The 8 Best Drill Presses of 2021 – Review & Buying Guide

The drill press is an important tool in any workshop, as it helps you drill metal, wood and other materials. It is basically a large table with a drill and clamp attached. Provides precision holes in material with the right shape, space and dimensions If you’re looking to get the right drill for the job (and your budget), here’s a rundown of some of the best options.

Here are the 10 Best Drill Presses in India.

Let’s take a look at the Best Drill Presses!

Finding the best was next up on our list of challenges. After several hours of testing, we decided on a few models that we think are suited.

Here are the Top 10 & Best Drill Presses in 2021

The drill is an important tool in any workshop, as it helps you drill into metal, wood and other materials. It’s basically a large table with a drill and clamp attached. Provides precision holes in the material with the correct shape, space and size. If you’re looking to get the right tutorial for the job (and your budget), here’s a rundown of some of the best options.

Benefits of a Drill Press

• Drill accurate holes. Drill presses come with mechanisms that allow you to adjust the depth and angle of the cuts. A depth stop on the press allows you to stop at the right drilling spot if you don’t want to drill all the way through the material.
• They’re superior to handheld drills. A handheld drill is convenient and affordable but often makes a lot of jerking movements. That can make it difficult to make a precise cut. A drill press is perfect for precision work as the drill head barely moves when mounted on a sturdy column shaft.
• Drill through different materials. Depending on the quality of drill press you choose, you can bore through metal, wood, and hard plastics with ease. Some drill presses can also be used on pebbles, gemstones, clay tiles, and concrete. 

Types of Drill Press

TABLETOP AND BENCHTOP PRESSES

Benchtop models are the best shop drill presses as they don’t take up much space and offer the best value for the money. They have the ability to drill straight and accurate holes on any material. The presses offer vertical and horizontal adjustability for precise measurement, but the height adjustment may not successfully accommodate large pieces.

FLOOR DRILL PRESS

Consider a floor model if you need to do some heavy-duty drilling projects. It’s a larger drill press model that frees up your workbench space. The unit is ideal for both professional and hobbyists. Floor models have a larger drilling platform and allow for larger vertical movement ranges. They are typically more expensive than benchtop drills due to the allowance for additional features and raw power. 

PORTABLE DRILL PRESSES

If you don’t have a designated work station, you should opt for a portable drill press. The units essentially have mounting mechanisms, either a clamp or a magnetic plate, that can attach to any worktable. While they do not have the most powerful motors, they do come with pocket-friendly price tags.

Top Brands

WEN

WEN is an American designer and distributor of power tools such as drill presses, chainsaws, electric engravers, electric jigsaws, knives, and wet wheel sharpeners. Nick Anton founded the company in 1952. WEN is lauded for its fantastic customer service, and its power tools often get a consumer rating of four stars and above. Some of its high-quality drill presses include the WEN 5-Speed Drill Press and the WEN Variable Speed Drill Press. 

DREMEL

Dremel is an American brand that manufactures powered screwdrivers, contour sanders, hot glue guns, scroll saws, and rotary tools, which are its headliner products. The company has been in existence since 1932, and Albert J. Dremel founded the company. Dremel products have a legion of following among DIY enthusiasts as they are detailed and easy to use. One of its best-selling drill presses is the Dremel Drill Press.

Best Drill Press Pricing

• Under $500: This price range houses both portable and workbench drill presses. The products get cheaper as their sizes decrease and their drilling power reduces. Moreover, some cheaper options may not come with induction motors or laser guides for accurate drilling.
• Over $500: This is the price range for most high-end benchtop and floor model drills. The units here often come with highly adjustable angles, mechanically variable speeds, adjustable material stops for accurate repetitive actions, optimizable spindles, and laser guides for precision cuts. However, some higher-priced products have poor consumer ratings so be sure to read the reviews before buying one. 

Key Features

HORSEPOWER

A tool with more horsepower is always better if it’s within your budget. A drill with more horsepower is capable of doing heavy-duty jobs. It can also be tuned to a lower power setting to perform light jobs. However, powerful drills may draw too much power from your electrical system.

POWER SOURCE

Most drill presses primarily use electricity as the main power source. However, there are some models that are battery-powered, but such cordless units don’t output as much power as their alternatives. Cordless units also can’t drill through tough materials. Always invest in a corded drill for high precision and power.

COMPATIBILITY

You need to check on the drill’s compatibility with accessories and the materials it drills through. The drill press should have the ability to mount other accessories that make the drilling job easier. It should also be able to drill through metal, wood, and a variety of other material. However, if you only do woodwork, most portable drill presses can comfortably drill through any type of wood.

Other Considerations

• Rotations Per Minute (RPM): Most drills come with a system for adjusting the spindle speeds when working on different materials. The spin rate is given in RPM and often ranges from 100 to 3,000 RPM. The drill press should have at least two adjustable speeds—a high-speed rate for drilling through softwood and a slower speed for metal.
• Construction: It’s important for the drill press to have solid construction. Steel is the best material for the base to enhance overall stability. The unit should also contain hard plastic parts but minimally in comparison to metal.
• Adjustability: The best drill presses have adjustable angles that allow you to drill through curved or tilted wood. You should look for a drill press with a greater capacity for incline and adjustable clamps. 
• Weight: You need a heavy drill press that won’t rattle and vibrate when you work. Stability is key, especially at the base of the unit. Consider a floor model if you need to do some heavy-duty drilling projects. A light drill may be portable, but you would have to hold it firmly for stability as you make the cut. That can be an inconvenience.
• Size: The drill press should be large enough to get the job done but small enough to fit into your available workspace. This will depend on your job type. Most professionals prefer a large floor model while DIY enthusiasts go for portable workbench drill presses.

