Drill press

Fixed drilling covers machines in which a drill bit or rotating tool is fed vertically—or along a programmed axis—into the material to produce cylindrical holes, tapered seats, internal threads or pockets of precise depth. Unlike hand drilling, the bench or column version keeps the spindle perfectly perpendicular to the work surface, eliminating the angular deviations typical of manual use and ensuring repeatability across batches of parts. Models range from the simple column drill press—found in any workshop or FabLab—to the drill-mill (or drilling centre), which adds an X/Y degree of freedom and allows basic interpolations. The choice of tooling (HSS bit, carbide bit, end mill, counterbore, tap) determines the type of operation, but the logic is always the same: axial pressure plus rotation equals removal by sliding. It is often the first machine tool a maker buys, given its low cost-to-versatility ratio.