Scheppach DP50 DP60 Digital Bench Drill / Pillar Drill / Drill Press Review

Bought on a whim, thought this machine worth sharing a review of, if for no other reason than an excuse for the rant at the end! I actually really like the drill - but for one flaw! Link below for the Italian supplier I bought from plus further specs.

Techical data:

Dimensions: 330 x 300 x 715 mm
Base L x W x H 330 x 300 x 30 mm
Speed range 170 – 800 / 490 – 2600 min-1
Chuck cap 1.5 – 13 mm
Drill stroke 90 mm
Drill-Ø in wood 40 mm
Drill-Ø in steel 13 mm
Drive 2-Gear
Chuck to base max. 280 mm
Motor 230 – 240 V~ / 50 – 60 Hz
Input 710 W
Weight net / gross 10.3 / 13.1 kg
Packaging dimensions: 695 x 340 x 265 mm

[chriselliott]

Your rant has triggered one of my own! Five or so years ago I spent a considerable amount of time trying to find a decent quality bench top drill press. I visited as many retail shops as I could, Axminster, Machine Mart, and a couple of independents. I got hands on half dozen different makes of pillar drill, and regardless of whether they were big name brands or not they were all crap! All had an unacceptable amount of play in the quill, giving exactly the problem you have identified.

I finally ended up with a Record Power pillar drill, which I was assured by one of their representatives had tight tolerances. Well guess what, it proved to be equally useless. I even returned it for their inspection and it came back 'repaired'. Unfortunately, the only discernable difference was a coffee cup ring mark on the top of the belt housing!

The truth is that the majority of these smaller bench top machine tools are cheap and nasty. And the option of buying a quality vintage tool does not work for small size tools like this since most of the old quality pillar drills are enormous.

[andrewbutterly]

Very helpful review. Agree entirely that focus should be on no nonsense and accurate drilling.

[tuesboomer]

Bravo! Your rant is spot on. Subbing. Keep us updated on any 'fix' you may devise in the future.

[brendanlee]

This is a proper review with everything you need to know about the product, 10:56 delivered with a knowledgeable practical approach.

[SirBenJamin_]

Completely agree with you. And the first rule of engineering ... if you can't make it accurate (at least within budget), make it adjustable! ... Planer/Thicknessers are a perfect example of this. Lots of cheap ones with no adjustability, so if it's not true, it essentially gets scrapped. Crazy. And in regard to your 'it's got one job' comment, don't get me started on squares. How they manage to get those so out of true from the factory is beyond me. And no, it's not damage due to transport, the damn things have been riveted out of square. We can build a Raspberry Pi for a few quid, but heaven forbid we try and align and rivert two bits of metal square ....

[paulamv]

Excellent review, & I totally agree with your comment It seems that money is peoples ultimate goal nowadays. Whatever happened to QUALITY before quantity.

[julichambers]

Thanks for a great review, and rant, voicing what we all need/want in a budget but accurate bench drill.

[martinmackett]

Totally agree with all you said in your rant, I have been toying with getting a drill press for longer than I can remember now, but have decided that I would not use it enough to justify it, and will stick to using my trustee Record power pillar drill stand. It's built like a tank, and I can put just about any of my drills in it. I got to be honest and say it was not cheap when I got it over 30 years ago though. Nice review, you saved me £££££ on a toy I don't need!!

[harryedwards]

Your a fantastic straight talker no words wasted absolutely on point Brilliant

[patricksmith]

You are spot on with your rant (no run out there!). It seems totally ridiculous that for the small extra cost of a good bearing the whole machine is flawed. Apparently the bosch ones are nothing to write home about either. This one and the bosch are the only two drills like this, and it is definately the way forward as far as bench drills are concerned. So come on manufacturers let's have so really quality bench drills of this type. They do a very good job with the hand drills.

[Ferdybroom]

a very helpful review that covers most of the questions I had, although I'm still in doubt whether the motor is really up to the job. Short, no nonsense and to the point, you've done your homework. So many other amateur Youtube reviewers fail to work out what they want to say first, and then spend ages trying to find the right words whilst their camera is taking crazy random shots of the floor. You'd make a good radio presenter.

[raysmith]

Just found you as your video was promoted, great review and totally agree I have a Machine Mart one and the base isn't either flat so it rocks on my bench. 40 years ago the drills would have been basic, well made and true and accurate. I remember buying a Black & Decker 1/2 inch hand drill and it cost me 2 weeks wages, it had a metal gearbox and it was quite accurate. Just wish manufacturers would just give us accurate tools with no frills.

[jonahguitarguy]

I noticed with the viewing angle of the second hole drilled in the aluminum that the center punched hole was not lined up with the drill point. Any normal twist drill will wander to and center on the punched hole. Shorter center drills are made for locating holes without the wander and once located the hole can be finished with the less stable twist drill. Not to say that the loose bearing that bearing that came with this machine should be accepted or tolerated. But more as work around. I like the digital depth read out, could explain why there is no scale on the manual lock.

[davidsneddon]

I really like your no nonsense delivery BBB, rant aside this is a fair review and even with the rant still makes good viewing. All in all good stuff and for most DIY’ers this machine should be fine but I wholeheartedly agree with your manufacturer rant, they have one job to do so they should just do it, make the drill so it drills straight.

[briancranch]

I like your style. Power tools are so cheap in real terms now they're being bought by the world and his dog and the importers know gimmicks sell. A drill only has one task and technically is a very simple machine to manufacture so you are totally correct, there's no excuses and we all love a good rant!!

[rich]

Looks like it may be difficult to take out the play in the spindle due to the style of machine. Only ever used ones with a quil which support the spindle on bearings at both ends, spindle running from either belts or a gearbox. You are at the mercy of that motor wobbling about directly driving the spindle from what i can see. Still, i find most general stuff doesn't require tight tolerances. Centre punch and you'll be fine. If i need to be more accurate i use a centre, that i turned, in the chuck and line it up with scribe lines ( not centre punched) before clamping. This looks a very convenient machine to use so i bet you use it often. I'm sure it will give you good service, i wouldn't worry about the play. Great vids mate, cheers.👍

[malcolmunderwood]

excellent review, thanks for your detail observations, that has just saved me £129 from Aldi.

[jasonlaverty]

Excellent video and indeed perfect rant.
Just been making some DIY MFT clamps and my drilled oles needed to be better than eye ball, but had to use the two blocks of wood to get a some what parallel.
I think I will wait until LIDL gets them back in again, as at least I can take it back if it's pants.

[sandman]

Hi there and a very justified rant at the end, i have to be honest i have recently bought the cheaper version from lidl it cost £60 but its not digital, it did have a few problems with it, lasers not set correct easy fix, side to side wiggle once taken apart i made a little bracket for the slide its all but perfect now like you a slightly slower start also depth stop sticker not on correct good old dremel sorted that, the thing is i rarely need a pillar drill so no point spending alot

[knightrideruk]

Get yourself a 45° spot drill and use it before using twist drill. Nice review.