Bosch BPD40

[Lonsdale73]

Looking to upgrade my drill press and saw this one. Any regularss own or have experience of using one that can provide some informed advice please?

 

[Nelsun]

You can have mine!

















When you pry it from my cold dead hands.

 

[Lonsdale73]

You can have mine!

















When you pry it from my cold dead hands.

Is it that good? If so, what's your address, I'll be right round.

 

[Jarno]

LOL!

I also was looking around for a drill press, and really the option is to buy a 120EUR/GBP chinese drill press, which I used to have, or spend about double that amount and buy the Bosch.
The cheaper one only has a few spindle speeds, and on mine when lowering the drill, the pinole started rattling. Everything is pretty low quality, rough castings, poor quality of mounting materials etc.
For 260EUR/GBP you get much better quality, depth indication, continuously variable spindle speeds in two ranges, light, laser, more power (700W). So, really, it is a very good option indeed.

There are a few things I noted on mine, note that I bought mine last week, so I haven't done a lot of work and bearings might need to run in a bit:
It is pretty noisy, the motor runs quite a bit faster than the fixed speed motors on the cheaper drills.
It is not quite as stable as I'd like. I tried a 10mm regular drill bit (not brad point) in pine, without pre-drilling and it was shaking rather a lot.
It is pretty square out of the box, so that is good.
It would be nice if you can reverse the footplate and clamp it to the bench, to be able to drill into taller workpieces.

Pretty happy with it, and I expect the 140GBP/EUR or so extra outlay to be forgotten because of the better function and finish.

But, I don't expect putting an endmill into it to mill mortises will work well. Something a bit more stable is needed for that, and those machines are more in the 400-500EUR/GBP region, I wasn't ready to spend that kind of money (think I will try a 6mm end mill though, will post the results here).

 

[Nelsun]

Is it that good? If so, what's your address, I'll be right round.

The cost of just getting to Shetland would likely cover the cost of the drill and leave you plenty change!

It's the one I went for after looking around and only seeing various rebadged jobs for hundreds more that didn't look much better than my old £50 Silverline drill press. The digital depth stop is, for me, the winning feature (dead quick to set and stays put) besides having no belts to change, being relatively light weight and a speed dial.

The clamp thing is a bit of a gimmick and doesn't see much use - I built a table for it with your normal clamping options. The round handle can be a little bit awkward to turn if you're plunging any great distance but not in any major way. Oh, and I've not notice any wobble or run-out worthy of investigating on mine.

For the price of it I'd buy another in a blink. This is the review that sold it to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYCYGI0aAWc

 

[Lonsdale73]

LOL!

I also was looking around for a drill press, and really the option is to buy a 120EUR/GBP chinese drill press, which I used to have, or spend about double that amount and buy the Bosch.
The cheaper one only has a few spindle speeds, and on mine when lowering the drill, the pinole started rattling. Everything is pretty low quality, rough castings, poor quality of mounting materials etc.
For 260EUR/GBP you get much better quality, depth indication, continuously variable spindle speeds in two ranges, light, laser, more power (700W). So, really, it is a very good option indeed.

There are a few things I noted on mine, note that I bought mine last week, so I haven't done a lot of work and bearings might need to run in a bit:
It is pretty noisy, the motor runs quite a bit faster than the fixed speed motors on the cheaper drills.
It is not quite as stable as I'd like. I tried a 10mm regular drill bit (not brad point) in pine, without pre-drilling and it was shaking rather a lot.
It is pretty square out of the box, so that is good.
It would be nice if you can reverse the footplate and clamp it to the bench, to be able to drill into taller workpieces.

Pretty happy with it, and I expect the 140GBP/EUR or so extra outlay to be forgotten because of the better function and finish.

But, I don't expect putting an endmill into it to mill mortises will work well. Something a bit more stable is needed for that, and those machines are more in the 400-500EUR/GBP region, I wasn't ready to spend that kind of money (think I will try a 6mm end mill though, will post the results here).

It's one of those cheapy Chinese machines I'm upgrading from, mines has a Silverline badge but there appears to be dozens of others out there all pretty much identical. Even the basic model from Record Power appears to be much the same machine/spec but being RP is double the price! I think it's cost me more in WD40 just in the forlorn of making the raising the table less of a battle than the original outlay on the machine itself. I made a very basic table for it and was surprised just how much that improved its performance but I still want to upgrade.

There does appear to be a huge jump in price to next level and is almost as bewildering as table saw selection. I saw a lovely on at the Midlands Woodworking Show earlier this year but its price tag would have bought a nice new car!

Things that caught my eye with the Bosch were

1) 710w motor, more than double that of the Silverline and 40% more than many of the more expensive ones I saw (c500w)
2) Variable speed at the turn of a dial rather than messing about with belts
3) Fixed bed to support the workpiece with the head rising or falling to suit
4) Accurate setting of depth

Not sure if there's anything out there remotely similar in that price range?

 

[Lonsdale73]

Is it that good? If so, what's your address, I'll be right round.

The cost of just getting to Shetland would likely cover the cost of the drill and leave you plenty change!

It's the one I went for after looking around and only seeing various rebadged jobs for hundreds more that didn't look much better than my old £50 Silverline drill press. The digital depth stop is, for me, the winning feature (dead quick to set and stays put) besides having no belts to change, being relatively light weight and a speed dial.

