MISC #17 - Two year review of my Bosch PBD40
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- Опубліковано 30 чер 2024
- It's been two years since I got my Bosch PBD40 and seeing that my unboxing video for that is my most viewed video I thought I'd do a short, pretty basic review of the machine after two years of usage.
TL,DW; it has its flaws but none of them affect me enough for me to dislike it. It fits my requirements and does all I need. - Навчання та стиль
This press has worked like a charm for my projects ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxajoEbapTfqWaadnqb04h6U576yxXp-FE . I didn't even secure it to my table top, mainly due to the fact that I was using a 15 lbs drill vise. It's not flimsy at all as to what others have claimed it to be. Make sure the locking nuts and levers are secured and there won't be any issues with light pressure and patience. I was able to drill through aluminum, plastic, and steel (steel took a while) with no problems at all. Yeah it took a little longer than a regular drill press, but I don't have the space OR the money for one.The instruction manual was worthless, but luckily assembling the press was intuitive. However, the manual would be good for ordering replacement parts if needed. There is a nice breakdown of the parts that are included in the kit. Before ordering, make sure it is compatible with your unit, it is clearly stated what models the press is compatible with.This was an excellent purchase for $40!!
Nice video, Martin. I’ve had my unit for just on three months and I love it, even with its faults. Yes, the runout is definitely a thing but, even so, 0.1mm runout simply isn’t an issue for woodworking. For metalwork, centre punching, followed by pilot drilling, provides the necessary precision, at least for my needs. The motor is powerful enough to drive Forstner bits up to 50mm without bogging down, though drilling serious hardwoods requires a little patience. Same goes for working steel and iron - the drill can do it, just not as quickly as some might prefer. Aluminium is a breeze. However, the sacrifice of speed and power in what is basically a hobby-level machine is more than made up for by dial-selectable speed. Never having to mess about with *#@%ing belts again is a godsend! The provided clamp works well, though it does struggle to securely hold anything thinner than about 6mm. The digital depth gauge is a nice touch and, backed up by the basic mechanical depth stop, gives reliable and consistent drilling for things like shelving pins or hogging out mortises. Nice.
Hi Julian, thanks for the feedback, glad you liked the video! Yeah. it's a great little machine if you understand its limitations.
I do drill in steel and all sorts of metal and in my opinion it works well, assuming you are not using cheap "general" drill bits and select the right speed, as well as use lubricants. What makes a big difference is the chuck, which I finally changed a few weeks ago. I made a video about it and about how to change the chuck. ua-cam.com/video/nCqVoaGVK8g/v-deo.html
I agree, it is very nice not to have to fiddle with belts to change speed, which is I think more important than raw power and it contributes to my willingness to select the right speed for the right drill and material. I have no problems with clamping thin material (down to 1mm), both plastic, steel and aluminium, but I normally put a ~10mm wood between the clamp jaws and the material I clamp. It provides very good grip that way. Without anything between the clamped material and the clamp it can only be used for wood.
Oh, nice one, Adapting Camera! A thoroughly worthwhile mod. So much so, that I’m going to get in touch with the folks at Rohm and order one of those chucks right now. Thank you!
It's way more than 0.1mm! As Martin said, 0.76mm and even worse when considering overall head stability. Deal breaker sadly, as otherwise is a nice drill.
Great video. Lots of good tips. I'm waiting for my local hardware store to get mine. Looking forward to using it. Thanks for posting.
I'm really glad you found it useful. :)
after a long wait it finally turned up. Needless to say it's an awesome drill. Very happy user.
Glad to hear David! Here's to hoping you get many, many hours of use out of it. :)
So glad you did a review on the model, not much info out there on it and even less demonstrations. Going to get myself one now ! :)
Hi Jason! Happy to hear you found the video useful. I'm sure you'll get a ton of use out of your new drill press. :)
Thanks for a very useful 2yr review. Usually you only see reviews out of the box. I've been thinking about getting a press drill and was looking at cheap belt driven ones. Then I spotted this one for sale and being Bosch and looking "different" I thought I'd have a look at it. It won't be getting a great lot of use (maybe until my son finds out that I have it) but I think that by the looks of it it will be a good pound for pound purchase. So thanks again, I will be going for one of these.
