WEN 12-Inch Benchtop Drill Press, Variable Speed, Cast Iron with Laser and Work Light (4214T)

If you're thinking about saving money and buying the 8" WEN press, hold on a minute and take a few things into account that I didn't because I was so blinded by the $118 price tag. I wanted a good small drill press, as I do some guitar work, and also work with electronics, 3D printed models, and various wood projects. I sold my Porter Cable drill press a few years back, but I've found myself needing a drill press again, and my Dremel drill press just wasn't cutting it. The WEN 8" model, with its incredible looks and price, immediately caught my eye and I found myself ordering before I even had a chance to think. The second I opened the box and realized the table was the same size and length to the column as a Dremel press, it became clear I had made a mistake. I couldn't even reach tremolo holes in guitar bodies, so it was essentially useless. After a few more minutes, it became clear it was much more than just size that it was lacking. I did a bit more research, and when I found the 12" model was about $180 more, it wasn't just the added size that hooked me. It also has features that I overlooked on the 8" model because I was so enamored with price tag. I skipped right over the 10" WEN offered and took what I think is an incredible deal at around $300. After assembling, the footprint was only about 4 inches bigger than the 8" model, and fit right into the same spot the 8" would have sat on my table. While taller, I welcome the extra size and heft. Now, here is why you want to spend the extra money and upgrade to this model over the 8", aside from the increased size- 1. Its built FAR better. This isn't just an upsized version of the 8" model. Everything is beefier, and better. The chuck on the 8" model is a basic, small, one piece design that barely sits in the spindle. The 12" features a beefy 2 piece chuck that seats way up into the spindle, ensuring good, straight contact. At 5/8ths you can use larger bits than the 8"'s 1/2 inch chuck. While you might still get some drift, it will be nowhere near what the 8" would have given you, and the "play" is adjustable with a bolt. In fact, several features offer adjustments that the 8" just didn't. Other parts just look and feel sturdier. The depth stop is far more accurate. These things alone are worth the extra money. 2. Speed range and adjustment lever with digital readout. I don't know about you, but I hate having to move belts to change speeds on a drill press, and find myself using an incorrect speed out of laziness when doing quick holes. Here, you just turn the lever and the digital readout tells you what speed you're running at. No popping the top and adjusting a belt. I'm sure the accuracy isn't perfect, but the fact I can get from 580 RPM to 3200 RPM means I can use this press with far more materials and bit sizes than the 8" would have allowed. You also get 3 1/8 inches of spindle travel, so you can drill deeper holes without raising the table, where the 8" model only has 2 inches of travel. 3. Column and table are track adjustable with a lever and handle. Raising and lowering the 8" meant loosening the bolt and catching the table before it dropped, and then having to support it while you try to tighten it to stay at the height you want. Having a track means you can use one hand to raise or lower the table without it dropping straight to the ground. 4. Accessories. Most drill press tables, fences and jigs, whether pre-made or from plans, are made for a 12" drill press. An 8" table is small enough, and then if you add in a fence, you're cutting off another 1-2 inches. Then there's also the little things already included. Having a laser on a tool can be hit or miss. It sounds great on paper, but seldom are they accurate enough to trust. So far, this laser has been pretty accurate, plus, it offers fine adjustment to calibrate. Even if I just use it to ballpark quick holes, I'd much rather have it than not. The work light is an awesome little bonus that makes a big difference. Spend the extra money once, and you won't regret it. If you're on the fence, look at it this way- You're already spending over $100. The second you have a project that needs that extra 4" of reach, or requires a bit more accuracy, you'll wish you had just given in and spent a little more the first time. It won't be fun having to drill a hole by hand when you have an 8" paper weight sitting right next to you on your bench. Thank me later.

