Skil recently launched 5 new benchtop power tools, designed for woodworkers, hobbyists, and tool users short on floor space.
The new benchtop machines are the first that Skil has launched ever since their brand-wide revamp a few years ago.
The new line of benchtop tools includes a 9″ band saw, 8″ bench grinder, 16″ variable speed scroll saw, combination belt and disc sander, and a 10″ drill press.
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Note: Skil is a ToolGuyd sponsor. Also, please let me know if you have questions about any of the machines; I have demo units on-hand for a little while longer.
Skil 9″ Benchtop Band Saw (BW9501)
The new band saw is designed for cutting irregular, complex, or curved shapes out of wood, or for ripping wood into thinner pieces.
- 2.8A induction motor
- 1/8″ to 3/8″ blade width
- 59-1/4″ to 59-1/2″ blade length
- 2-speed settings – 1700 RPM, 2500 RPM
- 9″ frame-to-blade capacity (throat size)
- 3-1/2″ max cutting height
- Quick tension lock
- Steel base
- 3-bearing design for increased accuracy
- 12-1/4″ x 12″ table size
- 0-45° table tilting range
- Blade viewing window
- 2-1/2″ dust exhaust port
- Miter gauge with 3/4″ bar
Skil 3A 8-inch Bench Grinder (BI9502)
The new bench grinder is designed for use on tools, such as chisels, drill bits, and knives, and material removal such as for grinding down welded joints and rivets, or for polishing tasks.
- 3A induction motor
- Magnified eye shields
- Integrated LED worklight
- V-grooved surface tool rest
- Water tray for cooling
- Cast aluminum base material
- 3,450 RPM (no-load)
- Wheel size: 8″ with 5/8″ (16mm) arbor, up to 3/4″ thick
Skil 1.2A 16″ Variable Speed Scroll Saw (SS9503)
The new Skil variable speed scroll saw is designed for making intricate cuts in thin workpieces.
- 1.2A motor
- 16″ x 10″ steel worktable
- Worktable tilts up to 45°
- Foot-operated switch
- Variable speed control
- 550 – 16,50 RPM (no-load)
- LED worklight
- Integrated blower
- 3/4″ max stroke length
- Integrated blade storage box
- Aluminum frame construction
Skil 10-inch Drill Press (DP9505)
The new Skil benchtop drill press offers greater precision than a handheld drill, and its speed can be adjusted to drill into different types of materials.
- 6.2A induction motor
- 5 speed settings (adjustable pulley)
- 610-2800 RPM
- 1/2″ keyed metal chuck
- 10″ throat depth
- Tilting table up to 45° left/right
- Rack and pinion table height adjustment
- Laser alignment system
- Worklight
Skil Combination Sander (BB9504)
The new 2-in-1 combination sander is designed for a variety of tasks. The 6″ disc sander features a tilting tabletop with miter gauge, and the sanding belt can pivot up to 90°.
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- 4.5A induction motor
- 6″ sanding disc
- 3,600 RPM (no-load)
- Sanding plate accepts PSA (adhesive) discs
- 4″ x 36″ sanding belt size
- 1,900 ft/min belt speed
- Tabletop bevels to 45°
- Sanding belt adjusts from 0-90°
- Quick tension release lever for sanding belt changes
- Base can be clamped or fastened to a workbench
- 2-1/2″ vacuum port
Jared
These look a LOT like the benchtop tools from Wen, but the specs don’t necessarily match up with their lookalikes. I don’t see a Wen drill press with a 5-speed pulley setup and a 6.2a motor, for example. Or a 3a 8-inch grinder with that no-load rpm speed.
That’s not a bad thing though, the Wen tools are all reasonably good for that size and price range. Maybe Skil customized something that was already in production? They certainly look better in Red than the black/orange Wen colors and the specs seem specific to Skil.
Addicted2Red
New alternative title, Skil pays the same OEM that everyone else uses to brand their products with the Skil logo and dye them red.
These are the same as Rikon, Wen, Shopfox, bunch of others. They all have slightly different specs but nothing special.
Bonnie
Yep, these are all clearly just white-label products with a red-and-grey colorway. Skil hasn’t been a high-value brand name for ages either, so it seems hard to see where these things really sit in the market.
Stuart, is there anything specific to these tools that sets them apart from their near-identical cousins? Especially something to explain why these Skil versions seem to cost *more* than existing semi-identical-cousins from WEN, POWERTEC, Ryobi, etc?
fred
Of the bandsaw you say:
“… for resawing wood into thinner pieces.”
I wonder if you have tried resawing anything with this saw. The max blade width of 3/8 inch would seem to make that a challenge. My experience has been that 1/2 inch is sort of pushing it – and usually mount a 3/4 inch blade for resawing. Of course, proper tensioning is very important – especially with resawing.
Chris
It’s a sponsored ad.
It’s a copy/paste of the marketing jargon…just like these tools are a copy/paste of existing tools with a “new” paint job.
Ct451
If they’re anything like their lookalikes you only get the 1/8 and you need to spend more for a wider blade if you want to cut anything relatively straight. For anything presentable get an electric planer too.
Bonnie
I’d be more concerned with the power and overall build quality resawing on this thing. I’ve resawn with narrow blades, but you’ve got to have at least a 1hp saw to even cut consistently on any real width, and you’d definitely need to be sawing freehand to correct for the inevitable drift.