Hi Phil! Glad you found this useful. I hope you get many years of use out of the PBD40. :)
Thank you... just about to purchase this drill for my home shop and your review was extremely helpful 🙂
Hi Gary! Glad you found it useful! Thanks for watching. :)
Thanks Martin. Nice video; down to what really matters for use light hobby users. I'm getting mine soon.
Hey Zaphod, thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed the video. Best of luck with the drill. :)
Thank you for the review, it's good, informative, and honest.
Cheers from Saudi Arabia
Thanks Buddy! Glad to hear you found it useful. :)
Thank you for a good review that run out etc is what I wanted to know.
Hi Wayne. Glad it was of help.
Just bought it today, can't wait to try it out :)
Glad to hear. I'm sure you'll get a lot of use out of it. :)
Good informative review. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Paul! Glad you liked it. :)
Think I need this one, really like the features
It's a really nice piece of kit, and as long as you understand its limitations I'm sure you'll be more than happy with it.
Martin
I like your presentation style - such an improvement on the relentless Americans.
I've been thinking of getting one of these and your experience certainly hasn't made me think twice - the drill seems perfectly fine for my hobby woodworking.
Thanks John, glad to hear you found the review useful. It's quite a solid and manageable machine and if you get one it should serve you well.
Had mine a month, love it... Loads better than my cheap Aldi Bench Drill.
Glad to hear. :) It really is a great drill for it's size.
This was useful, many thanks!
You're very welcome, glad you liked it!
I am very happy with my Bosch drill press. One very minor complaint is that the drill stop lever and the adjustment height lever - both of these plastic levers are the same but are too close together. There have been occasions when I could not tighten the one because the other lever was in the way.
Yeah, that is a bit of a nuisance, I agree.
Good review. Thanks.
Hi Lenny! Glad you liked it. :)
Great video, thanks.
Thanks Paul, glad you liked it!
Nice review
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. :)
Good review
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great thanks for sharing
Hi Mark! Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks Sir very very helpful
Hi Gary! Glad to hear. :)
Güzel bir anlatım,
emeğin için teşekkürler
Hi Emre. Thanks, and thanks for watching!
Good to know, thanks.
Glad you liked it Jim!
Have you figured out how to drill i.e. a 100mm hole without the digital depth gauge resetting half-way when doing that click at 4.16?
No, sorry. Since the depth gauge is measuring relative to the part that is "clicking," I'm not sure if it's possible. I tend to not use this drill for holes of that depth due to it's limited "reach."
Part of the runout issue is due to the fact that the chuck is meant for hammer drills.
At the time of writing this, I have a Röhm Supra L on the way for mine (the original is a Röhm Supra SK).
Yeah, I've heard from others that the replacing the chuck makes a big improvement. I've yet to find the time to do it myself though, so feel free to post a comment with the results.
Thanks 🙏
You're very welcome. Thanks for watching!
thanks for sharing
You're welcome. And thanks for subscribing, I appreciate it. :)
Thx for sharing.
You're welcome!
Thanks sir
You're welcome. :)
Hi Martin , It will be good for holes in 2mm Aluminum sheet?
Hi! Absolutely. You can drill through really thick steel with this, as long as you use the correct drill speed and a sharp drill bit.
@@MartinNr5 Thanks mate I appreciate it 🙏
Dzięki Martin
Proszę! :)
Really tempted to get one of these instead of the run-of-the-mill Clarke pillar drills. This has a more powerful motor at 710w instead of Clarkes 550w. Belts are a pain.
My usage will be occasional steel work, I do alot of welding in my garage/home workshop and need to drill holes in box section and 6mm steel plate for bits and pieces.
Surely this will suffice, and worth the extra £70 over teh typical Clarke metalworker which I hear are poor quality all round. This seems more 'civilised' and less brutish :)
I've never owned a belt driven drill press, but this should be a lot easier to operate than one of those.