What a GREAT addition to my room full of junk and power tools... This drill press is a BEAST... It's twice the size of my little old SKIL, which you can see in the pictures... The SKIL did a good job for me, but I outgrew it... Once I found out that drill presses with variable speed existed, IT WAS ON!!! I had to have one... No more messing with loosening the motor and sticking my fingers into the belt & pulleys... That had gotten old a long time ago... I've only had it for a few days now... I love it... It'll probably be the last drill press I'll ever need to buy... ACCURACY: Seems to be accurate, as the tip of the drill bit hits right where the lasers cross... I don't have a dial indicator to check the runout, but I'm sure it will serve me just fine... I'm not running a machine shop, and I don't need accuracies down to the thousandths of an inch... EASY TO ASSEMBLE: No, not entirely... But I was doing a couple other things during the process, like drinkin' beer, and helping my buddy with his trailer hitch... The column-to-base bolts call for a 16mm wrench... I bought a whole set of ratchet wrenches a couple years ago, but there was NO 16mm in there... I found a socket to fit, 5/8" I think... The hardest part of the assembly was lifting the head up onto the column... It's quite heavy and unbalanced... A second pair of hands would've been a plus... My trailer hitch buddy had already left... VALUE FOR MONEY: I shopped around 4-5 online sites for 3 weeks, and I kinda felt like I was being "spyed upon"... It seemed to me that they were bidding amongst each other for my money... The prices quoted for this machine on different sites kept fluctuating every couple days... It was truly weird... I think I'm gonna buy a VPN next... But anyway, for all the features this machine has, I think it's worth every bit of what I paid for it... It TOWERS over my old drill press, so I don't have to squat down or sit to use it... It's REAL good looking, like the STAR of my workshop... The table with the extension that swivels and bevels adds ALOT to the package... The swivel feature is kinda messed up, as it relates to that rack gear on the side of the column... The rack gear ends just ride in the top (orange) and bottom collars, and can get bound up if not guided along during swivel... (??Did that come out right??) And, of course, like a kid in a toy store, I had to open the lid on top to watch how the variable speed worked... It's pretty neat... But, the MOST BRILLIANT part of the entire design of the machine is... ...wait for it... ...you'll never believe it over everything else I mentioned... THE CHUCK KEY itself gets 6 out of 5 stars for it's design... Sticking out from the center of the key is a small pin with a spring behind it... It is IMPOSSIBLE to forget the chuck key and turn the power switch ON... That sprung pin pushes the key out of the chuck... I don't know if this design has been around for a while, as this is the 1st drill press I've bought in a LONG time... This chuck key design should've been implemented on ALL styles of chucks for the last 50 years... ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!!! YES to "would buy again"... And Again, And Again, if needed... Nice machine for an novice to half-pro environment... It might last in a PRO environment (machine shop) if taken care of... It's really quite the nice machine... Thanx WEN, and Thanx Amazon... GOOD DAY...

I bought this benchtop drill press after a rather comprehensive search for alternatives. I would have preferred something other than that 'variable speed' feature, because I don't trust it to last. But that's because I once inherited a low end variable speed Delta wood lathe with a broken pully; that proved impossible to replace. And so that lathe was junk. That misgiving notwithstanding, this Wen drill press was as much as hundreds of dollars less expensive than the alternative bench drill presses available; and the only multiple speed drill presses could only give me 5 speeds, it seems; other than those radial drill presses. So, I compromised and decided that since I rarely be changing speeds, I could live with this 'variable speed' alternative. I also had misgivings about the build quality and more, given the relatively low cost. I was surprised. Pleasantly: The head, table and base castings were heavy, well made. The machinings were well done. Nice. The lowest speed I could record was 510rpm, a touch less than spec; and the highest speed I could achieve was 2,900rpm - a touch less than spec. Not bad for that variable speed thing. An irrational part of me wished I could get the speed down to @100rpm but really.... that was irrational. 510 is pretty slow and ought to suffice for most operations requiring low speed. And I don't know that I'd ever be wanting to spin anything at as much as 2,900rpm. The quill was dead on vertical to the table in both axes No perceptible runout/wobble. Nice. Light and laser were good. Laser was accurate out of the box. That little roller table extension is a really nice touch. The roller top is level with the table. Quill movement up and down isn't at all sloppy, but is a little stiff, but I think time/use will fix that. My only remaining concern is that the motor windings aren't shielded; and so I'm uncertain how the drill press will fare in a dusty environment. But the only thing that'll resolve that question is to be using the machine and letting time give its verdict.

