Dremel 220-01 Rotary Tool Work Station

I bought this drill press to drill holes in 20 gauge nickel and sterling silver jewelry pieces. It has exceeded my expectations. If you follow the directions and let the tool do the work, you will be very pleasantly surprised that you can add such a handy device to your workbench for such low cost. My husband, an engineer, was pretty surprised at how good it is, too. However, I had to ask for his help with assembling it, because the assembly directions were not the greatest, and I'd never done anything like this before. He had no problem with it, though. The metals department where I've taken classes has a Gesswein setup with footpedals and a Foredom tool for a drillpress, and it is loud, hard to control, vibrates like crazy, and is kind of scary to use, because the setup requires you to work sitting down on a bench. If your workpiece goes flying, there is nowhere for it to go but in your face, because the equipment is set up against a wall, and you are seated about eye to eye with the drill bit. Not fun. With my Dremel Rotary Tool Work Station, I was able to set it up on my large wooden workbench at standing height. This is a much saner arrangement, and with safety glasses on, I feel entirely confident that I am in control of both the drill and the metal I am drilling into, even very small pieces. I've noticed no shimmy or wandering of the drill bit. It goes straight down exactly where I want it to go. I recommend this highly for all jewelers interested in drilling holes for eyelets, rivets, or cold connections of any kind.

Just pickup a speed controller for $6. It can be either foot-pedal or dial-adjusted, but you can torque down Dremel tools and use them for intricate detail work. You just plug the Dremel power cord into the outlet on the speed controller and adjust it to the speed you need. I can't use the darn thing when its going faster than a 4 year old, but when the Dremel's speed is variably reduced for the particular job I want it to perform, this press works great!

Just have to think of how to overcome any tool's limitations. Hope this helps other hobbyists.

This thing is very cheaply built. Once (painfully) assembled, it works fine. I had problems with wobble until I made sure to tighten down the several screws placed in awkward locations with dubious function. The contraption is far more mechanically complicated than I was hoping, and I expect it will need frequent re-tightening and adjustment to stay stable and centered.

I recommend getting a used real drill press instead.

I am very pleased with this press.
It is not designed for 'ultra' precision drilling but works excellent for my needs.
I think it's a great product for the price.

It does much of what I want it to do, problem is it is only good for very light work or as a holder for the dremel for some jobs. Many of the parts are plastic and it moves around when the product is in use, any preasure placed on the tool and it distorts from center. I have got good use out of it anyway but it wont take the place of a drill press. If it was made of all metal it would be a sweet tool with few flaws.