Silverline 350W Bench Drill Press / Pillar Drill 250mm (10") 230V (262212)

This is a compact useful small bench drill, with five speeds (by changing the belt over the pulleys). I would note that the milled finish on the table and base are unusually course, a finishing cut on a miller wouldn’t go a miss. The “T” slots on the bed and table hadn’t been finished properly, I had to do that with a round and flat file, also there were a lot of burrs everywhere, they needed tidying up with a file. Once built up and fixed to the bench, the mains lead will plug into a 13A socket, although the plug is an adaptor, which if removed, reveals an European plug on the lead. Our mains supply is 240V 50Hz, the drill works well with that. I can’t comment on duty cycle, I note that it is not for industrial use, so I would assume it is rated for intermittent use only, which is all I shall be using it for. I would not recommend this for precision engineering, because the way the main drilling head fits onto the pole is a bit sloppy, so repeatability when using a jig fixed to the table, will be poor, also I would check all the geometry while setting up if I had to use it for this, for example, for making a part for a model steam engine. For general work like making a replacement part for a “Pop-up” Gazebo, as in the video, it is more than adequate. It was a good price, and delivered on time. I am pleased with it.

As commented elsewhere, and whilst I could be wrong, this machine looks to be a generic build badged and sold under a number of different company banners. It assembles easily and all the bits were in the box together with adequate instructions so that an average DIY'er will be up and running in less than ten minutes. I wouldn't call the result flimsy but it is quite basic seemingly on the principle that if functions it's fine, there's no finesse on any of the parts but everything does it's job if the user knows what they're doing. If the depth gauge breaks (which it might well do with careless handling) then one can either get out the superglue or find another way (I usually wrap a rubber band around the actual drill at the right level to give a specific depth but I am obviously a sucker for doing things the hard way). The point is that most if not all the support functions (ie depth gauge, angle indicators etc) are just about adequate but probably with a limited lifespan. The core function, spinning a chuck round accurately at varying speeds, is pretty solid and certainly worth the price; it's just that the user might need to use their initiative and experience if and when bits fall off. I bought a Silverline drill vice at the same time and it is annoying that the two aren't made for each other and a bit of ingenuity is needed with the (not supplied) bolting together arrangements; not ideal. The final point I'd make is about the guarantee (not sure why some reviewers didn't claim under the guarantee when the things they experienced happened) which is a healthy three years. Unless used by a professional three years would cover the average DIY'er very well indeed and on such a cheap machine is a good sales feature. I don't know how easy it would be to actually claim but the Silverline web-site looks like it has good access to any service needed. The only confusing thing (to me at least, must be my age) is that the back cover of the instruction manual says that it has a three year guarantee in the top left corner but, on the bottom right, is "Guaranteed Forever" in several languages, which is the usual Silverline guarantee for some other none power tools. Overall a good value item for occasional amateur DIY use but might prove difficult to live with if used and abused by more demanding (and heavy handed) tradesmen

I was told by a wise old machinist that the most important thing about a drill press is that there is almost no lateral movement in the chuck, because if there is, it wont drill straight holes. I was concerned that this 'value' item would not have been built well enough, but certainly My version of this has no play, and for that reason alone I would say this is a good drill and, given the price, I think it deserves five stars... I was also told by the same machinist to always use 'centre drills' to start the hole, and when I need an accurate hole this is what I do. Interestingly if you look around on the internet you can find this drill with at least three different manufacturers names on it. Most cost more than the Silverline - because you pay for the brand. Mine is a Silverline! I have had it for about six months and when accurate drilling is required - I use a centre drill, sharp drill bits, and hold the work piece firmly - and i have found I can drill very accurate holes in steel, brass, copper and aluminium. I agree with other reviews about noise, vibration and hassle of changing speed - and I would also add that the depth 'stop' is just two nuts on a threaded bar that tend to loosen themselves off.. which is a tad annoying- but I would have had to pay three to four times the price to see a significant jump in quality.

Bought this because of the price, only a few quid more than one I was looking at in Screwfix but was more powerful. Couldn't be happier; it's very easy to set up; is the perfect size; can easily go through metals, woods, plastics, ceramics and masonry providing you have a decent drill bit; is easy to change the speed on and is accurate. A few people have complained that it vibrates too much/ is noisy/ not accurate, but that just seems to me like they don't know how to set up a pillar drill - works perfectly fine for me. It is a little noisy, but not more than you would expect, and maybe it isn't built as well as some pillar drills out there (much more expensive pillar drills), but for the price it is very well made. Have used Silverline before, many times, and have never been disappointed - I would recommend this drill to anyone.

The reviews I looked at were mixed but I decided to try this drill and if it didn't come up to scratch I knew I could return it. The package arrived looking a little worse for wear but despite this the drill itself was in pristine condition. The instructions, such as they were, didn't help much but I assembled it without problem in a few minutes. Yes, there was some protective grease to remove, but nothing too much and it was there for a purpose. It looked the business so I fired it up and it ran perfectly. Yes, there was a little bit of vibration but nothing untoward and even this vanished as I lowered the drill bit into a bit of test wood. Next step was to adjust the speed so I unscrewed the cover and when I opened it up something flew out onto the floor. Fortunately I spotted it bounce and was able to pick up a nut. I suspect it came from the clip onto which the retaining screw attaches but I couldn't see a way of fixing it. Fortunately it doesn't seem to be needed and the top screws back on quite happily and the drill continues to work. Time will tell if I've missed something. So for the price this is an excellent bit of kit and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

Bought for my husbands birthday and he couldn't bear to be parted from it! It was assembled and found pride of place on top of our shoe cupboard in the kitchen. Every scrap of wood that was flat soon sported holes and I was expected to admire their accuracy! Vices (yes plural) were bought to add to it and stored next to the drill. At least the end result now will hold things vertically and when full not resemble spines radiating from a hedgehog! A lovely piece of kit, good value for money and, thankfully has now been moved to the garage! Threats were made!!!

Just purchased this drill. Arrived promptly, instructions for assembly a bit basic (could have been more helpful) but no real problems with assembly. I switched it on and nothing happened! Happily I had read the reviews and immediately examined the saftey cut-off switch in the pully housing. Problem easily identified as a shocking design! The saftety cut off-switch worked but the latch that was meant to depress the switch (and thus enable the power) physically could not. The latch itself spanned the slot within which was housed the switch. So never in a month of sundays could this operate. In addition, with the bolt provided I could not align the latch with the switch. Soultion: 1. trim the sides of the latch so that it would fit into the slot and operate the switch. 2. Buy a longer bolt (2x length) in order to align latch with switch (so had to drive to DIY store 7 miles away :-( ). Once corrected, the drill works fine. It did what I wanted it to do (drilling holes in a steel pipe)with no difficulty. So consider it to be good VFM. Summary - happy with the drill but badly let down by such a bad design/solution for the safety cut-out switch.

I bought this drill for my Dad who is a woodworker.I must admit he was a bit sceptical regarding the price for a machine like this. However he is delighted with it and the service too, ordered Thursday, delivered on Saturday. Took it out the box and was set up and running in less than an hour with no problems and the safety switch was no trouble either. He has already drilled numerous holes up to 50mm in wood, hard and soft, with no trouble. Spindle runs true. My Dad noticed some folks have been complaining that the drills were wobbling while drilling and this could be due to using only one hole to tighten the chuck. Tighten the chuck using all three holes should cure it, that's why there's three holes in the chuck.Don't buy cheap drill bits as they are sometimes not quite straight All in all a fine piece of kit.May not be, to an engineer, but for woodworking it's ideal. If you are a woodworker and need a drill which won't break the bank go for it.