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Mikrabench Micrometer Drill Press — 3.175 mm
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- Free shipping, US and Australia
- Secure payment
- 30-day returns
Description
A micrometer head sits on top of the spindle. You turn it to set the depth, the thimble reads in hundredths, and the stroke is 10 mm. That is the one thing this machine does that the other two do not, and for a blind hole you have to stop at a depth rather than go through, it is the only thing that matters.
The bit is held in a 3.175 mm collet with a brass nose, not a drill chuck. 3.175 mm is the eighth-inch shank that PCB micro bits and carbide engraving bits are ground to.
It is the TZ-525 head, and we would rather you heard it from us
Read the plate on the motor in the photographs: TZ-525, 3 to 12 V, 0.3 to 4 mm. It is the same head as our $129 drill press, with a micrometer fine feed built on top and, on the version we sell, a collet nose in place of the chuck. We are telling you that instead of letting you work it out after the parcel opens. If a fine feed is not the thing you are short of, buy the cheaper one and keep the difference.
The base, and the same warning as before
Flat plate, four countersunk screws holding the rubber feet, one hole through the middle. No slot. No bolt pattern. We printed a wrong claim about this base once on the other machine's page, corrected it in public, and left the correction up. So we are not going to let you discover it twice: you cannot bolt a vise to this base.
If holding the work down is the problem you are solving, the collet machine at $149 has two slots and a bolt circle — and no micrometer. The two machines solve different halves of the same job.
The power adapter, and the complaint about it
Six ratings, 3.7 average. Two of them are one star and both say the same thing: the supply in the box is 3 A, and at 3 A the motor will not reach its top speed. Both of those owners bought the 0.3 to 4 mm chuck version. The one owner who bought the collet version — the version on this page — gave it five stars, called it well made, and said it was worlds better than the battery rotary tool it replaced for jewellery work.
We print the bad reviews because they are the useful ones. That adapter is the weak part of this entire family of machines and it has been written up on our other drill press page for weeks. If top speed is what your work needs, we sell a 3 to 24 V bench supply that does not have that limit.
What comes in the box, per the seller
The machine, the speed-control adapter with its dial, and a set of tungsten carbide micro bits from 0.15 to 1.0 mm on 3.175 mm shanks. The bit set is the seller's claim, not ours yet. Ours is in transit; when it lands we will say what was actually in the carton, including anything that was not.
What we are not printing
Runout, rpm, wattage. The seller publishes none of the three. We are not copying them from a competitor's listing and signing our name to it.
What happens in early October
Our sample ships now and arrives in the first week of October. Then this page gets the collet's real runout on a dial indicator, the micrometer's actual backlash, and our own photographs — including whatever we do not like about it.
Delivery
Free and tracked, to the United States and to Australia alike. Two to three weeks. We hold no stock and we have no warehouse of our own: the order is picked and posted by the supplier after you place it, which is why we give a range and not a date.
30-day returns from the day it arrives. Return postage is yours, the price of the item comes back in full.
Shipping and returns
Shipping is free on every order, to the United States and to Australia, tracked, with no minimum. Orders are processed within 2 business days.
After that the number depends on what you bought, and the line under the price gives it. Most of the catalogue takes one to two weeks, and the heavier machines two to three. We hold no stock and we have no warehouse of our own: the order is picked and posted by the supplier after you place it, which is why every page gives a range and not a date.
Australia is not slower. An earlier version of this page said three to four weeks, on the assumption that further away means longer. It is the opposite: the parcels leave China, and China is closer to Sydney than to Philadelphia. The carrier quotes Australia no slower than the United States, and it costs us less to send. So the Australian figures here are the same as the American ones. What we cannot claim is that we have watched it happen - we have not shipped an Australian order yet, and the day we have real tracking from there these become our numbers instead of the carrier's.
On the plug, we have to correct ourselves. This page used to say our supplier sells an Australian-plug version of the adapter at the same price. That was wrong, and we are leaving the correction here rather than deleting the sentence. It came from a different machine in a different supplier's catalogue. The listing this machine actually comes from has no plug option at all. We asked the supplier straight out and they answered that they fit a compatible plug for the destination country - which is an answer, but it is theirs, not something we have checked. The plug block further up this page says what we will do if what arrives does not fit your wall.
You get a tracking number by email as soon as the parcel is scanned, not before. A link that sits at label created for a few days is normal on this route.
Returns: 30 days from delivery, unused and in its packaging. Nothing is excluded - there is no rule here about sale items. If it arrived damaged or does not hold tolerance, we pay the return label. If you simply changed your mind, the return postage is yours and the price of the item comes back in full. Email support@arvonelle.com before sending anything back.
Before you order
Will it plug into my outlet? Voltage, yes: the supply is rated 100 to 240 V, which covers both 120 V American mains and 230 V Australian mains, so no converter and no transformer. The plug is the part we cannot promise yet. The machine has no plug option we can select when we order it. We asked our supplier and they answered in writing that they fit a compatible plug for the destination country - we are quoting them, not claiming it, because we have not yet had one in our hands. Our sample is on order. If what arrives will not go into your wall, tell us: we post you the right adapter free, or refund you in full with the postage on us. An earlier version of this answer said the supplier sells a separate US-plug and Australian-plug version at the same price. That was wrong and came from a different machine; we are leaving the correction here instead of quietly deleting it.
Can it mill? As it ships, no. Milling needs an ER11 collet spindle in place of the drill chuck, because side load pulls a bit out of a chuck. That spindle is a real part and we are sourcing it. Until it is on the shelf we do not sell collets or end mills either.
Do your vises bolt to the press? On the $129 machine, no. We took one apart: its base has four screws holding the rubber feet and one unthreaded hole in the middle, and nothing else. Several pages on this site used to say otherwise and all of them have been corrected. Two things fix it - the 120 x 150 mm base plate, which replaces the original base and carries tapped holes, or the collet drill press at $149, whose base comes with two slots and a bolt circle already in it. The bench vises are a different thing entirely: the clamp-on ones, the engraving ball vise and the toolmaker's vise are bench tools and must not go under a spinning bit. Every page says which it is.
Do I pay tax or duty? In the United States, sales tax is added at checkout where your state charges it, and the total you see is the total. In Australia, consignments under AUD 1,000 normally carry 10% GST collected by sellers whose Australian turnover passes AUD 75,000 a year; we are well below that, so nothing is added at checkout and nothing should be asked of you on delivery. If a carrier ever asks you for a fee on a parcel from us, do not pay it - send us the notice first and we will sort it out with you. We are not going to claim we cover all duties everywhere. We cover what we control and we tell you about the rest.
What if a part breaks? For twelve months, tell us which part and we post a new one free. No return, no inspection, no photograph of the packaging. That applies in Australia too.
Can I cancel? Yes, within 24 hours, no questions. After that it is usually already moving.
Why trust a shop you have never heard of? You should not, on our say-so. Check instead that every page tells you what the tool will not do, that each product carries its own delivery number for your country, that we say which figures we measured and which we were told, and that when we get something wrong - the plug, which spindle fits, how long Australia takes - we say what the page used to say.

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Free shipping, US and Australia
Every order ships free, with tracking, to both countries.
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30 days to change your mind
Thirty days from delivery. Unused and in its original packaging.
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A person answers
Write to support@arvonelle.com and you get a real reply, not a form.