Bosch PBD 40 Workshop Bench Pillar Drill

Mr 13/05/2013 07:34:30

First class tool a must have in any work shop or diy what more can i say

Gordon 16/04/2013 22:54:37

I bought this drill because i need to drill accurate bolt holes in my model aircraft propellers amonst other things. When the drill arrived the bosch seal on the box had been broken and i was not happy with the way the drill was packed so i requested a replacement. This took another week to arrive and once again the bosch seal had been broken but the drill and packaging looked ok so i accepted it. The drill works fine however the laser pointer is not accurate as the alignment to the drill point goes off by a few millimeters at the workpiece. It works ok as a rough guide though. I particularly like the clamp which works great for everything i have drilled up to now. All things considered i am happy with the bench drill, it does have a lot going for it and i would recommend it but i do think it is overpriced.

Susan 27/02/2013 09:22:58

I bought this to replace my pillar drill. It seems a good choice for me as most of the holes I drill are in long flat pieces of timber which is nigh on impossible to do on my pillar drill. I have mounted the pbd40 next to my compound mitre saw on a metabo extending work stand so that the base of it is level with that of the compound saw. As far as I can find this is the only bench drill where the head comes down to the work piece and for the work I do it seems very satisfactory. Features wise the variable speed is excellent though you should note that you do not set the speed to a value rather it tells you what speed you have set, by turning the knob on the front, when you actually start it up. It is also very easy to work the depth feature. I was concerned about the size of the machine but there is plenty of clearance for drilling into even quite a large piece of timber if you wind the head up to the top. The weight is just about manageable for me (over 50 female) to move around the workshop and I dont think it will prove too heavy and bow the work stand as it is a similar weight to the mitre saw. The chuck is a bit unusual or is this a standard bosch feature. I dont know. This is the first Bosch machine in my workshop. You tighten it by hand and turn a locking ring but I am sure I will get used to that and it seems to hold the drill bit securely and accurately. I like the simple but practical parallel bar which is easy to move and has a flat upright which means you can clamp to it in addition to using the hold down clamp. The reason I gave it a lower value for money is that it is quite noisy and I would have thought for the money this could be better. As far as accuracy is concerned, it seems fine for my purposes such as using forstner bits to mount hinges on cabinet doors. Hope that helps folks.

David 08/11/2012 14:20:23

Works well, a little noisy. throat could be bigger. up to usual bosch standard.

Richrat 09/07/2016 20:12:58

A mistake buy..No use for precision modelling...Too much 0.7mm main shaft sideplay in bearings. This was an enormous design shortsightedness. When using small drills the play error can be significant as to drill off the center line. This isn't the first Bosch i've given bad notes for, perhaps the fact that they are produced in china has alot to answer for the bad quality control; and it's poor. Sorry Bosch, my old ital pillar drill scores way better.

Peter 12/05/2013 12:24:33

Great idea poor delivery. first one returned with defective electronic depth gauge. replacement has 2mm lateral movement. customer services are undoubtably the worst i have ever encountered (bosch). on first occasion it was returned zero communication, i had to repeatedly contact bosch repair centre for information, most of what i was told seemed to be just a fob off "awaiting parts from germany"' which clearly would have to come from china were the product is made. "it's green therefore not to be used professionally"(i make garden tables as a hobby). after many calls i was eventually told a replacement would be provided, which it was. when i contacted bosch again about the lateral movement i was told " this is not a precision tool!" but they would contact germany to inform me of the design tolerances. reply - silence. poor product, and very poor after sales/customer services. to be avoided