Best Drill Press for Home Shop (2026)

The Powermatic PM2800B occupies a specific tier in the drill press market: it costs significantly more than the WEN, JET, and RIKON benchtop presses that serve most home hobbyists, and it delivers measurably better precision and durability in return. The 18-inch swing handles the full width of a sheet of plywood on the table, covering the largest workpieces a home shop processes. The digital RPM display eliminates the guesswork of estimating speed from belt position, and the laser tachometer confirms actual spindle speed rather than relying on motor nameplate assumptions. The 16-speed range from 170 to 3,200 RPM covers materials from hardwood (slow and steady with large Forstner bits) through plastic and thin metal (fast with twist bits). The quick-release table lock handles the common shop workflow of drilling a series of holes at different depths or angles without fighting a stiff clamping lever. At $620.99 the PM2800B is expensive for a home shop tool. The WEN 4214 or JET JDP-17MF handle the same 17-inch swing tasks at a third of the price, and for hobbyists who use a drill press occasionally the precision gap is not worth three times the cost. The Powermatic earns its premium for professional woodworkers producing furniture or detailed cabinetry where hole placement accuracy translates directly to fit quality, and for shops that run a drill press daily where the 5-year warranty and serviceability justify the investment.

The Shop Fox W1668 is the dual-function option on this page — a 5-speed drill press that converts to a hollow chisel mortiser for cutting precise square mortises for furniture joinery. The combination eliminates the need for a separate dedicated mortiser, a machine that typically costs $300-500 on its own, making the $495 price more defensible as two tools in one footprint. Hollow chisel mortising cuts square holes with a spinning inner bit while the outer square chisel walls out the corners in a single plunge — the joinery method used for traditional door and cabinet construction. The large positioning fence registers workpieces repeatably for production quantities of mortises without individual layout marks. The Shop Fox earns its position for home woodworkers who need both capabilities and cannot justify buying two separate machines. Grizzly backs Shop Fox warranty and service support.

The POWERTEC DP801 is the accessible entry point into stationary drill press capability at $114.99 — 5 speeds, compact footprint, and a price that does not require a large workshop investment. On a page that also includes a $620.99 Shop Fox dual-function machine and a $620.99 Powermatic floor model, the POWERTEC is the answer for home shops where space and budget are both constrained. The 5-speed operation covers standard wood drilling: slower speeds for larger Forstner bits and spade bits, faster speeds for small-diameter twist drills in hardwood. The compact table suits the operations typical of small home woodworking — drilling shelf pin holes, doweling furniture joints, and boring plug holes at consistent depth. Limited swing depth is the honest constraint: the DP801 is not designed for large panel drilling or metalworking applications. The Shop Fox W1668 at $620.99 adds mortising capability and more table capacity for woodworkers who will outgrow the POWERTEC. For a hobbyist or casual builder who needs stationary drill-press accuracy for occasional use without investing in full shop equipment, the POWERTEC delivers the accuracy improvement over handheld drilling at an accessible entry price.