
Grizzly launched 5 new drill presses, which brings their total number up to a whopping 33, with 19 listed as being in stock and ready to ship at the moment.
Grizzly is an industrial machinery company, specializing in tools for metalworking and woodworking applications.
Here are the new additions to their drill press lineup:
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14-inch benchtop drill press with LED light and laser guide (T33901 | $495 + $199 freight)
- 14″ swing, 3-1/4″ spindle travel
- 3/4 HP, 120V 7.5A
- 5/8″ JT3 chuck
- MT2 spindle taper
- 340-2860 RPM speed range (12 positions)
- 11-1/4″ x 11-1/4″ table size
15-inch benchtop drill press (T33959 | $695 + $199 freight)
- 15″ swing, 4-11/16″ spindle travel
- 1 HP, 120V 8.9A
- 5/8″ JT3 chuck
- MT2 spindle taper
- 550-2500 RPM variable speed range
- 11-5/16″ x 11-5/16″ table size

15-inch speed floor-standing drill press (T33960 | $795 + $195 freight)
- 15″ swing, 4-11/16″ spindle travel
- 1 HP, 120V 8.9A
- 5/8″ JT3 chuck
- MT2 spindle taper
- 200-880, 880-3400 RPM variable speed range
- 11-3/16″ x 11-3/16″ table size
17-inch floor-standing drill press (T33961 | $1075 + $199 freight)
- 17″ swing
- 1-1/4 HP, 120V 11.9A
- 5/8″ JT3 chuck
- MT2 spindle taper
- 200-720, 700-2200 RPM variable speed range
- 14″ x 14″ table size
20-inch floor-standing drill press with LED light and laser guide (T33904 | $895 + $249 freight)
- 20″ swing, 4-1/2″ spindle travel
- 1-1/4 HP, 120V 13A
- 5/8″ JT3 chuck
- MT4 spindle taper
- 210-3020 RPM speed range, 12 positions
- 18-1/2″ x 16-5/16″ table size
All of the new drill presses feature an integrated LED worklight that helps illuminate your work.
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Many drill presses offer multiple speed selections that require users to move belts to different combinations of pulley.

3 of the new models – the 15″ benchtop, 15″ and 17″ floor-standing – feature variable speed drives that don’t require pulley changes.

3 of the new Grizzly drill presses feature a Reeves drive that allow for variable speed adjustments by turning a lever.
The two variable speed floor-standing drill presses also have an additional pulley position for lower speed drilling.

The way a Reeves drive pully drive work, the adjustment lever changes the effective diameter of the pulleys, similar to how a CVT transmission works.
John
I own some Grizzly machines. The equipment works but there is always something that I have to fix, severely adjust before using and I’ve told them that. They are never on my short list of brands to buy, and usually just based on price which creates the circle of issues. I guess that is my fault as well.
They have too many models of any single type of equipment, completely unnecessary.
PW
I don’t have a lot of experience with Grizzly, and find their pricing puzzling at the low end (where I’m shopping). They have a lot of products that are visually similar to other importers. For example, they have some sanders that look suspiciously like products I have seen at the BORG, but at higher prices. (Often much higher with their shipping charges.)
For example, when I got a drill press a few years ago, I ended up purchasing a press with one of SBD brands on it. It looks similar to some Grizzly offerings, but was less expensive, available for local pick-up, had no QC issues, and had a customer support line I had previous positive experiences with.
It’s possible they’re offering additional value (QC, better parts that don’t show up in photos, etc). But their marketing has never made that clear to me, and there’s no way for me to inspect their products in person.
Online there are some fans, but also people who complain that Grizzly has a Harbor Freight like experience where the purchaser is the QA.
I can’t tell if they’re offering a hidden value for the prosumer that I can’t grok, or if they’re just more interested in customers with an expense account I don’t have.
Fowler
I find that this sort of thing exists to provide a professional front for entry level products. There are a lot of these sorts of things in electronics tools, where there are perfectly serviceable and affordable tools available on AliExpress.
They’re perfect for something I don’t use very often, but I would never buy something from AliExpress on my company card. Instead, you just find the same thing from a brand like SRA Soldering or View Solutions, pay $50 more, and order through an actual test equipment dealer. Same quality level as AliExpress, but more options for returns and it doesn’t look as sketchy on an expense report
Stuart
I am unfortunately learning that the same is true for most brands of imported machinery.
