A magnetic drill press includes a main housing, a drill unit supported by the main housing for relative movement therewith in a direction of a rotational axis of the drill unit, and a base coupled to the main housing for selectively magnetically latching to a ferromagnetic workpiece. The base includes a magnet holder, a fixed magnet assembly supported within the magnet holder, a rotatable magnet assembly supported within the magnet holder, and a transmission. The transmission includes an input, an output coupled to the rotatable magnet assembly for rotating the rotatable magnet assembly relative to the fixed magnet assembly through a predetermined rotation angle, and a gear train positioned between the output and the input. The gear train is configured to provide a variable gear ratio between the output and the input during at least a portion of the predetermined rotation angle.