If you're a serious woodworker, you really ought to think about a drill press. I went without one in my shop for about as long as I could, sometimes making needlessly convoluted jigs to allow me to use my cordless hand drill when I needed to get a job done without a drill press. Once I got this drill press, my workflow improved immeasurably and I'm having a lot of fun with it in the workshop. Let's be clear about who this is for. If you're only an occasional woodworker, this might be a bit too much machine for you. It weighs something like 100 pounds and you'll probably want to build a cabinet (preferably one on wheels) to hold it). So if it's something you're only going to use once a year, it may not be a wise investment. On the other hand, if you're a professional who spends hours on the drill press every day, you may benefit more from a larger freestanding drill press, even considering the increased price. However, if you're a weekend warrior like me, who will get regular use out of a drill press but might not want a freestanding one (either because of the price or because of space considerations), I think this is just about the best one you can get. To be sure, it's a heavy beast, and the initial assembly, though not exactly difficult, took me a bit longer than I expected. And it's unwieldy enough that you'll want to get that cabinet/stand for it sooner rather than later (I initially thought I'd just move it around on my workbench as needed, and VERY quickly abandoned that plan). However, it's incredibly accurate, and gives you about as much flexibility in terms of depth adjustments as you'll find in this size/price class. Once it's ready to go, it's easy to use, and I'm getting a ton of use out of it, and enjoying every minute of it. You'll probably want to consider adding an extension table of some sort to it. WEN makes one option (also available on Amazon), but you could also make your own if you need it to meet certain specific requirements. It's not absolutely necessary, but I suspect people who do enough woodworking that they're considering the purchase of a drill press will find such an addition makes a lot of sense. The bottom line, though, is that if you're in the market for a benchtop drill press, and you're looking for one that will give you the best performance and versatility for the price, I think this is probably the one you're looking for.

I bought this during the September '23 sale. I've had for a couple months now in my wood shop. Here are my thoughts. Assembly was straightforward. If you've ever assembled a drill press, you could do this one with your eyes closed (until they bulged open when you lift the power head assembly). Taller than I thought it would be. About 37" from base to top. Not a big deal. Runout. Yeah. I have runout. 0.002". I work wood. Yawn... Table elevation. Ok...I get it. Can be kinda wonky. I mean the table wobbles and moves chunky like. It is the nature of the beast. If you want or need a crank handle for elevation, this is how it is. Get over it. What is important is that once moved to your desired location the table locks rock solid. It does. 'nuff said. The variable speed handle is stiff. Yeah. So? How often do you change speeds anyway? The only time I vary from 1000rpm is to drop down for the big fat forstner bits. So, not an issue here. On the speed range, I find it fits well for wood, but could foresee difficulty if this were meant to be in a metal working shop. In fact, if I were looking for a metal working drill press, I'd likely go with messing around with the belted type of speed control, as opposed to this system. The work light is perfect. I use it most of the time. The laser locator is red, and displays a red X. I don't use it. I've seen some complaints about power. Hmmm. Having graduated from a HFT 8" press, all I can say is this Wen has handled everything I threw at it, including 1 1/2" forstner bits in hard maple. I am quite pleased with power and performance. I've been making sawdust for some 35+ years now. For a bench top drill press in a woodworking shop, this is the cat's meow. Sure...it needs a table and fence. Needed a new cart, as the cart for the 8" press was far too tall...so I made both from 1/2" MDF. I take care of my stuff... don't bang it around...so MDF sealed well with poly will certainly last MY lifetime 😂 All in all...I am tickled to have a fully functional 12" drill press in my shop, and am not embarrassed or ashamed to say my drill press is Wen.

I'm glad I read other model reviews prior to purchasing. This features LIGHT that is well placed to illuminate my work. The table cranks up and down for dialed-in precision, the laser was spot-on out of the box. Good power, and the Continuous Speed Control comes in very handy when drilling between hardwoods, softwoods, and metals, within one project like I recently built. The base, shaft, motor assembly, quill & chuck are all good quality. The table is the only negative as paint quality and machining could be improved, but as I built a table and fence system to attach, really not a problem. The table is flat and true. One tip, there are 3 long handles, and 1 short. I installed one long handle for speed control which gives more leverage for changing speeds and shorter one installed on 2nd location of drill press. I like the avaliable distance between chuck and bottomed out lowered table. Overall great quality for price. Recommended to my friends.

