Bosch Bench Drill PBD 40 (710 W, Maximum Drilling Diameter In Steel/Wood: 13 mm/40 mm, Drilling Stroke 90 mm, In Cardboard Box)

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.

This is a superb all-round pillar drill from Bosch. Out of the box it is easy to set up. The ability to adjust the height of the drill and manual depth-stop is great. There is also a digital depth gauge which is easy to use and excellent for repeatable holes. The whole unit is well constructed and well thought-though. The only thing that some may not like is the wheel used to move the drill up/down. However, I have quickly got used to this and now rather like it. The machine is pretty quiet in use. The chuck allows a wide range of drill bits/forstner bits etc to be accommodated. The work clamp is excellent - quick and easy to use and very effective. It has a very wide range of speeds - all easily adjusted via the control knob. All in all, I am exceptionally pleased with this - highly recommended.

lives up to the Hype, great small pillar drill... stable but so light and very easy to move around. Very easy to use with twist control on front, flexible for different materials. Decent torque but fades off a lower RPM if you press on too aggressively, but I need to be more patient.. high recommended. only niggle laser gets blocked by many of my bits so not as useful as I'd hoped... built in light is helpful though...

Getting used to moving the drill head to set the position is easy, just remember to release the depth stop (or put it high) so that you can then move it to actually drill. Love the variable speed and the one-knob controls. Setting the clamp is a bit stiff on the shaft (I want to try some machine wax to see if that helps). The laser cross is good, and the built-in light. Simple safety cut-off, just press the control knob to stop everything. Some complaints about drill bit wobble, but I've not found that, and I find the wheel easy to use. The parallel guide works OK, my only complaint is that the high side of it gets in the way of the clamp, if you are working with something lower - I was working with 26mm wood, and the fence is higher, so had to turn it around and use the edge of the flat side. Not a big deal, and no doubt if it was 25mm high, others would have the same issue with 24mm stock... First job was to drill and countersink 42 4.5mm holes 8mm from the edge of the timber - worked a treat and fully justified the purchase, so very happy bunny here.

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.

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....!

I ordered 3 of these to finally get one that is not faulty. Beware the quality of manufacture varies. The first one had a siezed up chuck assembly. The second one had a lot of chuck wobble, and finally the third one was all OK. That said this is an exceptional piece of kit. There is nothing on the market that can compare to the features and performance quality of one of these drill presses. Amazon are excellent regarding returns. It is very compact and very powerful. Starts at 200 rpm and goes up to about 2450 rpm with a 2 speed mechanical gear box. Has laser alignment, illumination and a depth stop system that works to 0.1 mm adjustment. Very good and fast clamping system for work pieces and set up in all respects is fast. Noise level is very modest. Totally worth every penny.

I bought this in June and since then I have had trouble with the chuck. The locking system is unnecessarily complicated. The red locking ring continually seizes up. Now September and I cannot tighten or loosen the chuck. Just sent it for repair. Very frustrating having bought it on the strength of rave reviews saying what a wonderful machine it is. Having done some research, this seized chuck is a known problem and some people have replaced the chuck at vast expense. Beware!