I purchased the new Dremel 220-01 workstation hoping to be able to use this as a drill-press for PCB (printed circuit board) production. At quick glance, the new 220-01 Workstation looks like it would be a great drill press. The 220-01 has a metal shaft and a nice looking plunging handle assembly. I own a slightly older model 398 (high-end digital tool sold just previous to the new XPR model). The box clearly states that my model 398 is supported by this accessory. Thus, I made the purchase and took it home. Here is a stock photo of the unit:
After unpacking, assembling, and reading the instructions clearly, I mounted my Dremel to see how it would fit. Immediately, I noticed that the only mount point for the Dremel is a single nut that screws to the removed collar. The picture on the box made me thing there was some sort of strap that secured the upper part of the Dremel. However, I was mistaken as the light-grey plastic visible in the 220-01 picture is actually a part of the Dremel unit, not part of the 220-10 Workstation. From an engineering perspective, this is absolutely lunacy! One nut around the collar is just not enough to stabilize the Dremel and prevent play. In the case of the 398, if you apply a little light pressure on the top of the Dremel, the entire unit shifts a great deal.
As if loose tolerances and a sickening amount of play are not enough of a reason to return this product, manufacturing quality of the unit is so poor that the my drill bit is facing inward over an inch and to the left just enough that the bit would scrape the bottom tray. If I had turned on my Dremel and tried to drill something without checking first, my bit would have plunged right into the bottom table and certainly shattered.
Considering the normal high quality and great reputation of the company, Dremel, I contacted customer service and asked if there might be some sort of adapter or other component I might be missing. Also, I asked if this might be just a fluke in that I received a defective unit. Impressively, the customer service agent actually went and retrieved both the Dremel 398 and the 220-01 Workstation and tried coupling the two together. The representative confirmed that the single collar nut is indeed the only mount point intended to stabilizing 30,000 RMPs of steel as it bores into materials. Also, the representative confirmed that there are no adapters or other components that would improve tolerances. In conclusion, the representative said that the 220-01 was simply meant for basic arts and crafts. It was not intended to be a precision drill press at all. As far as being off center so much, the representative suggested I return the unit as defective and try another. While I sincerely appreciate the great customer service, I will return this, but I will certainly not waste my time trying another unit.
After really trying hard to make this work, my conclusion is that this Dremel 220-01 is not in any way suitable for PCB production. Sadly, I must return my unit to the store I bought it from. Not only that, I will certainly be a lot more weary of purchasing future Dremel products. The 220-01 could have been a great unit if the company had simply done a little better job at engineering. Though, in the current state, I see the 200-01 workstation as an accessory that simply does not live up to expectations.