It absolutely handles metal work and even though I don't use it for "hardcore" metal work it has so far never let me down.
Do you have the brand of the vice that you're using?
Hi Alex. No, sorry, I can't even remember where I got it.
have you tried calibrating the chuck to compensate for runout?
Good question!
No, the runout is noticeable but not severe enough to interfere with operations. Any holes that needs to be precise, I always counterpunch, even in wood.
If I ever need more precision, then I might look into something like calibration but as of now it works well enough.
Thanx!
You're welcome!
Thank you, do you know what the depth limit is ie for floating shelves?
Hi Kathryn. Sorry, I don't have that information.
Is it Possible to can drilling steel sheet with 4 or 5mm thickness?
Hi Kamran. Absolutely, you just need to use the right drill speed and go slowly.
does it do true vertical holes? ty
Does the PBD40 runs both clockwise and counterclockwise? I want to buy a machine that can tap threads, and that would be useful
Hi Ricardo! Sorry for the late reply. No, unfortunately, this drill doesn't reverse.
The drill doesn't have reverse. I have thought of adding a switch to change direction but the motor is a brushed one that is optimised to run in one direction only. The speed also cannot be got low enough to have really good control. You can tap through holes in a pinch, but blind holes are not a goer.
Of course that will all change if Bosch change over to a brushless DC motor.
Purchased one for myself three years ago. And before that I used old decades old mechanical press table for the handheld drills. You bolt one in and you get the operation for it.
But for a various woodworking I didn't like it as I often needed the depth measured and it became boring.
The Bosch was just a streal priced, (IIRC it was 140 € or something) and been almost completely happy with it.
There are more feature rich drill presses but when their prices are in thousands, and what you get back for the value are very small benefits, it isn't worth it.
The Bosch is their "Green line" so meant for hobbyists and home use. Not for a professional purpose (their "Blue line") and they have not delivered such version from this, and I have hypothesis that it is reason that they know the requirements for a highend drill press that they would need to step up to thousands euros price range as well with it.
Example many doesn't remember to mention that this drill press has automatic RPM control, a very wanted feature for many. So when you are pressing too hard etc the drill changes the power to maintain your selected electronic RPM. Amazing thing to have. You get constant drilling capability for hard stuff.
I love that RPM knob, easy to set the wanted speed and go. To remind, you can check the drill left side for steel, aluminium, wood etc for the drill bit diameter for quick glance that what RPM to use, if you don't have RPM table next to drill.
And that is mainly the feature that is missing from this machine, that you need to pay thousands more to get it, automatic speed control for your drill - after you select from screen menu the specific material you are using, the drill bit type, the drill bit diameter and then you get engineers programmed RPM value... Just annoying thing. As you can do it far more easily just with looking the table and set the RPM than press buttons to get RPM correct.
Example look at the "Nova Voyager 58000 DVR Drill Press" that costs almost 1800€ that is like over 10x more. And you get the fancy drill selection and all with buttons and knob. Blach, you can't just place the piece on drill and set the speed and make a hole as fast as you can with Bosch. And same thing is with the depth. With that drill you need to first program the depth that you want your hole to be, and then go and drill it. With Bosch you set the drill bit touching the piece, reset the depth and just start drilling. Major benefit and speed that Bosch has over those other more complicated machines. That other machine does have example automatic rotation turn off once the depth is reached, but who really needs it? Set the physical stop or just slightly slow down for the wanted depth and stop the drill or pull out. No need for automatic.
The power switch is as well great. And very clever that emergency stop, as you can even reach to it with your head if needed. But many believes that is the normal way to stop the machine, as the normal way is to just rotate the knob back to center. So Off-On-Rotate and when you want to stop the drill, you rotate it back to center. When you have emergency, you hit the knob like you showed and then it stops and you need to rotate it back to Off to reset it.
There are these few things that I slightly have reservation or dislike.
