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

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.

If like me you do not have a dedicated workshop or you need to move the drill every time you use it, this is ideal. I used to have a drill stand that used one of my hand drills, it had a solid steel shaft and a cast-iron table and it was extremely heavy. The PBD 40 is a game changer, its much lighter and easy to carry to and from my work area. The speed adjustment is very good and the depth gauge is very accurate and makes setting up very quick. The lazer is not very accurate but that's not something I would use. Some reviewers complain about the play in the chuck, but in use it make no difference to the operation if you mark your wood correctly or centre punch metal. As you can see I made a new table to go on top of the aluminium one. This gives me a larger working area which has T-Tracks for clamps and a fence, I have also fitted the Ottertools Turnstile in place of the wheel. Anyone thinking about purchasing on of these, my advise is to go ahead because you wont be dissapointed.

I had this on my wish list for ages, and then when the price fell, I took the plunge - no regrets at all so far. This is perfect for the workshop - I had a large pillar drill previously which was past its best and so had been eyeing this one up for a while, but was discouraged by some of the negative reviews - personally, I have found there to be no quill movement/wobble, no alignment issues of the laser, and the speed selection is a breeze - so much easier than faffing with belts. OK - so it doesn't have the largest throat or travel, but as a stable, flexible, accurate and functional bench drill, this is great. You'll need to attach to a base (or build one, as I did) - the clamp isn't great, so I shall build a feed bench too to ensure greater stability and safety. I have to say that I'm really pleased with this - just hopes it continues to impress, but the 3 year warranty is also good for the price.

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....!

What can I say? It's brilliant! I was gifted an old Draper pillar drill, which was a beast, but changing the speed required a stepladder and patience. This one just requires the twist of a knob! The light and laser marker is really handy too, and it's very easy to adjust the height and drilling range. The only reason it loses a star is due to the wheel (a three pointed one would be much better) and the drill chuck- not a fan of the "quick release" as it often isn't that quick to release it, and have had to invest in a set of oil filter grips to help. But these gripes are worth putting up with for a brilliant machine.

Yep, 16mm is fine as you match the thread of the new chuck (thread/size: UNF 1/2 X20) you'll be fine. I've just replaced mine today with a 16mm Baer ECO05161-2 chuck. That said, I would for sure only recommend drilling into wood etc with the larger shank drill bits - stick to 6-8mm for stainless, 10-13mm for less dense metals and up to 40mm for forstner bits (although I did go carefully with a 50mm which went fine). As another commenter said, the new PBD 40 model has a slightly new design to the spindle and chuck release. Requiring a 16mm spanner fixed firm against the left side (when looking from front) of the tools tube upright, and 19mm spanner to be turned clockwise towards the stationary 16mm. Basically the same direction as Adapting Camera's video on youtube - 'Chuck changing on the Bosch PBD 40'. BUT, if yours is as tight as mine was, a standard 19mm spanner might slip and begin to round off the flat above the chuck. It actually measures a bit below 19mm, so just be careful. Luckily I had an old 17mm spanner and electric grind stone with fairly thin stone, so was able to get in the spanner mouth, grind it a wee bit wider until it fitted perfectly. Also ground the round end off to allow an extension tube over the spanner for extra required torque. The 13mm Rohm Supra chuck (871050) that I've seen eveyone used costs around £115 and has a concentricity of 0.2mm (i think). The Baer ECO05161-2 chuck, including shipping from Germany and after exchange rates + small discount, worked out at £44. They also do a 13mm for less money. These chucks are also available on Amazon/Amazon DE. The concentricity of the 16mm is 0.15mm - so better spec'd than the Rohm and far cheaper. Really impressed by it, solid bit of kit. Before the change I measured the original PBD 40 chuck as having concentricity of about 0.48mm. After the change to Baer I got measurements of just 0.12mm. Happy days. NOTE: with the larger Baer chuck the laser crosshairs only meet until about 85mm in height above the piece, lower than this and the lines separate. Not a big deal though, just line it up 1st before lowering with the wheel. I also added a cheap £6 or so steering wheel turning knob from ebay. Everything is now oiled, running smooth and laser accuracy checked. Well chuffed with this tool

Beats every bench drill I ever had. Tons of power versatile and easy to use. Check out Youtube reviews, you wont find a bad one.

Drill arrived yeterday. Lots of play in wheel. Test drilled wood ok. Drilled a metal piece. Drill started crunching and continued to crunch. I had high hopes for this after seeing all the positive youtube reviews. Alas it was not meant to be. Disappointed . I've gone back to using my drill stand and power drill. It's provides the same accuracy as the Bosch.