Square holes in steel · review
A mini drill press for 0.6 to 6 mm (0.02 to 0.24 in) bits, with a 24 V variable supply and a 40 mm (1.57 in) stroke — the only machine in this hub built for work smaller than a drill chuck normally reaches.
Where we come out The right machine for holes too small for a real drill press, and the wrong one for anything this site calls steel.
Every other machine on this shelf is built to turn slowly with force. This one is built to turn fast with very little, and that is not a fault: a B10 chuck holds bits from 0.6 to 6 mm (0.02 to 0.24 in), and a 1 mm (0.04 in) drill needs thousands of revolutions a minute to cut at all, because rim speed falls with diameter. A 13 mm (0.51 in) keyed chuck on a bench press cannot even grip a 0.6 mm (0.02 in) bit.
What you get for that is a small, rigid, controllable machine. Three metal axes on two linear bearings, the motor repositioned on a pendant bracket to keep the vibration out of the spindle, a 40 mm (1.57 in) stroke, a 24 V supply whose voltage sets the speed, and a footprint under six inches by five. Two slots in the base take a mini vice — one is supplied — or a CNC sliding table, and ten HSS bits come in the box.
The limits are published and they are the ones to respect. NovelLife names wood, plastic, resin and aluminum; a 795-class DC motor makes its power at speed and almost no torque at the bottom of the range, which is exactly where steel is drilled. There is also no runout figure anywhere, which on a machine sold on drilling accuracy is the one specification this hub’s introduction asks for first.
Read on the day this page was built: $80 at the American Amazon shop.
Read from Keepa on the day this page was last revised; stock and price both move without notice.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-10-07. The live price is at the top of the page.
| Amazon reference | B0BKZRD2P7 |
|---|---|
| EAN | 0618202894626 |
Because the right speed depends on the bit. This hub’s buying tip is about large bits in steel: a 13 mm (0.51 in) drill wants around 500 rpm because the cutting edge at the rim is traveling fast even when the spindle is slow. A 1 mm (0.04 in) bit at 500 rpm is barely cutting at all — its rim speed is a thirteenth of the larger bit’s — and wants thousands of rpm. A machine for 0.6 to 6 mm (0.02 to 0.24 in) bits is correctly geared high, and the same tip says nothing about it.
Not as specified. NovelLife lists wood, plastic plate, resin plate, aluminum "and another soft material", and the honest limit is in the motor: a 795-type DC motor on 24 V produces its power at speed and very little torque at the bottom of its range, which is where steel has to be drilled. For a 2 mm (0.08 in) hole in thin brass or aluminum it will work; for anything this site calls metalwork, the bench presses on this shelf are the machines.
Same shelf, nearest price — what else that money puts on the bench.
Details checked on October 7, 2026.
Circuit boards, model work and small holes in soft material, where a full-size press cannot grip the bit
Amazon reports what buyers took in the month before this page was last checked: at least 200.
The figure is a floor, rounded by Amazon, and read through Keepa — it says what buyers picked, not what a maker claims.
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for welding and metalworking machines and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
710 W · 13 mm (0.51 in) in steel · 90 mm (3.54 in) quill travel · €250
Ninety millimeters of quill travel — nearly twice the entry machines, and the figure that decides deep holes.
Best for: Deep holes in solid stock, and anyone tired of repositioning halfway down
1/4 HP induction · 5 speeds 620–3,100 rpm · 10 in swing · laser alignment
A ten-inch bench press with a 620 rpm bottom gear and a laser alignment system — the slowest speed of the two stepped machines on this shelf.
Best for: A bench where the hole has to land where the line says, in steel up to about 10 mm (0.39 in)
≈ $200
1,400 W · 800 rpm fixed · 40 mm (1.57 in) boring · 2,810 lbf magnet · 11 cutters
A magnetic drill with a 40 mm (1.57 in) cutter capacity and one fixed speed of 800 rpm — which is the opposite of what this hub’s buying tip asks for.
Best for: Holes in structural steel plate of 10 mm (0.39 in) or more, where the machine has to go to the work
≈ $175
