WEN 4212T 5-Amp 10-Inch Variable Speed Cast Iron Benchtop Drill Press with Laser

4212T Out of the box review.I had to put my very much used, 45-year-old Shopsmith to rest. There are so many things this drill press cannot do compared to the Shopsmith, but for the price, and given that it is not a commercial machine, it gets 5 Stars out of the box.First, it came via some yet known shipper. No name on the shipping label, and it had a lithium battery label??? But heck, it arrived in two days as promised.Price and Features were the menu. Using this for woodworking, so I just gotta have:- Variable speed.- Laser centering.- Easy/accurate dial depth adjustment.Easy enough to assemble, but some goofy stuff in the manual. Read twice, or even three times. Overall well-made, but some lack of attention to details. Such as, the tachometer readout is mounted crooked.Will report back in a few months. So far, so good.

I recently upgraded from an 8" drill press to this 10" drill press. The reason for the upgrade was that my 8" drill press was just woefully underpowered and the depth gauge had broken off (it was never very good anyway). I already own a Wen thickness planer and bandsaw and have been very pleased with them both. That combined with the price and features made this a no brainer for me.Some of the features that I love about this drill press are the laser guide and the variable speed function. With my old drill press, I had to change the belt to different pulleys. With this one, it has a lever on the side that you simply push or pull to to adjust the speed. Inside the housing are 2 pulleys that will open or close to change the diameter of the pulley similar to a CVT transmission on a car. A digital readout on the front of the drill press lets you know the RPMs. It does take a couple of seconds for the readout to catchup to the actual RPMs but, Thats no big deal to me.The laser guides (at least on mine) were dead on accurate. They are pretty bright as well and have saved me lots of time. As several other reviewers have mentioned, they are battery powered (2 double AA) and it is easy to forget to turn the switch off. Fortunately, the battery compartment is easy to access and you only have to remove a couple of screws.The depth gauge on this drill press is a lot more robust than my old one also. With this one you turn the dial to the desired stop and tighten a bolt. That's it. No nuts to fool around with and no flimsy plastic that you have to worry about breaking.The table on this drill press is nice and flat and easily adjusted with a turn of the crank handle. The arbor was nice an snug with no side to side play which means no drift when the drill bit hits the surface to be drilled. The handles all screw in and have a flat spot so that you can get them nice and snug.Overall, a well constructed drill press. I can say this with confidence for 2 reasons. 1. I recently had to drill over 100 holes that were 2 1/4" in diameter. This drill press handled them without the slightest hiccup. After running continuously for over 2 hours, the motor was not hot and the drill press was still just spinning away. 2. While moving another work cabinet the other day, the drill press fell off and landed on the floor from a hight of about 3 feet. The belt and pulley housing got a big dent in it but, I picked it up, checked all the handles, and turned it on, and it ran fine. I was sure that something was broken but, much to my relief, everything is working fine and now it has a little "character."

I got this variable speed drill press for Christmas. I am a machinist and I use it to make up prototypes and other new idea I have.First, the good. This press was extremely easy to setup. In 20 minutes you can have it all ready to go. The instructions were well written and helpful.The press has a 3/4 hp motor, which is substantial for most projects I work on. The hardest material I've drilled is some 1018 SAE steel, 1/8". It went through just fine with some wax lubricant.The variable speed is really good. Because of the built in led screen on the front, you can see very well your rpm's. As far as I can see it is accurate as well. My press can take from 600rpm up to 3100rpm no problem. It vibrates a touch as you get higher up, but nothing out of the ordinary. It's a quiet machine.The laser sight on it came well calibrated to my table. I didn't even need to touch it, except to install the included battery. I rarely use it, as I prefer to locate using other means. When I have used it though, it is right on point.The action is smooth on the column as well. It isn't difficult to ratchet up and down, which si really convenient. The column stop stops it from moving well, so no worries about your table moving while you drill.Now the bad:This press is advertised as a 10" drill press. To me, that means that I get 10" of travel from the quill. That is not the case. The quill can travel 5" only. The column travels approximately 20". I am not really sure where they get off saying it is a 10" press, but it isn't. That was a disappointment, as 5" of travel can be tough to deal with occasionally.My other concern is the chuck. The accompanied chuck is pretty bad. For light contracting work it is no problem. I work with some tight tolerances, and the chuck tends to loosen up on the drill, or run out of center sometimes. I am planning on replacing it so it isn't a big deal. Again, for work where you don't need to hold tight tolerances it isn't really an issue.Overall, a really good buy. The press is solid, and does what it needs to. The variable speed, led screen, and laser sight are convenient and work very well. The press comes calibrated out of the box for speed and such, and that is a big + in this company's book. I take away 1 star for the 5" vs. 10" argument, which I am really disappointed about; it also comes off for the chuck.I would have given it three without the great calibration and convenient tools on it. The chuck isn't such a big deal, as I didn't expect anything great, and it does the job. The 5" travel when 10" was advertised was the real killer. I would love to hear from the company regarding what the deal with that is.A good press, with strong power. The press really is great for it's price range, and I would buy this over many others. If you're in the market, this is a great buy!