Bosch PBD40 Pillar Drill

[phil p]

Hi,

Does anyone own or have any opinions of this drill?

Ive had my eye on it for a while but thought it was a little pricey at £250+ however Ive seem it for £198 so thinking of purchasing, however it’s still a fair amount for me as a DIYer so the dilemma is whether to hold off for a while longer.

Reviews are a little up and down so I thought I would see what people think on here as Ive always had good advice in the past on various things.

Regards
Phil

 

[Torx]

I looked at these as I don’t use my big pillar drill much, almost went for it but eventually decided that when I do need a pillar drill I usually need a bit of grunt for larger holes. There are a few clones about but look out for the quality, particularly the chuck / spindle. The Bosch seems good.

 

[mynamehere]

I bought one when it was on offer on Amazon for about £180last year I think.

I like the ease of the speed control and the fact that it's easy to move around, I haven't drilled anything yet that it couldn't cope with, my Meddings Drilltru hasn't been used since...
Some of the bad reviews centre around the chuck, for woodwork it's more than good enough, if it needs to be better it can be upgraded.
The only thing I don't like is the wheel instead of the tradional spokes on the side, although there's an ebay seller selling a conversion for this as well.
In short, I can recommend it...

Cheers!

Ferenc

 

[david123]

Great machine, having said that I don’t use it a lot. Can’t fault it for general purposes use.

 

[Cordy]

Had mine a while now, it's great !
The wheel I prefer to the usual spoke type
Mega quick release for drill bit
I made a drill press table on the style of THIS although I did not use metal track
Use D type threaded inserts to bolt table to bench -- easy to remove if bench space is needed

 

[Padster]

I got one last year at the same price, I've had absolutely no issues although generally only used with wood - a couple of times with metal.
Can't complain and would recommend based on the fact it's met all my limited hobby/DIY uses

HTH

Padster

 

[phil p]

Thank for the replies guys.

All I have at the moment is a crappy B&Q cheapie that slips when it basically touches anything, even soft pine, so I think I'll go for it as if hold on it could go back up.

As always thanks for the good input.

Regards
Phil

 

[Lonsdale73]

Didn't get mine from B&Q but I'd wager my crappy drill was probably from the same factory as yours. Upgraded to the Bosch and love it. I've not had a problem with the wheel nor with it's ability to drill holes. Amazing how it turned 'crappy' spade and Forstner bits it to top class cutters!

 

[PerryGunn]

Have a look at Bosch PBD 40 drill on offer for a fair few comments on the PBD40 and it also contains a link to the 3 spoke replacement handle

 

[Lonsdale73]

I think the reason I don't have a problem with the wheel is because I tend to use the radials.

 

[k1w1]

Hi
Ive had one for a couple of years and love it. Have used it for lots of different situations that a traditional drill press wouldn’t work. Even drilled multi holes in sheets of ply for a climbing wall as it’s portable and the hole in the base lines up with the Chuck so could move it around the sheet and drill through
Great bit of kit
Cheers

 

[Bristol_Rob]

Here's me enjoying the Bosch.

For light duty and accurate drilling it works great

I love being able to control the speed with ease.

You'll notice I have upgraded the wheel to a 3 spoke handle - so much nicer. I bought it from a German dude who sells them. Works great for light duty work.

I love the fact I can hide it away when I don't need it as it's very light and doesn't have a big footprint.

Accuracy is more than good enough for woodwork, but as others have said you can upgrade the chuck.
Although you should check what the smallest drill bit is you want to use as the stock chuck only grips down to a certain size (can't remember what that is from memory)
The upgraded chuck allows you to go down to 1mm bits.

 

[Lonsdale73]

Bargain for someone here?

 

[phil p]

Got my Bosch last week and have to say I really like it.

I know people have mentioned drift however by eye I don’t notice any at all so if there is any It wont have any effect on me with the tolerances I normally work to but I’m just a hobbyist.

Just the ease of use and the easy speed changing feature is pleasurable enough for me to highly recommend.

 

[Bristol_Rob]

Got my Bosch last week and have to say I really like it.

I know people have mentioned drift however by eye I don’t notice any at all so if there is any It wont have any effect on me with the tolerances I normally work to but I’m just a hobbyist.

Just the ease of use and the easy speed changing feature is pleasurable enough for me to highly recommend.

Exactly, I don't notice any drift on mine

 

[clogs]

looking at Bristol_Robs picture....
£250 for that....u must be nuts.....

 

[phil p]

Hi Clogs,

Not sure Bristol Rob mentioned what he paid?, he may have got on offer like I did.

Take it that you have actually tried one in use?

I'm not an expert by any means, however it's a machine that simply drills holes, and does so very well in my opinion.

 

[rob1693]

My dad bought one after watching YouTube videos on it and gave me his fox pillar drill ,I know who the happier party is

 

[Bristol_Rob]

Hi Clogs,

Not sure Bristol Rob mentioned what he paid?, he may have got on offer like I did.

I bought mine second hand from Pete off the forums here.
Sadly can't remember what I paid, but I think it was about £130

 

[phil p]

Bargain!