BaseThe heavy foot that supports the whole machine. Bolted down, it stops the press shaking.
ColumnHolds up the head and carries the worktable. A tall, round post.
WorktableThe table the work rests on, on an arm round the column. It moves up and down, swings aside, and on many presses tilts.
HeadThe top of the press, bolted to the column. It holds the spindle, the quill, the motor and the feed mechanism.
MotorTurns the spindle through the belt. An electric motor at the back of the head.
PulleysStepped pulleys on the motor and the spindle. Moving the belt to a different step changes the spindle's speed.
BeltThe drive belt from the motor pulley to the spindle pulley.
Feed handlesThree handles on a hub. Turning them lowers the quill and drill into the work, and raises them again.
Quill (sleeve)The sleeve round the spindle. It does not turn, but slides down to feed the drill into the work.
SpindleThe shaft that turns inside the quill and holds the chuck.
ChuckThe jaws that grip the drill bit.
Drill bitThe cutting tool that bores the hole, gripped in the chuck.
Depth stopAn adjustable stop that sets how far the quill can go down. Every hole is then drilled to the same depth.
How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-27. (1) US Army, TC 9-524, Fundamentals of Machine Tools (1996), chapter 4 (Drilling machines) and figures 4-1 to 4-5, https://archive.org/details/tc-9-524-fundamentals-of-machine-tools-1996 : a spindle holding the drill and revolving in a sleeve or quill that slides to feed the tool; the column supporting the head; the head of sleeve, spindle, electric motor and feed mechanism, bolted to the column; the worktable on an arm, adjustable up and down, swinging aside and tilting; the base, bolted to the floor for vibration-free work; the drill held by a chuck; the feed handle; the motor's drive belt from the motor pulley to the spindle pulley; the depth stop. (2) Wikipedia, Drill, Drill press, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill : a base, column (pillar), adjustable table, spindle, chuck and drill head, driven by an electric motor; three handles on a hub that move the spindle and chuck; speed changed by moving a belt across stepped pulleys. Drill press, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_press : an adjustable depth stop. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site by script, 2026-09-27. Own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
This unlabeled drill press diagram shows a floor drill press from the side, front to the right, its belt guard cut open. Five lines lead off to the left and eight to the right, each ending in blank space.
Read the full guide
The five names on the left
Top to bottom: motor, head, column, worktable, base. The motor is the box hanging behind the head. The worktable's line ends on the arm that holds the table to the column, not on the table top.
The eight names on the right
Top to bottom: pulleys, belt, feed handles, depth stop, quill, spindle, chuck, drill bit. The first line ends on the pulley over the spindle, the second on the belt between the two pulleys. The feed handles' line ends on the knob of the spoke pointing forward; the depth stop's, on the thin rod beside the quill.
Drawn with no line: the floor, the belt guard, the crank on the table's arm, the table's slots and the bands on the chuck.
A class sheet may print pillar for column, sleeve for quill, table for worktable and drive belt for belt.
Questions and answers
What is a drill press used for?
Cutting round holes into or through metal, wood and other materials, square to the table. The same machine also countersinks, counterbores, bores, reams, spot faces and taps holes.
Why use a drill press instead of a hand drill?
The spindle's angle to the table is fixed, so holes come out accurate and alike. The feed handles work a rack and pinion, which takes less effort, and the table lets a vise or a clamp hold the work.
What is the difference between hand feed and power feed on a drill press?
On a hand-feed press, like the one drawn, the operator lowers the drill with the feed handles and feels it cut. A power-feed press is larger and heavier and feeds the tool by itself, a set depth for each turn of the spindle.
What is a radial drill press?
One whose head can be moved along an arm that reaches out from the column. The arm also swings, so the drill covers a large area without the work being moved.