The clamp thing is a bit of a gimmick and doesn't see much use - I built a table for it with your normal clamping options. The round handle can be a little bit awkward to turn if you're plunging any great distance but not in any major way. Oh, and I've not notice any wobble or run-out worthy of investigating on mine.

For the price of it I'd buy another in a blink. This is the review that sold it to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYCYGI0aAWc

Any crofts going up there? I'd relocate in the blink of an eye!

I saw that Manor Wood video this morning and that had me reaching for my wallet. Common sense (and an empty wallet!) prevailed and I thought I'd see if there was any members with guidance to offer afore jumping in and potentially ending up with a second - albeit pricier - Silverline!

 

[Nelsun]

Any crofts going up there? I'd relocate in the blink of an eye!

Well, if you're gonna bump me off for the drill press then you may as well take the house as well :lol:

There's always plenty properties to be had up here; the property market has lived in its own wee bubble and stayed healthy for as long as I've known. And, despite every second guy you ever meet being a "joiner by trade", there's no end of wealthy tradesmen going around... and yet still hard to find one that'll turn up :roll:

I saw that Manor Wood video this morning and that had me reaching for my wallet. Common sense (and an empty wallet!) prevailed and I thought I'd see if there was any members with guidance to offer afore jumping in and potentially ending up with a second - albeit pricier - Silverline!

I didn't see the point in stumping up for a bigger belt driven version as, unless you paid good money, it looked like you'd be getting something you'd learn to hate. The BPD40, although green Bosch, looked like an actual good bargain and I'd say it most certainly is from my experience.

I'll use paypal credit to buy things when money isn't falling out my pockets as they do 0% on things over £100 so long as you square them up within 4 months. Helps spread the cost 8)

 

[Jarno]

Not sure if there's anything out there remotely similar in that price range?

That was the point of my reply, I do not think there is anything similar in this price range. I'd forego some of the niceties for more stability, but you are looking at another 200 EUR/GBP outlay for something which is probably not as nicely finished.
So yeah, buy the Bosch or spend 500GBP (Or, alternatively, buy the Bosch AND spend a few hundred on a used mortiser).

 

[Lonsdale73]

Not sure if there's anything out there remotely similar in that price range?

That was the point of my reply, I do not think there is anything similar in this price range. I'd forego some of the niceties for more stability, but you are looking at another 200 EUR/GBP outlay for something which is probably not as nicely finished.
So yeah, buy the Bosch or spend 500GBP (Or, alternatively, buy the Bosch AND spend a few hundred on a used mortiser).

Not quite ubderstanding the stability part. Are you saying the whole machine moves when drilling or there's a bit of wobble in the, er, bit?

Have you seen this? Perhaps you could adapt this idea to give extra depth?

 

[Jarno]

That's a good tip, thanks.
My remark about stability was not about wobble in the bearings but it vibrated when I used a 10mm drill bit without pre-drilling. Don't remember if I clamped the workpiece.

 

[Lonsdale73]

You can have mine!

When you pry it from my cold dead hands.

You can relax now. I decided I couldn't afford the move to Shetland and it would be marginally cheaper just to buy one so I did. Been having a play with it and loving the ability to rase and lower the head rather than the table. Couldn't resist a quick test so cut some 102mm holes in 18mm pine board, birch plywood and MDF. Proverbial hot knife through the pine, quick, clean and no scorching. Not quite so good on MDF, bit of scorching, fair gunked up the cutter but drill wasn't screwed down to anything and the clamps worked loose so that might have been part of the problem. Give the holesaw bit of a clean up before attempting and that was better, not quite as good as pine but much better than the MDF.

I saw a chart somewhere recently with recommended speeds for different bits in various materials - anyone know where I might find such a thing again?

 

[Nelsun]

Phew, I can come out of hiding now then 8)

I laminated a printout of a speed chart I found in the google. There were many in there but I plumped for this one (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1361/ ... dchart.pdf) as it catered for most of the bits I'm likely to use.

 

[Lonsdale73]

Phew, I can come out of hiding now then 8)

I laminated a printout of a speed chart I found in the google. There were many in there but I plumped for this one (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1361/ ... dchart.pdf) as it catered for most of the bits I'm likely to use.

That's useful thanks. Think I might have been going a tad fast with the hole-saw in MDF!

 

[Nelsun]

Phew, I can come out of hiding now then 8)

I laminated a printout of a speed chart I found in the google. There were many in there but I plumped for this one (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1361/ ... dchart.pdf) as it catered for most of the bits I'm likely to use.

That's useful thanks. Think I might have been going a tad fast with the hole-saw in MDF!

Paint it red and it goes even faster!

 

[SamTheJarvis]

I can recommend the Bosch BPD machines. The design allows for deep holes to be drilled which is often quite useful.

 

[Eric]

Pleased to hear your BPD40 is living up to expectations.

Mine must be a couple of years old and has worked well for wood and light metal use. So easy to change speed with the gearbox Hi/Lo selector and variable speed, I wouldn't want to go back to pulley swapping with a belt. The digital display for depth has come in quite handy more times than I expected.

I have jammed the quick release chuck on a few occasions, but that has been my fault for pushing it too far with 10mm and larger holes in steel. Thought of changing the chuck, then had a better thought - to get a milling machine and keep the Bosch just for wood

 

[Lonsdale73]

Thought of changing the chuck, then had a better thought - to get a milling machine and keep the Bosch just for wood

I like your thinking!

 

[ShaunL]

Another feature of the Bosch is that it's very easy to mod. After watching a couple of German You-tubers' ideas I upgraded mine a little.