Square holes in steel · review
A cast iron eight-inch bench press whose slowest speed is 750 rpm — right at the limit this hub’s buying tip warns about.
Where we come out A well-specified small press let down by a 750 rpm bottom gear — right for bits up to 8 mm (0.31 in) in steel, wrong for the 13 mm (0.51 in) its chuck will hold.
The specification is published in full, which on this shelf is worth saying first: a 2.3 A induction motor on ball bearings, five speeds at 750, 1,100, 1,500, 2,100 and 3,200 rpm, an 8 in swing, 2 in of spindle travel, a 1/2 in keyed chuck, a 6.5 in square table that bevels 45 degrees each way, and overall dimensions of 23 in tall on a 7 by 11 in base.
Two of those figures are the machine’s limits and they point the same way. The bottom speed is 750 rpm, and this hub’s buying tip is explicit that a drill whose slowest gear is around 800 rpm will overheat and blunt every large bit you own — a 13 mm (0.51 in) drill in mild steel wants roughly 500. The chuck will close on 13 mm (0.51 in); the machine will not drill it well. Up to about 8 mm (0.31 in) the speed is appropriate and the press is a good one.
The travel is the other. Two inches is the shortest on this shelf, so a part thicker than 51 mm (2.01 in) has to be drilled in two bites with the table moved between them. What the machine does have is the thing small presses usually lack: cast iron mass and an induction motor, which together are why it drills more accurately than its price suggests. No runout figure is published, here or anywhere on this shelf.
Read on the day this page was built: $124 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 | B08ZVWRZR9 |
|---|---|
| EAN | 0044459420606 |
Barely, and only for small holes. This hub’s buying tip puts a 13 mm (0.51 in) bit in mild steel at roughly 500 rpm and warns that a drill whose bottom gear is 800 rpm will overheat and blunt large bits. At 750 rpm this machine is fine for bits up to about 8 mm (0.31 in) in steel and increasingly wrong above that — the chuck will take 13 mm (0.51 in), and the speed will cook it. In wood or aluminum the same speed is unremarkable.
How thick a part you can drill in one pass. Two inches is 51 mm (2.01 in), so anything deeper has to be drilled, the table lowered, and the hole picked up again — which rarely stays concentric. It is the shortest travel on this shelf; the published European presses here run from 50 to 90 mm (1.97 to 3.54 in), and the 12-inch WEN further down this page has more.
Same shelf, nearest price — what else that money puts on the bench.
Details checked on October 7, 2026.
Small holes in steel and general bench work, where the machine has to be short enough to live under a shelf
Amazon reports what buyers took in the month before this page was last checked: at least 400.
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
