Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Review of WEN #4208 8-inch drill press. I usually do not write scathing reviews, but in this case feel that I must. In addition to serious quality control issues, there also is a user-safety issue that should be addressed by the manufacturer before any more of these drill presses are sold (Amazon please take note!). First, the quality control issue: If you will examine photographs A and B, you will see the extraordinary pitting on both the inside and outside of the motor drive pulley. I never have seen anything this bad, and is raises the knee-jerk cry "Chinese crap" to a new level. But to be fair, the Chinese are perfectly capable of designing and manufacturing extremely sophisticated equipment, both military and commercial. Case in point: at least ten years ago I read an article noting that the Chinese had designed and fabricated an advanced camera chip for.... guess who.... Leica! But this unit is not the Leica of small drill presses.... That drive pulley is inexcusable. And "inexcusable" brings me to the main issue: user safety. As you can see from photograph C, the drill press column, upon which is mounted the heavy head casting and all the working machinery of the drill press, is secured to the cast-iron base by three hex-head cap screws. OK, sounds reasonable. So what's the problem? The problem is that these three cap screws are about 1/2" too short (see photo D), and when they are fully seated the ends of the screws are flush with the underside of the base casting (see photo E). This means that it is impossible to secure these critical mounting bolts (cap screws) with a flat washer and lock washer, so that they do not come loose during normal use of the drill press. Remember, this is just a $90 little drill press, with a cheap chuck, not a Bridgeport CNC milling machine. It will vibrate. And those unsecured cap screws will loosen over time. The WEN instruction sheet is silent about this safety hazard, and it requires the user to remember to check the bolts periodically to be sure they are tight. I called WEN customer service this morning, and they were - - how shall I say this - - mildly responsive to the problem. All it would take is three cap screws about 1/2" longer, three flat washers, three lock washers, and three hex nuts. Of course there are self-locking hex nuts, which would be optimal, but even plain-vanilla steel nuts and lock washers would be safer than nothing at all. Oh, another frustration: the skinny little drive belt is metric, not SAE. I spent about three hours trying to buy a better quality belt. I tried big box stores, hardware stores, auto-parts distributors, and an incredibly supportive wholesale distributor in New Jersey. No luck. That was before I noticed the condition of the drive pulley! BTW, all this has nothing to do with the seller (regrettably,not Amazon). Seller has been perfectly responsible and responsive. These are factory issues: bad quality control, bad manufacturing processes, and a serious design deficiency that conceivably could result in personal injury. Too bad, because with better QC, and secure mounting bolts, this puppy could be a neat drill press, well-suited to small,.light jobs (ahem - - with a better chuck ). I know, I know - - you get what you pay for, etc., etc. But there really should be a basic quality threshold for even inexpensive drill presses. There are machine tools, and they can inflict damage and personal injury. Quality and safety are important issues, even for hand tools. But for powered machinery they are paramount. Thanks for reading this. I hope it is helpful.