What to Consider When Buying a Benchtop Drill Press

If you’ve never owned a benchtop drill press before, you probably aren’t sure what to look for in your new purchase or how exactly to use it. While drill presses aren’t necessarily a niche tool, they’re less prevalent in-home workshops than they used to be. Here are some things to consider when looking for the best benchtop drill press for your shop.

Drill Size & Travel

Drill size and travel are the two most important measurements to compare benchtop drill presses.

Manufacturers measure drill size by the “throat distance,” or the distance between the drill bit and the stand that supports the motor. Manufacturers like to double that distance to size their drill presses. For example, a drill press with a length of 6 inches from bit to stand would be a 12-inch drill press.

Travel refers to how far the chuck can be moved up and down. For instance, a 2-inch travel means that the user can lower the tip of a drill bit 2 inches. The greater the travel, the thicker material a drill press can potentially drill through.

Variable Speeds

Drill presses commonly come with speeds varying from 200 to 3,600 RPM. Generally, the harder the material, the lower the required speed. This reduces the heat generated by the drill to help maintain a sharp cutting edge on the bit. Some materials require higher speeds than others. For instance, you can drill pine at a high rate, a piece of oak at a medium rate, and various metals at low rates of speed.

Pro Tip: When drilling metal, it’s a good idea to keep a can of lubricant or cutting oil nearby. A quick spray on the bit helps to keep the heat down on the tip and maintain a sharp cutting edge.

Horsepower

Horsepower is a nice-to-know number, but it’s not as crucial for workshop benchtop drill presses as it is for floor models in production settings. Speed variability is far more important than horsepower when it comes to a benchtop drill press.

Standard benchtop drill presses range from 1/3- to 3/4-horsepower models. Either will do for most workshop-based projects. If a drill press starts to bog down, it means you’re putting too much pressure on the bit. This is bad for the bit, the chuck, and the spindle, so lighten up.

Laser Guide & Onboard Light

Even the most seasoned drill press operators can use a bit of guidance now and then. Choosing a drill press with an onboard light will help you see better in the darker corners of your workshop, ensuring more accurate drilling.

Look for a model with a laser guide to really take your drill press game to the next level. These guides are often crosshair-shaped lines you can align with exactly where your drill bit point touches the workpiece. Once you adjust it, you’ll be able to pinpoint every drop of the drill press.

Safety Features

While drill presses are kind of an old-school tool, they have gotten some recent updates to make them a little safer. Features like bit guards help to keep your hands away from a spinning drill bit and prevent scraps of metal and wood from flying towards your face. Oversized on/off buttons help you to quickly shut a machine off if something does go wrong.

Clamping devices not only hold your workpiece in place for better accuracy but also prevent it from kicking loose and hurting the drill press user. Most of these devices are accessories you have to buy separately, however.

Accessories & Attachments

There are a lot of handy attachments and accessories available for benchtop drill presses. From sanding kits to mortising chisels, the right accessory kit can turn a standard, run-of-the-mill drill press into a highly functional production machine. Many of these accessories simply tighten in place in the chuck.

Other helpful accessories include clamps and jigs that can bolt to the drill press’s table to hold workpieces at specific angles for safe and accurate drilling.

How a Drill Press Works

A full-sized stationary drill press is heavy, relatively expensive, and takes up valuable floor space in your work area. But what the drill press lacks in portability, it makes up for in power and precision. Unlike handheld drills which rely on arm strength and the steadiness of the operator to drill an accurate, clean hole, drill presses are precise by design. A rotating handle controls the descent of a spinning mechanism called the spindle (the bit is held in a chuck on the end of this spindle), which can only move vertically. This makes perfectly precise holes much easier to create. All models have a depth stop, for creating holes of consistent depth.

Adjustability and Other Features

The table of a drill press is where the workpiece sits, and on nearly all models the table can move up and down to make room for your workpiece. Many models also allow side-to-side tilting of the table, either to 45 degrees or, for large, high-end models, a full 360 degrees, allowing drilling at all angles. Some models have LED lights or laser guides to show exactly where your hole will land.

When to Use a Drill Press

Want to build a coat rack? You’ll need a drill press to bore accurate holes for hanging pegs in the backboard. Want to make some wooden toys? The twist bits, spade bits, and hole saws used for this work perform much better and more accurately in a drill press. And when it comes time to sand the edges of those curved wooden toy parts, a sanding mop spinning in a drill press does a superb job. Need to hide some screws underneath wooden plugs? A drill press is the only tool capable of spinning a special bit that cuts tapered plugs from any kind of wood. Got metal parts to clean with a wire wheel? Building a stair railing? Boring big holes in wood for dowel joints? All of these tasks and more are made better with a drill press. It’s one of those tools you’ll use much more than you ever thought you would.