*#1 dislike* that I have to whole machine, it is that wheel. It is great and amazing when you need to drill something just tens of millimeters, as you rest hand on and pull nicely down. And it is exactly as you say that if you want to drill deeper, you need to start from bottom and roll it around. I have many times thought about why not have a 3-bar handle instead so you can just grab one and rotate, but then I got an idea and inserted a normal A brodie knob (steering wheel handle) to it, and now I can grab that and rotate around.... Problem solved.
But still, I love that wheel design mostly as it gives the precise handling for force and control for depth that is required - as long you have hand proper position in the wheel. So it is mixed feelings with that thing.
*#2 dislike* is the limitation of the height you can raise the whole thing. So that you can't easily really drill something on large objects as there isn't enough depth (but hey, most drill presses don't have either) but not enough height. So you need to use handheld drill for those times. And it is okay for that. But you can rotate the base plate around and clamp it on work project and then just use it normally. Not effort for often to be done as it is not so easy.
The depth cauge is not problem. It is purposely "slow" so you can actually read it easily. That is normal human interface design thing that you can't have a instant and constant change in numberic values as you can't read it properly, why slowing it down for 2-4 times a second makes it better.
And it is great, that is my main feature and it is easy to drill to precicide wanted depth, just that 0.1 mm accuracy. The key for that is to really know when to slow down in final moment instead keep going fast. But if needed to do repeating drilling, that hard stop is the friend anyways.
*#3 height adjustment* And that height adjustment really needs that you have the depth hard stop locked first before adjusting height, otherwise you fight against the spring.
The drill is amazing for all kind pipe/round drilling, because that table V line and the included clamp. And that is my #4 whine, as it is way too easy to clamp the clamp itself on the work by just slightly placing it on it, as it wedges itself nicely if you have clamp as "open" position. So you need to have little "tightening" by having the lever arm slightly up/lower so if so happens, you can loosen it. But it is very secure and mostly handy thing there. I mostly anyways drill things freely holding it there if I don't have larger drill bits than 0.5-8 mm ones. With 8 mm and especially wood drill bit I start to consider clamping the piece.
Hi paristo!
Thanks for your detailed and thorough feedback and thoughts on the drill!
Hello Martin. I've been watching similar YT videos on PBD-40 over a week now and the more I think of the spindle and the whole construction play the more I get confused. Some people say: I got rid of the PBD-40 because I couldn't deal with the oval shaped holes it produced. Others say they are fine with that because they don't need high precision. I wonder if there is no need for high precision why a hand drill won't replace the PBD-40? Some try to justify PBD-40's imprecision by arguing that it's not a professional line but... wait: if it's not professional it's not meant to drill holes 8 hours a day and that's it. A DIY tool is not supposed to produce crap holes and make excuses for that just because it's not a professional line.
Hi John!
Well, my PBD40 produces round holes, I just have to be a bit more precise when I start drilling to ensure that it starts where it's supposed to.
Thanks for taking time to comment!
My PDB-40 makes round holes. They might end up very slightly larger than the bit size, but the difference even as shown in this video, is tiny. The reason the press beats a hand drill is the ease of drilling straight holes.
A tool aimed at the DIY market can be both less accurate and not designed for extended use. In my experience this drill press might not be exactly accurate, but it is very close and it produces repeatable results, so it is precise.
How good is the cross laser? I've seen other review videos where it was quite a few millimeters off, which would rather annoy me..
I'm looking to replace a 20 year old belt driven cast iron drill press, and so far the pbd40 looks like a reasonable purchase..
The only thing I might complain about as far as the laser goes is that the actual lines aren't as sharp as they could be, but where they intersect is where the drill bit is centered. I've never had an issue using it so far.
I'm sure there are copies of this drill where the laser is off but based on the overall quality of the drill, I'd argue that's a fabrication/QC problem and not representative of the actual product.
