Bosch mini pillar drill

[Ali]

Saw this today in a very nice engineering workshop I visited.

For £300ish I’m tempted to sell my awkward bulky pillar drill I only use once a month and get one of these to keep on the shelf or even take out to a job when I need to.

Anyone ever used one?

1-13mm chuck and up to 40mm in
wood, I’d have to take it easy and avoid the temptation to abuse it with steel. But losing the drill would make more room for a little mill.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

No but debated one for the van for a while for hinge drilling etc

 

[Kram]

Mills can do drilling, what you need is a mill, not this

Good luck 40mm in wood I think it'd struggle above 8mm. Lidl sell one almost identical for 70 and my local had a few sitting there for months, no one wants them.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

As long as the bits sharp ,40,mm in wood isn't a struggle unless it's particularly hard.

I'd have one set up for concealed hinge holes

Drilling out for mortices etc.
Wouldn't buy one for metal work.

I'd be more inclined to buy one if it was blue instead of green.

 

[Parm]

No but debated one for the van for a while for hinge drilling etc

Isn’t a dedicated set up small router better? Cause it’s smaller

 

[Parm]

Even if it could hold a 13mm shank bit or drill 40mm in wood I wouldn’t trust that clamp/vice arrangement

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Isn’t a dedicated set up small router better? Cause it’s smaller

Cabinet hinges mate. Like a kitchen cupboard door with a type of forstner bit.

 

[Parm]

Cabinet hinges mate. Like a kitchen cupboard door with a type of forstner bit.

Ok, I was thinking doors, for rooms

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Even if it could hold a 13mm shank bit or drill 40mm in wood I wouldn’t trust that clamp/vice arrangement

Rather than a foot or knee or hand on a timber while drilling with a hand drill?

A fence with no clamp is fine for drilling timber. If it snags it can't go anywhere.
Set the fence to the job and save on setup time each hole.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Ok, I was thinking doors, for rooms

Got a little 18v bottle trimmer for that type.

 

[Parm]

Rather than a foot or knee or hand on a timber while drilling with a hand drill?

A fence with no clamp is fine for drilling timber. If it snags it can't go anywhere.
Set the fence to the job and save on setup time each hole.

I’m going to the pub

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I'm not
Hateful places.

 

[Parm]

I'm not
Hateful places.

only the virtual pub

 

[hotponyshoes]

I supply and fit these into farriers vans,
Decent drill, 2 speeds, plenty of torque in low, plenty of speed in high.
Runs fine from a inverter and they are pretty compact compared to the equivalents.
Few nice little gadgets, laser cross-hairs, led light, digital speed control and a zero able digital depth gauge.
They get a fairly hard time with farriers and being rattled around in vans and all last pretty well.

Downside, they are marketed/sold as a precision drill. They are not. Certainly much better than a sealey/Draper type but not a watch makers tool.
Never have any complaints from farriers or the general public but a few local model engineers have had them and said there is a few thou runout on the chuck. One guy fitted a better chuck and reckons it's pretty good now. A couple of others brought them back saying they were not precise enough for what they wanted.

I do keep meaning to gauge one up and see just how good/bad it is with the standard chuck compared to a decent chuck.

 

[brightspark]

quick enough to put a bit of ground silver steel in chuck and a dial gauge on it

 

[hotponyshoes]

Most farriers are using them for a max of 8mm holes in 10-12mm thick steel.
A couple of guys are running them with tapping heads on.

quick enough to put a bit of ground silver steel in chuck and a dial gauge on it

Yes, I need to have a look and see what chuck they take.
I have a few here so it would be interesting to see if they are all the same or if it's a quality control issue

 

[Ali]

It had a gearbox, not like the Lidl thing. Pretty well built at the head / column and you could easily make something more substantial for the base if you wanted to. I had a quick look online while I was hanging about and saw a few comments about the chuck...as you say not a precision tool - but probably no worse than my current machine.

Hinges and similar is what I was thinking as @eLuSiVeMiTe says. Mainly for wood bothering but if farriers are happy enough with them it should be fine for my needs.

 

[Ali]

@hotponyshoes is there a dealer you would recommend?

 

[Maker]

It's a no from me, I like my machines to be at least as heavy as I am.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

It's a no from me, I like my machines to be at least as heavy as I am.

All well.and good if they live in the garage.

Not so good if your working out and about and want to drag it into a job site.