I moved into a smaller home and had to sell most of my woodworking machines. The Wen 4214T drill press is a replacement for my 12 year old Jet JDP-15M. After reading numerous reviews, I did not have high expectations until I read a November 2022 review by Bob Vila. He rated the Wen 4214 as best overall. I have used the Wen a few times and not found any major flaws. The speed control is stiff and the mechanism to raise and lower the table jumps from one tooth to the next when lowering the table. Someone reported that their table interfered with the column and prevented rotation. This wasn’t true of my machine. One reviewer claimed the drill had such low torque that the chuck could be stopped with a bare hand. I didn’t try this but had no trouble boring a 1” hole in a poplar board with a Forstner bit. I made some measurements with a dial indicator and a Veritas straight edge (flat to 0.0015” over its 24” length). The spindle runout was 0.001”. Chuck runout was 0.003” measured ¼ “ below the chuck. This is more than adequate for woodworking. The manual gives a chuck capacity of 1/8 to 5/8 inches, but no metric conversion and does not agree with the capacities marked on the chuck (0.8 – 16mm) which translates to 1/32 to 5/8. The chuck was able to hold a #70 bit (0.0285”) and drill an accurate hole at 3000 RPM. The table tilt front to back which is not adjustable was about 0.002”. The table was ground flat to better than 0.006”. The laser alignment system has no adjustment for vertical movement so it must be realigned if you move the workpiece relative to the head. I drilled a 1/16” hole at the laser alignment point and then raised the workpiece 1 ½ “. The alignment point shifted about 1/32nd of an inch. I originally mounted the drill on a tool stand rated at 500 lbs. It has a ¾ “ MDF top split down the middle to allow the top to be expanded. The drill weighs only 85 lbs , but is much too heavy for the table. I ended up mounting it to a heavy workbench. Overall, I am very satisfied with this machine and highly recommend it.

Seems like a very solid drill press. Even with a sprained right thumb in brace I was able to assemble it in about 40 minutes. It would have been a lot faster if I could have used my right thumb. The threaded holes were well cut and the bolts and pieces fit perfectly. It wasn’t dripping with grease or oil. It was oiled properly and cleaned up easily. The chuck is solid and operates smoothly. The variable speed mechanism works as you would hope. I love the action to extend the quill. I can easily move the quill all the way down through its stroke without having to change to a different spoke. I did have to adjust the table to be 90 degrees to the arbor but that took just a few minutes. The light and laser are both good. My only complaint is that roller bar. It sits just proud of the table and will prevent you from drilling at 90 degrees. I expect to make a plywood table top anyway so I don’t care. This replaces my previous, smaller Wen drill press. I’m very excited to have the additional capacity. I would definitely buy this again.

This is excellent and well worth the price. It’s major, too — bigger than it seems in the product photos, and heavy because of all that cast iron. That’s OK, heavy is good because it stays put (you still bolt it down) and the mass soaks up vibrations. Honestly, this machine is overbuilt to the point of being brutal but it’s still very precise. The chuck comes in a separate box in case you want to order the keyless kind separately and then just whang that into place instead. But I stuck with the supplied old-school keyed chuck because I’m old-school too. The machine has a handy place to park the key. Or you can slap a magnet on the top front as I did; it’s handier. Either way, you don’t want to put a chuck key down. Those things sprout feet when you’re not looking. The speed control is a real blessing; you can get the speed low enough for metal or high enough for whatever, without fussing with belts. There’s always plenty of torque. The work light is bright and the crossed lasers are accurate. The whole thing, assembled, weighs 85 pounds but the components can be heaved into place and bolted on one at a time. But if you want to put it together yourself, be warned that you have to start at the base and work upward; the top power head goes on last and is at least 30 pounds heavy with a high lift-over. So you might need to dragoon somebody to come help you assemble it.

I am a beginner and needed something small for my workshop. It works great and was super easy to set up. Controls are easy and so far has done what I have needed. I bought mainly for forstner bits but have tried most bits and haven’t had an issue. This is my first Wen machine and I am impressed at this price point.

Took the time to square everything and double check everything was decently built. It was.... The only issue I found so far is that you can set the table horizontal side to side but there is no adjustment front to back so I needed to add about 0.015 in shims. Read out seems spot on. My unit is loud, and I notice If I hold the pulley and twist the Chuck there is a good deal of backlash. I'll go through it this week and see if the noise is a fitment issue, a bearing issue, a greasing issue, motor, or maybe it just needs a break in.

This is a very heavy drill, it’s not something you want to move around often. The price is reasonable as the quality seems to be quite good.

I waited months for this model to come on sale and it was worth the wait. Came well packed and was easy to assemble. Love the LED light and laser as they don't run on batteries like my old drill press did, very bright and easy to see where you are drilling. I did upgrade to the keyless chuck and am glad I did as it just make bit changes so much easier and more secure. I don't have the advertised top speed but I am going to let the belt wear in a bit before getting to excited about it. The variable speed control is easy to use and I found this to be much quieter then others had reported so don't believe every review out there. I do recommend this drill press and it looks great in the shop with its bold orange /black color scheme. Best purchase I have made on Amazon so far to date.