Every machine I’ve purchased in the past few years have needed Day 1 replacement parts, elbow grease to get it into working order, or both.
I haven’t purchased any Grizzly machines, but have heard similar about them.
MM
I’ve owned several over the years. In my opinion they are very much hit-and-miss. Some are wonderful, others are garbage. Most are somewhere in the middle. But most of the time Grizzly is on the lower end price-wise, which makes them good value. There was a time years ago when I had purchased a Craftsman Professional 14in bandsaw for my work and a friend bought a Grizzly just a couple weeks later–they clearly came from the exact same factory even down to identifying marks on the castings. The difference was the Grizzly was painted a different color, had different plastic knobs on it, and was substantially cheaper.
John
That’s not really the case anymore though is it? It seems like grizzly is positioned well above the ‘cheap-o’ brands these days.
mark
Yes, to me grizzly is expensive to the beginners plus others and they are no better than wen products. Lol, I have a wen hand powered planer and this thing is unbelievable at a price of $50 something dollars on Amazon.
Steven+B
So are these made in the USA? Because if it’s just a Chinese rebrand, Wen sells a 5amp benchtop variable speed drill press for $200. The grizzly is nicer, all things being equal, but Grizzly used to be a value brand and I am probably not the only one who doesn’t think it’s 4.5x nicer….but to each their own.
PW
Absolutely not at these price points. AFAIK there’s no domestically produced drill press below the 5 figure point.
Grizzly is essentially an importer of Asian-produced industrial machinery, that’s their whole reason d’etre.
Stuart
Are there any USA-made drill presses at all?
I thought maybe Dake, but the ones I checked are all listed as being made in Taiwan.
Eric
Kalamazoo Metal Muncher (aka Clausing) still makes drill presses in Michigan.
Stuart
You’re right!
It looks like they have a single 1-phase model (2272) starting at $6000 and everything else looks to be 3-phase.
John
That is a wonderful name for a company.
Stuart
All things are NOT equal when you’re comparing a Wen 5A benchtop machine with 10″ or 12″ swing to a Grizzly 8.9A benchtop machine with 15″ swing.
The Wen 10″ has a 2-1/2″ spindle travel, the Grizzly 15″ benchtop has a 4-11/16″ spindle travel.
The Grizzly doesn’t cost 4.5X because it’s nicer, it costs more because it’s larger, more featured, and more powerful.
If you compare say a Wen 13A 17″ drill press ( https://www.amazon.com/WEN-4227T-13-Amp-12-Speed-Standing/dp/B08ZVNHWK8/?tag=toolguyd-20 ) to the new Grizzly, there are significant differences such as in the variable speed drive and table design.
Nate
Stuart, agreed. You are getting a lot more drill press with the Grizzly models over the WEN, I say that as someone who owns the WEN 4214T (which, despite having 14 inch swing, is a 12 model). For the $250ish that I spent on it, it’s been very nice. It has some limitations, but none that I’ve run across in my limited use case.
When I decide I need more, Grizzly will be on the short list to review. I’ve received very good support from Grizzly. . There are certain categories of tools where you see Grizzly from small shops to industrial settings. Their planers and jointers are pretty good. Their bandsaws get some pretty nice, and there’s a lot of folks who will go with grizzly to jump up to a 17″ bandsaw when they could be getting a 14″ saw from someone else.
The biggest issue is dealing with shipping issues (items damaged in shipment). Grizzly has a good rep for making this right.
Nate
Quick correction: the 4124T has 12 inch swing. No idea why they put “14” in the model name.
Chris
Nothing sets these apart from any used drill press from the last 10-20 years.
Where is the innovation in this sector? NOVA is probably the closest to improving these machine with their DVR lineup.
Someone needs to come out with a better setup that utilizes modern tech.
Spitballing an idea with something like a miter/chop saw or hole hawg handle that pulls down. A variable speed trigger like what is found on modern drills. A speed limiting dial like found on a Sawzall (I’m picturing the super Sawzall with it’s dial built into the handle that can be turned with a finger). The super hole hawg has a compact beefy motor with a 2 speed gear box. Take that and add a 3rd higher gear for the few items you need to drill at 3,000rpm.
Someone like a Milwaukee, Dewalt, Ryobi, etc. could build a benchtop drill press that could be way more modern, compact, and powerful than what’s listed above.