These little saws can be great for quick cuts in thin stock, but this is absolutely not a saw to use for resawing, no matter which way you cut it (pun intended).
MM
Agreed 100%.
Stuart
They say it’s for ripping wood into thinner pieces, which I tend to interpret as resawing. Perhaps that was the wrong choice of word.
There’s no fence. As you mentioned, the blade width is limited. The max cutting height is short.
This is far from ideal for ripping or resawing, but could potentially be used for smaller pieces.
Let’s say you have a 2” wide board 3/4” thick that you want cut into 2 or 3 pieces. Would you rather rip/resale it on a table saw, or tool like this?
Raj
Tablesaw 10/10 times
MoogleMan3
2″ spindle travel on the drill press makes it a hard pass. IIRC the comparably priced wen has 3 1/8″; typical for a benchtop dp.
Bob
I have that same bandsaw and sander, except they are both green and say Ryobi on them. Both have served me very well over the years. The bandsaw is perfect for small pieces and is probably my most used bench top tool.
JR Ramos
Honestly…junk. Dumbed-down junk over what you can still buy from other brands in the price range. The move to either stamped steel or stamped aluminum tables and platens in these types of tools was a sin. Go for one with cast iron if at all possible (assuming that these weaker and low-duty-cycle motors are suited for your hobby needs in the first place).
The tool rests on most of these grinders are so poor as to actually present a safety hazard, too. The thicker cast aluminum ones are scarce in the price range now but the Dewalt at least put out some acceptable ones.
The bandsaw…unlikely that the frame has enough rigidity to be able to tension the blade adequately for tougher jobs (if you can get the blade guards correctly situated anyway…most you cannot). So don’t count on resawing anything more than an inch or possibly two in softer/easy materials.
After all these years there is still a pretty wide gap in these types of benchtop tools after Delta dried up, but for the most part Wen is doing a great job with what they offer (and they also make a great attempt at actually having and selling parts).
The current Delta and Porter Cable and Craftsman, Skill, even Ryobi tools like this are a shame, imho (mostly included HF’s offerings as well). Many aren’t even suitable for typical tasks in a home shop (other than the belt/disc sanders which are usually ok enough).
Stuff like this makes me wish they’d just delete these models from their lineup or kill off the brand entirely like they have nearly done with Porter Cable. Not even “for the price” are these a good idea…search out something just a little more standard/better even if it costs just a little more. Or look for used older models in decent shape.
Bonnie
Rikon is pretty good in the benchtop tier. I think Grizzly might be the closest modern equivalent of Delta, and not just because they re-used a lot of old Delta castings. Both brands do have some of these rebadged cheapos filling out their lower end though.
JR Ramos
Wen comes pretty close in the basic benchtops. I think Rikon has the nice rare step-up models for a couple of things. When I looked at the Skill drill press on the amazon link, there was another listing for a National-something that looked much better, less money to boot, although those have zero after-sales support. I think my biggest beef is suitability of purpose. We’ve seen a lot of chasing the bottom penny over the last 15 years, notably in the last decade or so, and it’s to the point that many tools just can’t do what they are supposed to do. Tradeoffs for price points and “mini” machines of course, but it’s gotten really bad. When big established brands do the same thing, it’s a real shame. Not too many years back Craftsman had some decent ones where they took time to source the “better” machines and sometimes spec’d nice extras that were previously standard, but then they sort of crapped out like the rest, too.
Rebadging has been the standard for 40 years and you can often locate identical casting flaws/marks between brands. (unless they have taken the time to cover flaws with body putty before painting, like with bench vises). That’s fine. Just keep the suitability. If costs need to rise a little from time to time, that’s fine, too. It makes no sense to nerf a drill press or bench grinder so much in favor of trying to reach or maintain a price point, though. They need to do what they are supposed to do, safely, and with reasonable power and accuracy. Quite wordy here, my apologies. It’s just sad to see such decline over the years and there was no good reason for it.
Bob
Thirty years ago, the cheap benchtop tools market was owned by the likes of Sears with the Craftsman brand and Montgomery Ward. These benchtop tools (saws, planers, sanders) were marketed at Harry Homeowner types wanting to get into woodworking because they saw something like the New Yankee workshop and couldnt afford the level and quality of tools that Norm used and just wanted to try them out. I had a few of them myself. They were total crap.
Fast forward to today and we still have these same types of mass marketed benchtop tools from a multitude of companies, all made way offshore. Very little innovative engineering that goes in, more focused on the color scheme so that all of the brands tools match. What hasn’t changed is that most of them are all still crap and will get some initial use and then probably pushed back into a corner. Folks that find out they really like the hobby will start looking for larger, higher end machinery that will cost much more but should last and perform over time.
Companies like Rikon, Griz and Jet started out making clones of Delta and Powermatic machines. All three companies original offerings were pretty low end 20-30 years ago but have hung around long enough to improve and innovate, especially since Delta went south and Powermatic was bought out by Jet and became an offshore brand itself.
It is possible to make some very high quality benchtop tools. Inca comes to mind. But they were expensive when they first came out and if you can find one used, they tend to be expensive. I got lucky and scored a 10 inch bandsaw for about 100 a while back. Its a sweet little saw that gets lots of use. It runs well, stays in tune and has lasted probably well over 20 years as I dont know how old it really is.