just easier for me. (Drill needs to be bolted down for smoother control and operation). That’s it really. Great drill. Had it for about 6 years. Still going.

 

I was on the fence about whether or not to buy a traditional style belt driven pillar drill for approx 50 or spend the extra cash on this.

I decided that the time saved in not having to change belts to adjust the speed was worth it alone as I am constantly switching between metal work and wood work and changing speed fast is essential for my job as a professional prop builder for the TV industry.

The only slight gripe I have with the machine is the Chuck. It’s not awful but it’s also not the best hand tightening Chuck I’ve ever used. It doesn’t seem to have a particularly positive feel to it when tightening up a bit. For most jobs it seems to grip the bit just fine but when fitted with a 35mm forstner bit, and drilling into 18mm ply the bit had a tendency to slip in the Chuck which is less than ideal. The same also happened with some metal bits when a touch too much pressure was applied the bit would slip.

I decided the simplest and most cost effective solution was to order a 1/2 inch Shank keyed Chuck and simply swap them over. It was a 30second job and now the drill bits don’t slip and I can get a decent amount of grip on anything I put in the Chuck. I’m not entirely sure why Bosch didn’t supply it with a keyed Chuck in the first place but there you go.

Anyway, it’s a more useable tool with the new Chuck.

The laser cross is pretty accurate, and accurate enough for quickly locating where to put the wood or center punched metal and then make fine adjustments to make sure the bit goes in the right place. The work light is ok, it could do with being a touch brighter but it’s fine.

The depth gauge is excellent and one of the best features on this drill. Very actuate for drilling the same depth hole time and time again and great for countersinking multiple holes to the correct depth. The drill seems relatively square, there is a tiny amount of movement in the pillar when applying a lot of pressure to the workpiece which tends to put the second hole in 50mm box section slightly off but as long as you don’t apply too much pressure the drill is quite square for most of my needs. I’m sure a bit of tweaking with the grub screw will tighten everything up.

The steering wheel handle is quirky but seems to work fine for me. Some people complain about it, I think it’s just fine.

The clamp is also a very handy feature but if too much pressure is applied this also pushes the pillar back and can put the bit slightly out of square. Again, I’m sure once I’ve tweaked the grub screw this may not be an issue. I may even add some
More grub screws to clamp the pillar from the front as well to belt and braces it.

All in all, a thoroughly recommended bench drill, lightweight, great torque for drilling metal and wood with large bits. I absolutely love it and wish I had spent the money years ago as it would have made my life much easier a long time ago….!

 

This thing is incredible!

Features I love:
– SLOW START! It starts slowly and then brings up the speed. In my opinion this is absolutely amazing for some safety aspects of a powerful tool like this. I would have spent the extra money on this tool for this feature alone!
– 750w power. I’m sure I’d be fine with less but this is nice to have.
– Not very loud, actually really comfortably quiet at lower speeds. I love this about many quality tools from Bosch and Makita, especially 18v tools. See below for my noise measurements.
– Perfect speed adjustments! So easy to dial in exactly what you need from 200 to 2500 rpm. I also love that the speed is actually measured by the tool rather than just showing a number based on the position of the adjustment knob. So for example if you’re drilling a tough material you will see the speed decrease on the LCD screen.
– Physical depth stop and digital depth gauge on the screen.
– The laser and LED light are very nice. Although the laser shines brightly off the metal surface at the bottom which I don’t love.
– Really versatile built-in clamp, which is removable. There’s also a separate Bosch vice for 50 or so which to me seems a bit overpriced so I doubt I would get that from Bosch.
– As far as I know this can drill much deeper than most others.
– Usable for so many things, and I’ve also seen many tricks on youtube for using this in ways it wasn’t intended, although i guess some of them may be unsafe to do.
– Good weight for keeping it stable, but still can be moved without a problem.

Quality:
Looks and feels like superb build quality. I really don’t understand why this is a “green” tool, which is what Bosch consider a “DIY” tool rather than a “blue” tool which is their professional line.

Noise: (to me this is important)
I measured noise from approx 1ft away (dB meter next to my head). I got these results:
78dB at 2500rpm. – Same amount of noise as my Bosch 18V-Li cordless drill at its maximum 1700rpm speed. (The UK government’s health and safety website says your employer should give you hearing protection from 80dB, so I’d say best to wear ear protection for using this at high speed, especially for longer durations and when drilling metals.)
68dB at 1050rpm. – Reasonably quiet and comfortable, even for my sensitive ears. This is much less noise than 78dB.
56dB at 200rpm. – Roughly the same as my lovely Bosch GS-50 “silent” vacuum cleaner which I measured at 55db. Quiet enough to have a conversation or listen to music (obviously not recommended for safety reasons, you should be paying attention to your tool and material), and likely won’t disturb other people.