The runout on this drill has nothing to do with the chuck. It is caused by an incorrectly sized output shaft upper bearing in the gearbox. I stripped and replaced mine after having it just one week. The needle roller earring that Bosch use is too loose on the shaft. I replaced it with 2 ball bearing races, and eliminated all of the free play. Took me about 90 minutes to do, it’s a bit fiddly, just take plenty of photos so you don’t forget how to reassemble!
where did you get the right size ball bearings?
Hi i bought it last week, i wonder its normal with slak in the wheel you turn up and down?
Hi Rune! Yes, there is some minor slack. I just checked mine and I can turn the wheel roughly 1 cm before the gears engage.
It's nothing I've noticed while using it though, which is why I had to go out to the garage and check it. :)
Oki thanks mine to😆👍
Nice video. I have had mine for several years now, drilling mostly in metal and it works fine apart from a few things, the worst was the chuck. I never liked that chuck, in my opinion it is a shame that Bosch chose the cheapest Röhm quick lock/release chuck, which is intended for hand drill machines only. Consider changing the chuck, like I did. The original chuck is not for bench drill machines, and as you also noticed, the locking ring can cause problems. I changed mine to a Röhm SUPRA S 1-13. It is like day and night, huge difference in drilling results, accuracy and "feel". I made a video about it and about how to change the chuck. ua-cam.com/video/nCqVoaGVK8g/v-deo.html
Thanks for the reply, and the link. I'll check it out. :)
I have already seen that.Very good ! Thanks!
Quisiera saber si en Colombia tienen distribuidor y si la encuentro cuanto es el costo
No puedo encontrar un revendedor, pero tal vez esta página es de ayuda? www.bosch-professional.com/co/es/dl/localizador-de-distribuidores/dealersearch/
how good it is for continuous running? I have a cheap drill press and in 5 min motor heats up so much that you can hold your hand on it. Is it just mine or all of them work like that?
I can't say for sure as I haven't pushed it that hard. I mostly run it for 30-60 seconds at a time, but if you don't push it beyond its limits it shouldn't overheat if built properly.
Hopefully another owner of a PBD40 can reply with their experience.
Worth buying for small jobs at home in 2020?
Absolutely. Check out The Other Finnish Guy, where Tuomas uses it for some pretty heavy duty metal fabrication in his later videos. ua-cam.com/channels/jDp9eJL9l771Kn8lUbmuSQ.html
@jw200, definitely is the best on the market even in 2020 according to my opinion. I use it a lot, mostly on metal, so it is definitely a capable machine. The only thing I have against it is the chuck, which is intended for impact hand drills, not bench and pillar drills. I changed mine to Röhm Supra S and the machine is like night and day, incredibly better. I made a short video about how to do it, in case you consider it. ua-cam.com/video/nCqVoaGVK8g/v-deo.html
Why are transportation in India those how need to use this product
dont think i,ll be buying one with that much slop in it . when i drill a centre hole i want it in the centre .not drifting 1 mm to left or right ,expected better from bosch . i bet if that had been built 20 years ago it would be perfect ,and there would be no slop at all . i myself have a corded drill and a angle grinder from bosch ,from 1998 .both made in germany .i bought these used on purpose ,because they where made in germany .i have used both heavily for the last 20 years with no problems at all , these companies sacrifice quality over cost of production , by having them built in china . thats very sad . thanks for the honest review and not sugar coating it .
Just to clarify for others reading the comments, the 0.76 mm slop is only when I deliberately push on the chuck sideways. For normal use it's about 0.11 mm runout.
This is only a "prosumer" drill though, and it's not as good as older, more expensive equipment.
As for quality versus cost, I think that the average consumers of today doesn't want to pay for quality which is why companies produce cheaper, "inferior" products.
You can buy new tools that are of the same quality as the ones you mention, but they will cost accordingly.
Thanks for watching and for your comment, much appreciated.
++++++++++++
Thanks!
Practical advice, thank you. That said the drill is made in China, so I will not be purchasing it.
Bosch 'tried and true'? More like tried and returned to the shop.
Sorry to hear. I've had good experience with Bosch overall, but I'd be surprised if they didn't have any duds at all.
What did you end up getting instead?