Bosch PBD 40 | Review and Field Report After 5 Years Of Drilling in Metal

The Bosch PBD 40 bench drill has been helping me for the past 5 years to drill small and not so small holes into steel. Thanks to its design, it can even be (mis-)used as a magnetic drill. For a bench drill costing around 250,- Euro, that's actually quite ok, isn't it? The video footage in this video is from the past 5 years. And the machine still works, in case anyone is wondering. :-)

Links to some of the tools used in this video*:

The Bosch PBD 40 bench drill:

My machine vice with 100mm jaw width:

Better machine vice from Röhm with 120mm jaw width:

Hole saw set 16 - 30 mm:

Hole saw set 19 - 64 mm:

My vice "Ridgid Peddinghaus 'Junior' 140 mm":

Drilling and cutting oil in a can:

* These are affiliate links. You can use the links simply to compare prices, but of course you can also use them to order something straight away. If you buy something through these links, I receive a commission, the price does not increase for you. Thank you very much!

[JustinShaedo]

This has to be the most useful video on this drill. Thank you for showing it's reliability, uses, and the great sense of humour. I was particularly please you could see through the hole without any auxiliary means 😆

[EirikBrandalf]

Took me an absolute age to drill through 8mm plexiglass with a 65mm hole saw, mostly due to the melted plastic filling the space between the teeth. Melted leftovers might not be the case with steel, but I do feel your pain. Happy to see your PBD 40 surviving for five years through all of it though, because I'm giving it a similarly hard time after only a few months in my possession.

[thomascallaghan]

I’m thinking of getting one and after watching your great video I may buy one 👍

[ddimov]

Mine died after about 2 years of seldom use. It first appeared to tun at max rpm (couldn't lower down the rpm). Now it wants to start but cuts out. Brushes look good - on par with the little use it has seen. It's disappointing the elctronics biard is potted so not possible to repair - only replace. This is based on online research - others have pointed to this board as frequent failure. I'm not there yet - still need to take it apart

[Falstaff]

I have just bought this machine but I also have a 12 speed industrial pillar drill with coolant sprays & filtration tank which makes easy work of drilling steel plates etc & which is the one I would use for the project you have done & lets be honest the Bosch is a a sort of professional DIY drill & as such has limited capabilities when requiring heavier duty use

[mszmb]

Great video, I have the same drill and I did some modifications to mine (chuck, bearings, handle and anti-wobbling spacer) but the whole head unit still has side to side wobble of around 0.5mm when pushed or when doing more "heavy duty" jobs, like cutting steel using large hole saw. Do you have the same issue with yours? I've noticed some wobbling in the video, but I am curious how serious is it in your case? Or maybe this is just the "feature" of this particular model from Bosch?:)

[sajadeshahidpour]

Dear Talhoffer; thank you for this insightful and humorous review ! I live in Paris area and I just saw the PDD today at sale for 120 euros (!) in a big DIY chainstore, i really am tempted to biuy it.
I had some doubts regarding some comments on the internet as to the juggling of the chuck which can make the drilling inaccurate, as well as the plastic levers which are not durable at all.

May I ask your opinion on those two points ?
Thank you in advance !

[derb.]

Endlich mal jemand der die Bosch zum Metall bohren nimmt 👍. Wie ist deine ehrliche Meinung darüber lieber sparen für eine bessere oder ist die ok auch wenn man etwas öfters und intensiver damit arbeitet?
Grüße 🤘

[maciej.muller]

Is it possible to drill 100 holes in 10mm metal sheet (building welding table:). Diameter of holes - 16mm. I''m concidering the same method as you - drilling through the hole of the drill table. Do you think it will work?

[MrJofArnold]

Well that certainly answers my question "cant it drill holes in steel?" 😆

[javilo]

What clamp brand did you use? That white steel does look solid!

[mures]

Is it possible to attach a mortise adaptor on this drill?

[twojszklarz]

What is the music in the 3rd minute of this video?

[qvbanana]

Question, can this Bosch work at low speed like 30rpm?

[ciptrofin]

Is there an attachment to allow drilling at an angle ?

[jojo]

Hi, can this Bosch drill have its body swing 180 degrees around the main post to the back so that base plate is out of the way, to drill some thick or long stock, end grain, or dog holes on a bench? Thank you !

[lajosnagy]

Dear Talhoffer!
In my experience, the PDB40 machine's biggest setup problem is as follows.
The green machine body can turn around the vertical column.
At least that's the case with my machine.
You have a great deal of experience with this DiY drilling machine.
I would like to ask from You, that did you meet on the net to solve this problem with any way?
Your kind advice I would like to thank You in forward.
Lajos Nagy, Hungary