Stuart
Maybe 10+ years ago, I was at a [Sears] Craftsman media showcase event and grilled the benchtop tool manager about this. They agreed that their machines could use an upgrade, but there were limited suppliers.
There’s been very little innovation in the benchtop tool space over the past 10-20 years.
“Compact” and “powerful” are mutually exclusive terms when it comes to metalworking tools.
A lot of times, rigidity and power go hand-in-hand. Rigidity tends to require mass and weight.
Let’s say you’re drilling into steel. The machine needs to be robust enough to handle the pressure and forces involved.
Let’s say you’re drilling wood. You often need more reach/swing, which means forces are cantilevered and you need a sufficiently large and rigid headstock to avoid flexing.
There are gear-driven belt presses, and they’re more expensive than pulley-driven.
I was really excited about Bosch’s benchtop drill press – https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/bosch-drill-press-pbd-40/%3C/a%3E .
13+ years later, and it still hasn’t launched in the USA.
Chris
Yes, some mix of that bosch drill presses table, portability, and the modern power from a battery powered motor like a super hole hawg or the 2787-22 drill press.
MM
I like your idea of combining an electronic variable speed motor with a gearbox for different speed ranges. That makes a lot of sense.
I am not a fan of belt-drive drill presses. The belts wear out, changing speeds is a hassle, they very often slip. Mechanical variable speed drives like some of these have are more convenient for speed changes compared to step pulleys but they are even less efficient. So anything that gets rid of the belts is a plus in my book.
On the other hand, I think what you a proposing has a power problem. Gear it down for working on metal and even a 1500 watt motor can require hundreds of pounds of cast iron for stability. Cordless power tools can absolutely generate more power than that….but that’s counterproductive to making it portable. I can see wanting a powerful drill press, and I can see wanting a portable drill press. But combining the two sounds like a poor idea. That said, combining a gearshift with electronic variable speed makes a ton of sense for any size drill press.
John
I have a mag drill with that setup – electronic variable speed with a 2 speed gearbox to get lower speeds. It works well. I’m planning to do something similar with a benchtop drill press I just got, the idea is to swap the motor out for a 3 phase one and put a VFD on it. That way the belts just set the approximate range with the VFD for finer control (and lower speeds).
Chris
I’m trying to find a picture or product to better visualize what I’m implying.
I found that Milwaukee makes a 2787-22 magnetic drill press.
That is somewhat closer to what I’m picturing but I they could make something that is simplified one hand operation like a drill.
Just bigger, no magnets (unless they magnetize the work table), and a table setup like a normal drill press.
eddie sky
Was going to mention NOVA. https://www.teknatool.com/products/drill-presses/nova-voyager-dvr-drill-press/
I need speeds for wood and metal. Some suggested having two drill presses which are cheaper than one NOVA but then its more than that.
To have bottomless budget build for a shop…
UberChemist
Bosch makes the PBD 40, but no US model.
Chris
I can’t believe how expensive drill presses have gotten. I paid like 300 for a porter cable floor drill press close to 10 years ago.
That Reeves drive pulley transmission looks cool though.
DRT42
Same here!!! I think my 15″ PC floor model was something less than $300 from Lowes – like $300 out -the-door after tax. $800 + $200 freight = $1000 for basically the same thing is ridiculous. The main head casting, the table, the foot, the pulleys, and likely the column are all (seemingly) identical. The Grizzly motor has fins. My motor doesn’t have any fins but it doesn’t need any fins. The switch and upper cover are different. Big whoop.
Nathan
I haven’t looked at a drill press in a while. Need to find an estate sale. Anyway what does a similar rikon or jet cost
Probably also overseas made
Nathan
Oh and powermatic
Factory320
Rikon, Jet, Powermatic, Baileigh, Delta, Craftsman, are ALL IMPORTED.
Grizzly as well, but they don’t hide the fact and often at cheaper prices (as good or better quality) then the comp.
If looking for a amazing USA drill press look no further then ELLIS.
Tom Potter
I bought a Delta 15-231 drill press from Linquist in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Apparently they bought all of Delta’s parts and will build a drill press to order. They have parts for the old style 15/17/20 inch presses. Mine cost $3,000. It really is an industrial machine and it is used as such. It worked perfectly right out of the crate.