What Is a Drill Press? Here’s What It Is Used For and Its Advantages

When you enter a workshop, and look closely at the workbench, you realize that among the many tools and vises mounted on the table there is also a column drill. An indispensable tool for those who need to do precise, continuous and structured drilling work. Now you might tell me:

"Ok we can do the same thing with a manual drill, maybe by mounting a template or a guide".

I anticipate possible objections and confirm the opposition to this statement. Because the precision levels and optimization of certain drilling work you can only achieve with the column drill. That's why we need to learn the strengths and nuances of this fundamental tool for drilling metal with precision, but also hard plastic and other structures.

What is a column drill, a definition

The column drill is a drilling tool for materials such as wood, metal and plastic. It features a solid base, a vertical column along which the electric motor moves, a chuck that goes up and down, a height-adjustable work table.

This tool serves to drill but is used for work of extreme precision and repetitive operations, on surfaces that can be managed separately from the main block. For example, to make ten equidistant holes on a one-meter long metal plate.

How a vertical column drill is made

To understand well how a vertical column drill works and is used, it's worth describing it in depth. Let's start with the various structural elements: the most important for the quality of the work to be done is clearly the electric motor. This block provides the necessary power to rotate the drill bit and there are different solutions on the market: for demanding and long-term work (for example if you work in a workshop and use the column drill every day for several hours) it's worth buying a powerful model.

For example 2.5 kW. For a model to use at home, 500 or just 350 W is enough but don't go too low if you want to have even a minimum of modularity. The lower part is the heaviest area of the drill, providing stability and support for the entire structure.

Don't underestimate: the foundations of the column drill offer safety and give precision, make sure it's solid and can be fixed to the bench. Right after that we find the work table, where the object to be drilled rests: it must be adjustable to provide the right flexibility to your work. Following that, attached to the motor, we find the drill head and chuck where you insert the bit.

How to drill with this tool

Using a column drill is fairly simple. Once assembled (preferably with pins on the workbench) you must indicate the operating point with a mark or a punch, position the object to be drilled on the adjustable base. Set this up, mount the bit you want to use and turn on the drill. With the lever or the handwheel you lower the rotating bit, make sure you've drilled as deep as needed and go back.

What are the strengths of a bench drill?

We need to highlight the precision of the work performed: the vertical and stable movement of the drill head along the column allows you to obtain holes that are very precise and perpendicular to the material surface. Even on multiple repeated operations.

So the column drill is perfect when you have a series of activities to perform, to reduce possible burrs and errors. This is because the base well anchored on the workbench reduces vibrations and jerky movements. It should be added that all this merges with a power that can be controlled with a hand movement on the lever or the wheel connected to the rack.

What must a good column drill have?

Once you mount a good drill bit for drilling in metal, like the one you find in the Krino catalog, you realize that a professional bench column drill must have a series of features to simplify the work.

Choose a solution with laser indicator for burr-free aiming and multiple speed settings (for example five). Aim for models with cast iron structure and locking collet of the element to be drilled with great safety and strength.

The height and angle of the object's support surface are two elements that you must be able to adjust to the millimeter, without specific tools. Also consider the distance between chuck and frame base: a good measure is around 250 millimeters.