A good drill press should be all about precision. You should be able to repeat each hole with consistent depth and quality for whatever tasks you take on in the woodworking space. The SKIL 10-inch drill press provides users with a 3.2-amp performance that will make fast work of the chores that you need to complete. Featuring 5 speeds, ranging from 570 PM to 3,050 RPM, you’re also given the ability to use an adjustable depth stop for accurate measurements on your repetitive drilling.
You are also able to tilt the working surface up to 45 degrees in either direction and then lock it into place. When combined with the laser guide for precision hole alignment, we found that this drill press was one of the easiest to use that is available on the market today.
But does this make it one of the best drill presses for your needs? Here are our observations that you’ll want to take a close look at.
- It features a 0.5-inch keyed chuck. This allows users to take advantage of larger bits that can sometimes be needed for their woodworking or cutting chores.
- The up and down range of the table is somewhat limiting when it comes to certain woodworking needs. Longer bits for deeper holes can be quite difficult to work with when using this particular bench press.
- This drill press tends to produce a lot of torque. Even if you’ve bolted the drill press to the workbench, we found that it tends to shift weight toward the left, causing your working piece to move along with it. We needed to put a counterweight on the other side of the workbench to offset this issue.
- The depth stop feature is nice, but it can be somewhat unreliable. If you’re using the tool heavily, we found that the depth stop can give way if you put too much torque onto the machine.
- The lasers are a useful guide for this drill press. They will also suck your AA batteries dry. We recommend purchasing some rechargeable batteries to use with this particular tool to avoid paying for a set of batteries about once per week – whether you use the drill press or not.
Is the SKIL 10-Inch Drill Press Underpowered?
At 3.2 amps, this drill press isn’t meant for heavy duty work. It’s more for a hobbyist or a light duty woodworker at best. If you’re making birdhouses, this drill press will do a good job. If you’re mass-producing birdhouses using hardwoods, then you might want to step up to a 6-amp drill press instead.
We also weren’t fans of the pulleys on this particular drill press as they are made from plastic. When you start using the drill press on a regular basis, then pulleys can sometimes work their way loose.
This drill press also struggles sometimes when using metals. The motor tends to start and stop on metals that are just 1/8-inch thick, but it does an excellent job when drilling wood. So if you work primarily on wood projects, the SKIL 10-inch drill press will give you the quality results that you want consistently.
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