Chuck wobble:
I cannot see or feel any chuck wobble at all. I have no proper device to measure but if I can’t feel it then it’s absolutely fine for me.

Chuck play:
The chuck does have a bit of play, meaning it can move very slightly sideways if I push it. it’s about 0.33mm (one third of a millimeter) from pushing left to pushing right, measured at the end of an 8cm long bit. This is an extremely tiny movement so doesn’t bother me. If measured from no-pressure to pushing in one direction then it’s about half that much, about one sixth of a millimeter. Other than this tiny movement the entire tool feels extremely solid and accurate.

Price:
Not cheap but in my opinion it was absolutely worth the investment. It’s a little cheaper from other shops but I love the Amazon customer service and easy returns (for example if there’s an issue) so I was happy to pay about 15 extra (245 instead of 230).

Note: This newer version doesn’t have the clear guard over the chuck as I’ve seen in some photos and videos online. Doesn’t seem to be a problem at all.

Conslusion:
For me it was absolutely worth it, I’m LOVING this tool! – But to be fair you can also make holes with a 50 drill press, especially if you don’t care about fancy features.
If you’re on the fence about buying this I would say, if it’s not going to break the bank, go for it, I think you will love it.

Remember to register with Bosch within 30 days of purchase for the extended warranty! See their website for details.

 

What a fantastic piece of kit I’m running out of things to drill holes in.

 

The drill forgoes the belts and pullies of old in favour of a modern electronic speed controller that lets the user adjust the speed of the drill as it’s running. There are two gears to switch between with the lower gear providing higher torque and lower speeds. Mostly though I run in the higher gear and have yet to find the drill to struggle with anything.

The large LCD display can be toggled between showing drill speed or depth. It’s bright and clear, and a very welcome addition. The laser crosshairs are accurate enough for most purposes, but I always double check before drilling by touching the bit against the workpiece. Even so, I’ve come to rely on the crosshairs far more than I thought I would.

The LED work light will either be a great aid or a pointless gadget depending on how your workshop is lit. For my purposes I find it useful, especially for highlighting pencil marks on darker woods. The built-in clamp is a nice feature as well, even though I find I don’t use it that much (if I drilled more into metal I’d likely use it more). The fence is great though, and something I’ve found I use far more than I would’ve thought.

The build seems really good. It’s a powerful machine for its size and very robust for something that’s DIY rated. I’ve seen a few comments here regarding chuck wobble on these, but I’m happy to say mine is 100% wobble-free.

The machine does have its limitations — there’s no way to adjust the base for drilling holes at angles (if that’s something you need to do you’ll need to improvise a jig of some kind). The crosshairs don’t adjust for parallax so they’re less accurate the further the drill head is from the workpiece. Also the wheel could be larger in diameter for even greater control.

That said though, I’d recommend this drill to anyone, provided they understand and are happy with its limitations.

 

After agonizing about whether to buy a traditional bench drill or this one I went a head and bought a PBD 40 which I use mostly to build cases for prototypes of small-ish electrical devices, antennas and antenna mountings as well as tripod adapters for cameras and other tripod mounted equipment. I mostly work with aluminium but also rust free steel.

The hands down best feature of this drill is the electronic speed control. The drill has a big red switch on the right hand side that switches between low (~200-700 rpm) and high (~700-2600 rpm) and you can seamlessly increase the RPM to any setting you want within those speed ranges. Just last night I was drilling and countersinking a piece of aluminium. With a conventional bench drill like all the other ones I considered buying this would have involved drilling at high RPM, relaxing the motor spring, unscrewing the locking screw on the top cover off the drill, moving rubber belts around to lower the speed for countersinking, refitting the top cover to keep it from rattling about when drilling, re-tension the motor spring, do the sinks and then reverse the process the next time I want to drill something. With the PBD 40 it’s a simple matter of turning a couple of knobs.

I was not expecting a crazy accurate drill in this price range but for my purposes the PBD 40 is plenty accurate enough. At first I thought I was detecting some wobble in the drill bit but that turned out to be a bent drill. I have also noticed that cheap drill bits are sometimes not entirely straight. When using brand new high quality bits I have so far not detected any amount of wobble significant enough to cause me to replace this drill. When drilling metal I do recommend using a spotting drill bit.

