{"product_id":"mikrabench-mini-drill-press","title":"Mikrabench Mini Drill Press — 0.3 to 4 mm","description":"\u003cp\u003eA bench drill small enough for watch plates and steady enough to trust with the part you already spent an evening on. Aluminium body, belt drive, 12 V. The chuck takes bits from 0.3 mm to 4 mm and brings them down straight.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRead this before you buy: the plug\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe power adapter arrives with a European two-pin plug, not a US one.\u003c\/strong\u003e The adapter itself takes 110 to 240 V, so it runs on American power without a transformer - but the pins are the wrong shape for your wall, and you will need a plug adapter, the two-dollar kind sold in any hardware store or airport.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe could have left that off the page and let you find out when the box opened. Most shops do. We would rather lose the sale than start with that. We are looking for a US-plug version of this machine, and when we have one this paragraph disappears and the page says so.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe numbers, before anything else\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e30 watts.\u003c\/strong\u003e 12 V, 5 A. That is the whole story of this machine and it is why the limits below are what they are. Most shops do not print this figure. We lead with it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e400 to 4500 rpm\u003c\/strong\u003e, continuously variable. The dial is on the power adapter, not on the machine.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaker's drilling capacity: 4 mm in wood, 3 mm in metal.\u003c\/strong\u003e Read the next section before you take the 3 mm at face value.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChuck 0.3-4 mm, JT0 taper.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e100 x 80 x 180 mm.\u003c\/strong\u003e Column 13 mm, stroke 13 mm. About the desk footprint of a coffee maker.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIt is quiet.\u003c\/strong\u003e Owners of this machine mention working at night without annoying the house. That is not a spec, it is what people who own one say.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWeight: we will publish ours from our own scale.\u003c\/strong\u003e The figures in circulation range from 800 g to 2.1 kg and they cannot all be right, so we are not repeating any of them.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat owners actually say, including the bad part\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe read the reviews on this machine before we listed it. Two things come up again and again, and you should know both.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe torque is modest, so the honest working limit in metal is nearer 2 mm than 3.\u003c\/strong\u003e One owner drilling brass for model railway work put it plainly: good precision, quiet, but low torque, and in practice he would keep it to 2 mm. The 3 mm figure is the manufacturer's. The 2 mm is a man with brass in front of him. Believe the second one.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe speed regulator in the box is the cheapest part of the machine.\u003c\/strong\u003e Another owner said the drill itself was excellent and the regulator looked assembled in somebody's garage - and still worked. That matches what we expect at this price. It is also why we keep spare regulators on the shelf: if yours dies inside 12 months, you tell us and we post one, free.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAbout the photographs on this page\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA third complaint comes up on machines like this one: photos that do not match what arrives. So here is where ours came from. \u003cstrong\u003eThe pictures above are the manufacturer's own.\u003c\/strong\u003e We are telling you that instead of implying we shot them. Our own sample is on its way, and when it lands we will replace every one of them with photographs of the actual machine on our actual bench - including whatever we do not like about it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEither way the promise is the same: if what arrives does not look like what you saw here, that is a return and we pay for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat is in the box\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe press, the speed-control power adapter (110-240 V, European plug - see above), and the chuck key. Same in all three kits.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause the adapter is already in there with a dial on it, you do \u003cem\u003enot\u003c\/em\u003e need to buy a separate variable supply to run this machine. We sell one, and we say the same thing on its page.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat it is built like\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAluminium body, CNC machined parts.\u003c\/strong\u003e The mass is the point: a base that sits still is what keeps a 0.5 mm bit from walking.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBelt drive, two stepped pulleys.\u003c\/strong\u003e Move the belt to the other step and the whole speed band shifts. Five seconds, no tools.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHead rotates 360 degrees on the column\u003c\/strong\u003e and slides up and down it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNothing to buy to make it fit.\u003c\/strong\u003e Every vise and platform we sell for drilling bolts straight to this base - one centre hole and six M3 threads, the same pattern on all of them.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhich kit is yours\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBench Kit - $139.\u003c\/strong\u003e The machine, adapter and chuck key, plus 20 micro bits 0.1-1.2 mm. For anyone who already owns a vise.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWatchmaker Kit - $179.\u003c\/strong\u003e Everything above plus a 3.5 inch bench vise that clamps to the edge of the desk, and a dial indicator with a magnetic base so you can measure the runout on your own machine before you trust it with anything.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePCB Kit - $199.\u003c\/strong\u003e Everything above plus a 10-piece cobalt drill set, 0.5 to 3 mm, an automatic centre punch and a spare drive belt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo words on that drill set, because padding it would have been easy. Kits like this usually ship a 19-piece set running 1 to 10 mm. It reads generously until you notice that this chuck closes at 4 mm and the motor is 30 W, so most of those bits would never turn in this machine. Ours stops at 3 mm because that is where the machine stops. And the ten pieces are five sizes with a spare of each - 0.5, 1, 2, 2.5 and 3 mm - not ten different diameters. At this scale the spare is the part you want, because fine bits break.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhere it stops\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt drills wood, plastic, resin, composite panel, PCB, brass, copper and aluminium.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHardened steel, no. A 10 mm hole through a steel plate, no. That is a floor drill press job, and we would rather you bought one of those than returned one of these.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStainless we are not claiming either way yet. You will see clips online of a machine like this going through a spoon handle - that footage is shot on the heavier 24 V version, not on this one. We have a sample coming and we will publish what ours actually managed, with the bit, the speed and the time it took.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eCan it mill?\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot with the chuck it ships with. A drill chuck grips for downward force. An end mill cuts sideways, and side load pulls the bit out of a drill chuck - at best a ruined cut, at worst a broken bit thrown across the desk.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMilling on a machine this size needs a collet spindle in place of the drill chuck, usually ER11, plus an XY cross-slide table underneath. Every clip you have seen of one of these cutting a slot in brass or a coin-style medallion was shot with that spindle fitted, even when the ad does not mention it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat spindle does exist and we are sourcing it now. When it is on the shelf this page will say so and will say what it costs. Until then this machine drills - it does not mill, and we are not going to imply that it does.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eShipping, returns and parts\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eProcessing takes up to 2 business days. Delivery in the US takes 2 to 3 weeks, tracked, one parcel, free.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe could have printed 4 to 7 days. Most shops do. The truth is that there is no warehouse in the States holding these: it leaves the factory that builds it, flies, and then goes into the post. That is two to three weeks. When we are holding stock here the line will change, and you will be able to see that it changed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e30-day returns. If it arrives damaged or does not hold tolerance, we replace it or refund it and we pay the return label.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e12-month warranty on the motor and spindle. And for those 12 months, if a part fails, tell us which one and we ship you a new one free - you do not pack the machine and you do not pay postage. Belts and regulators we keep on the shelf for exactly this reason.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mikrabench","offers":[{"title":"Bench Kit","offer_id":46207864144063,"sku":"MB-DP-BENCH","price":139.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Watchmaker Kit","offer_id":46207864176831,"sku":"MB-DP-WATCH","price":179.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"PCB Kit","offer_id":46207864209599,"sku":"MB-DP-PCB","price":199.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0760\/5826\/3743\/files\/Sbc0b4bfd89974959896810cefed3f4c8B.webp?v=1789511346","url":"https:\/\/arvonelle.com\/products\/mikrabench-mini-drill-press","provider":"ARVONELLE","version":"1.0","type":"link"}