KATSU Mini Bench Drill Pillar Press Stand 100W with Fully Adjustable Speed + 6mm Chuck + Handle Lock + Electronic Variable Speed Switch

As a hobbyist jeweller I have a small workshop and space is limited. The drill is a perfect size and doesn't take up too much space on the bench.Very easy to set up and use. Good speed control and press action.I've invested in some good quality drill bits and the drill has so far been effective in drilling accurately through silver sheet and wire upto 3mm thick.Perfect for drilling 0.8mm piercing holes in metal sheet.

This device is designed well and relatively quiet compared to its larger siblings.It's a fairly powerful unit for its size, but don't expect it to perform the tasks of a larger unit this is suitable for hobby work and smaller items but will happily do 7mm holes into hardwood with ease.I have yet to use it on metal but I imagine it'll cope with smaller holes just fine.Easy to adjust speed and torque settings and height of the press from the base.All parts fit well together and the unit is very simple to use. Arrived well packed and overall a sturdy little unit with impressive abilities for its size.

I purchased this unit for drilling printed circuit boards. The chuck is well manufactured and holds drills down to 0.8mm shank (smallest diameter tested) accurately and squarely with virtually no run-out. There is no quill assembly. The whole motor and drive arrangement moves up and down on a long tubular bearing containing the drill spindle, which contributes to the excellent rigidity of the drill. The pillar and drill action are accurately square to the base in both planes. The depth stop arrangement is a little fiddly, but once set is repeatable. The manual contains a good exploded view of the drill components, but is otherwise next to useless (very poorly translated).The cast base supplied with my drill was not flat, with the centre about 1.5mm lower than the edges. The drill is capable of much better alignment than this, and I put in some work with a file and scraper to improve this. Over-tightening of the height clamp is prevented by a plastic washer between the closing edges (nice touch); unfortunately on my machine it was too thick and prevented the clamp from working properly. A few file strokes fixed this. Overall, the drill benefitted from being stripped down, cleaned and re-lubricated which removed traces of swarf and greatly improved the smoothness of its operation.The metalwork of the drill is properly electrically bonded to the centre pin of the (UK) flat pin plug, unlike some equipment of Chinese manufacture that I have received. The speed control is a simple triac circuit with partial compensation for motor loading. There is no mains suppressor fitted to the power lead, which radiates a lot of electrical noise when the motor is running. A simple filter installed inside the headstock casting fixed this, and is essential if you want to remain on good terms with your neighbours. As delivered, I do not believe that the drill can be compliant with UK/EU EMC regulations. There is no CE marking.Spare drive belts are not available from AIM Tools, but belt material is readily available from model supplies companies if you are prepared to make your own, and at least one UK supplier of small lathe equipment will make up this type of belt to order.Overall, this is a good little machine that that required a bit more work than expected during commissioning. It is excellent for fine work with small drill sizes and very good value for money if you are prepared to put in some initial effort. If you buy one, do fit a mains filter or find an electrician who will install one for you.

UPDATE 2022: Still going strong after several years of use. Since my first review I'm now using it on hard woods - steamed beech, maple, rosewood. Also used on brass, copper, acrylic, Jesmonite with no problem. If you're trying to push this drill beyond small work, don't expect it to perform like a normal bench drill. I already have one of those for larger work. Tools should be used within it's limitations. Also, get decent quality drill bits to suit the material, these are often more important than the machine itself. I find using half the drill bit (inserted further into the chuck), I can avoid any flexing that can happen with small diameter bits. This is especially helpful with hard slippery materials like end grain woods, acrylic or brass.Excellent so far! I make wooden jewellery, and needed something that drilled perfectly perpendicular holes with a depth of upto 25mm. This does the job with no problems. The drill runs super smooth and solid, and for such a small thing, it thankfully weighs a good amount, so no need for mounting onto a table, I just sit it on a rubber mat.It feels like a solid build except for the speed dial which is a rough flimsy plastic, not a big deal though. There are things I would not do on this. The speed seems excessively fast on the medium setting spindle, and I can see this getting hot if used for long-ish drilling (say for harder materials such as stone). I have mine set on the slowest spindle which is fine for my semi-hard woods, and I also drill by 'wood peckering', going in and out to avoid heating/burning.All said, this is a god send compared to the crappy Dremel workstation drill press I was using before. I was considering the Proxxon mini drill, but that's over £200, so you can imagine my delight when I saw the Katsu for sale at under £50. This really is a great tool when used with consideration and caution.BTW If anyone needs spare parts, there's a UK seller on that well known auction site, selling spare motors, drive belts and even extra chucks for the Katsu drill.

Great little drill press for the money. Drills very true - something that is very important for small precision drill presses. It does seem to have enough power for a machine of this size. I suspect that the negative reviews relating to low power relate to the fact that the user selectable gearing (by changing the pulley belt position) has not been set correctly or the reviewer has purchased the wrong type of machine for the job at hand (drilling small, precision holes).