Most bench drills have a fixed motor and you have to move the drill platform up to meet the drill bit. This device turns that arrangement on it’s head, you can move the motor housing up and down the column (which works very smoothly by the way) but the drill platform is fixed. The only downside of this arrangement is that when you move the motor housing downwards, no matter how much you loosen the locking lever, the height limiting clamp which is spring loaded tends to stick until the spring pressure becomes to high at which point it slams down with a bit of a bang. The trick is to hold the limiting clamp against the lower ring that attaches the motor housing to the column and then lower the drill down the column. I’ve tried lubricating the column (probably the wrong thing to do anyway) but that did not help solve this issue.

The PBD 40 has a wheel rather than levers which is a bit unusual for a bench drill but it is not that clumsy once you get into the habit of lowering the drill until it ‘hovers’ a few centimeters over the piece you are drilling and then limiting the upward movement of the motor housing using the height limiting clamp at the back. Once I started doing that I rarely need more than a quarter to half a turn of the wheel to drill a hole and if I do need to turn the wheel further, pressing down on the top of the motor housing keeps it from popping up while I change my grip. There is also a limiter on the downward travel of the motor housing which is quite simple to use and very useful when drilling multiple holes of uniform depth. I can’t judge the accuracy of the depth limiting feature down to fractions of a millimeter but the few times I have used it it was accurate enough for my purposes.

The rubber coated clamp at the bottom of the drill column is a nice feature but I still recommend buying a drill press vise, preferably a heavy one with a rubber handle. I am also in the habit of keeping a piece of neoprene rubber near the drill to keep the vise from slipping. I find the built in clamp is still useful, even when using a separate vise because one can use it to clamp the drill press vise in place.

I knocked one point off the rating for the issue with the spring and the height limiter clamp and because I would have liked the drill to be 20-30cm higher so hat it could be fitted with a rotating drill platform.

 

Arrived as confirmed and very easy to assemble – just the drill to the base and tighten! Clear instructions for use and although not used much so far am extremely satisfied with the purchase.

 

fantastic Very well made No side movement on the drill shaft at all And easy to set up, All this was done without looking at the instruction book The chuck lock has a arrow on it pointing left to unlock and right to lock SIMPLE, So I did not find any problems, Its a fantastic machine

 

I struggled without a drill press for years and then saw this which at first sight seemed rather expensive. However when taking the power, depth of coarseness above table and depth of plunge into account there is nothing similar at any price I could afford. It was a no-brainer given the electronic power control, digital read-out and working clamp. I used it today with a 24 mm Forstener bit in some Walnut and it barely worked up a sweat. Overjoyed at this purchase.

 

It is everything I hoped it for, very nice operation and very good design. The Laser is nice, and the V built in the table is great for drilling round stock. The vertical depth stop works quick and easy. I love the round wheel instead of a lever. And then there is the digital screen, WOW what an addition. Thank You BOSCH. Very nice price too! Chester Plaiss Indiana USA.

 

A lovely, compact drill for the woodworker. If you search around you’ll find any number of nay-sayers bleating about the quality of this drill. For the wood worker who has occasional need of a drill this is perfect, its light weight means you can move it around without any hassle. A lot of people are concerned by the wheel action to plunge the drill, it takes about one use to familiarise yourself with the action. It’s a great little drill that is surprisingly powerful, and quiet in use.

 

Would prefer a lever instead of the wheel feed, but I feel I will get to like it after using it a bit longer.Apart from this small quibble I like the drill very much.

 

Arrived in 2 days, standard delivery, just in time for me to drill holes in the head stock of the CBG that I am building.
The build quality is excellent, there are complaints on here regarding the accuracy of the drilled holes, Might I suggest that drills to be used should have been sharpened properly with a ‘true’ centre at the point. Or maybe pre-drill a pilot hole.
I definitely recommend this drill. 225 inc. delivery, It’s a bargain.

 

The price I paid was reduced to reflect a damaged box. As I had read elsewhere on these pages of customer dissatisfaction because of some bench drill arriving damaged when no additional packaging was used, I had my concerns about ordering one with a box already the worse for wear. My drill indeed arrived with just its (definitely tatty) box to protect it, and it certainly looked as if it had been on several journeys with no proper protection. What mattered is the contents were pristine and I could find no indication of damage, scratches or previous use. I have used the press on a couple of projects now, and like its features. It is clearly a machine aimed at the hobbyist primarily using it to drill wood; not a semi-professional metal-worker. I like the drilling depth and RPM read-out and the adjustable work-piece guide and clamping system. What I don’t like is the clamp can only be raised, and/or moved out of the way and to one side – there is no mechanism to hold it up. This means if there is the slightest vibration the clamp tends to drop and lock itself down. Generally it is the work of moments to release it and raise it back up; only for it to fall down again seconds later!! The solution so far has been to twist it around to one side and place a small wooden block close by the column, that way when it falls it lands on the block and doesn’t lock itself down. If I knew you would never be drilling thin sheets of material, I would be tempted to secure a jubilee clip to the bottom of the column so that when it fell, the locking mechanism wouldn’t engage as it would be held up above the base-plate. The other issue I have, which is commonly reported, is that the laser cross hairs are out of good alignment with the centre of the drilling point (by 1-2 mm), and there is no means of adjustment. This is an annoying omission, as it would have added very little to the cost of the machine to provide a simple adjustment mechanism. One other trick Bosch have missed is to engrave some lines at 1 cm intervals on the base-plate, so that when using the adjustable work guide you could easily see if it is parallel to the front edge of the base-plate.

Although I feel these issues justify rating the press at 4-stars, overall I am very pleased with my purchase, and had Bosch produced a more professional ‘Blue’ version I would not be tempted to upgrade from this press as it meets all of my requirements as a hobbyist.

 

I purchased one of these from Amazon a couple of months ago and have used it extensively since then. I knew what I was buying and I am glad I bought it. But, if you are thinking of buying one you need to understand that it is a DIY woodworking machine, not a precision metalwork pillar drill.

There is a fair amount of spindle wobble, easily visible with a 10mm drill bit on slow speed. If you drill a hole then raise the unit to change the bit to counterbore or countersink, when you lower the unit again it will not come back on the same axis. It rotates on the pillar. It is stable just sitting on the workbench, providing you have a solid one, but I sank mine into the bench top to provide a level surface. There is a serious issue with drilling waste. The casting below the drill bit extends to the bench top, so wood chips have nowhere to go. I cut a hole in the bench below the centre casting to allow them to fall through to a tray underneath. The hand wheel is a pain to use when drilling deep holes but ok for shallow ones. The work clamp is good but can be difficult to release, I mostly use it unlocked. The fence is a nice idea but I have never used it. The Worklight is good, the cross hair lasers are good but are not brilliant on some surfaces. The chuck locking ring is very good as is the depth stop, although I have to think about this in order to set it up.

If you are ok with these limitations then it beats an electric drill in a bench stand, which I have used for 40 years, and is well worth the money.

March 2019
I have been using this for 5 years now and it is still working ok. Sinking it into the worktop has made life much easier when working on long pieces of wood. The only thing wrong with the design is the hand wheel, the three lever type is much better. But I repeat my verdict from above, this is a good wood working tool not a precision metalwork tool.

 

This drill is excellent. Masses of power for the heavier work. Quick and easy to set up workpieces. Projected centring cross which is adequate as a quick guide.
Good value for money. At this price, do not expect ultra precision, but quite good enough for most domestic jobs.

 

First class equipment.
A pleasure to use.
The built in work piece clamp and the laser drill point guide work very well.

 

As an amateur woodworker and DIY hobbyist this drill suits me down to the ground. I cannot achieve the speed of drilling holes that I could with my old power drill in a cheap lever-press, but that may well be a good thing. This one is accurate and safe with the laser crossed-hairs, fence and clampdown. The locking chuck makes it easy to change drill bits and there is plenty of power to drill deep, clean holes in thick timber with Forstner bits.
Engineering types have dismissed it as an expensive power drill on a stand, but having used such a tool for years I can say that it is much more than that and, at Amazon’s price, a reasonable buy.

 

This (like most Bosch products) is an excellent tool. It has a mechanical 2 speed switch and an electronic speed control with digital readout. The speed ranges are 200 to 850 rpm and 600 to 2500 rpm. The maximum diameter drilled in steel is 13mm and the maximum depth stroke is 90 mm. The chuck is keyless with a range of 1.5 to 13 mm and a locking ring. The high power rating means that the elecronic control provides a practically constant speed even under quite heavy loads but there is also overload protection to switch the machine off if it is misused.
The On/Off switch has an intermediate position which switches on a digital readout for setting the speed and then the current depth from a preset zero position. This means the drilling depth can be continuously monitored and the mechanical stop set for any predetermined depth. In addition there is a laser cross which can be switched on to accurately set the drilling position on the workpiece. There is also an LED light which can be switched on to illuminate the workpiece.
A large hand-wheel is used to adjust the position of the motor unit and which is then clamped. An unexpected feature is the included workpiece clamping device which can be set very quickly and is most useful.as an alternative to a vice in many situations. After clamping the workpiece the speed is set and then the depth guage switched on. In addition an aluminium parallel guide is provided so that a series of holes can be drilled at a fixed distance from the guide.
After switching the drill on the hand-wheel is then used to drill down to the required depth which can be monitored and/or preset.

 

After a lot of deliberation due to the price of this drill I finally took the step and bought one. It is well made, light to move and accurate, recommend.