discussion Micro drills advice

[Panzerwrecker]

I am currently looking for a replacement set of hand held micro drills and looking for any recommendations for some quality ones, ideally with larger shanks that can be used easily by hand. I have some micro drills for using with a dremel but obviously the smaller you get the more difficult they are to secure in a chuck. This set will mainly for opening up small holes in 3D printed material.

Thanks in advance

 

[Dave Ward]

I am currently looking for a replacement set of hand held micro drills and looking any recommendations for some quality drills, ideally with larger shanks that can be used easily by hand. I have some micro drills for using with a dremel but obviously the smaller you get the more difficult they are to secure in a chuck. This set will mainly for opening up small holes in 3D printed material.

Thanks in advance

Los,
the drills you need are "PCB" drills, they have a common shank ( 4 mm? ) for all sizes.............


You can pick them up from Amazon, Ebay. I've found that it's just as easy to break the expensive type of drill, as the cheapest!
I only drill plastic, with a pin chuck holder. I've several sets with different sizes. It just needs a steady hand when using the small drills, and not too much pressure! After a while your breakage drops!
Dave

 

[Panzerwrecker]

Cheers Dave

Thats exactly the type I am looking at. Looking at the shank diameter smaller sizes could in theory be twisted in the hand as well as in a chuck

https://www.fortex.co.uk/cart/


Los

 

[Panzerwrecker]

The coloured coller is also a nice touch. I am forever popping the wrong size bits back in the wrong channel in those micro drill plastic cases

 

[Jim R]

Those drills Dave recommended are great. What I would say is don't rely on the mixed set. The small sizes break easily and however careful you are those will break. I have a mixed set and then I bought single size sets of the smaller sizes.

 

[Dave Ward]

Those drills Dave recommended are great. What I would say is don't rely on the mixed set. The small sizes break easily and however careful you are those will break. I have a mixed set and then I bought single size sets of the smaller sizes.

Jim,
couldn't agree more - I bought complete sets of 0.2mm & 0.4mm as reserves!
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

You really need a comfortable pin vice/hand chuck ( the names vary! ). One with a swivel top is good

If you're only drilling soft materials, then these are ideal
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Totally agree with what’s written here. Power drilling anything below about 1mm will just break the drills. The chucks on dremels etc are just not concentric enough to run true, so breakage follows.
Those PCB sets are very sharp and are well worth having, but they are designed to run in pillar drills and can be a little brittle. The micro sets are also pretty good, worth having for the case alone. Sizes below about 0.6 can be stored two to a slot, by the way. The way to go is to just buy replacements in sets of ten as you need them. They are easily sourced these days, and pretty cheap.
A pin vice is a modellers necessity to me. Far more useful for modelling than a dremel. Don’t get me wrong, dremels have their uses, but in plastic modelling I don’t find them necessary at all. I have had a mini raft equivalent for many years, but don’t think it’s been out of the box for at least the last five.
Do be aware that the pin vice isn’t a one size fits all type of tool, by the way. Buy the size that fits the drills you want to use in it.
Anything that is supposed to hold all sizes from 0.2mm upwards to 2.0mm or so is probably being marketed by a drill salesman

 

[boatman]

WELL i find them dill bits bust very easy
chrisb mtb

 

[Andy the Sheep]

I use this, from Tamiya:

It looks like a toy :rolling:, it's cheap :money-face:and it's sold as a kit but it works at low speed and hand pressure can be easily modulated, thing I find difficult to do with my pin vice.
It's battery operated (2 x AA) and I use it every time I have to drill holes into something not so sturdy, which means almost always :smiling:.
I've a Dremel too, but used it 3 times in more than 5 years... not a wise buy (and it was on sale)!

Andrea

 

[Jim R]

I have a Como power drill and a couple of pin vices. Like Tim I will use the pin vice much, much more often than the power drill.

 

[Tim Marlow]

WELL i find them dill bits bust very easy
chrisb mtb

Yes they do Chris, but they bust a lot easier in a power drill at 20000rpm. A pin vice is much easier to control, but I’ve still managed to break two or three in quick succession on the same job on occasion. The worst thing to drill with them is white metal. Binds really easily and just snaps the drill off.

 

[minitnkr]

Some resins are just as bad as white metal for binding the bit. Beeswax on the bit helps. Have a small chunk for this use. Dremel used on model RR a lot, but not for 1/87 models, too ungainly.

 

[Jim R]

Binds really easily and just snaps the drill off.

You are well and truly b******d when that happens. I have yet to find a way of getting the little piece of broken drill out of the hole

 

[Tim Marlow]

Actually, saliva works as a lubricant with white metal Paul ……agree with dremel use on railway modelling. It’s great as a metal grinding and cutting tool, especially for things like track cutting across baseboard joints. Just lay the track across the joint and use a cutting disc to cut the joint where needed. Much more accurate than trying to lay separate pieces either side. Less useful for drilling holes though.…..

 

[Tim Marlow]

You are well and truly b******d when that happens. I have yet to find a way of getting the little piece of broken drill out of the hole

In white metal you can dig out the drill, fill the hole with solder, dress it, then start again. For Plastic, brass, or resin you are on your own :tongue-out3:

 

[boatman]

Yes they do Chris, but they bust a lot easier in a power drill at 20000rpm. A pin vice is much easier to control, but I’ve still managed to break two or three in quick succession on the same job on occasion. The worst thing to drill with them is white metal. Binds really easily and just snaps the drill off.

HI Tim well i use my dremel with a chuck fitted an the varible speed turned down as slow as can be but them drills still bust but i find the pack of tiny drills are much sronger will put on a pic of them tiny drills an there are about 30 in the pack right from the tinyest drill up to 2mm drills an i find them great
chrisbmtb

 

[Tim Marlow]

Personally I’d never drill anything 1mm and under with a hand held power tool Chris, even into brass or nickel silver. For me, that’s into the world of the pin vice all the way. I use HSS drill bits virtually all the time. Although I do own a set of those circuit board drills, I rarely get them out and use them.

 

[Mini Me]

Speed and Feed are critical to successful drilling. Powered drilling with small dia. bits is a recipe for failure. I use "Jobber" type drill bits made from Hi strength steel or Cobalt. Next, when getting ready to drill a hole, prick the spot you want to drill and make sure you keep the drill bit perpendicular to the work surface.......the smaller the bit diameter the more critical this becomes. any side load will snap a bit with minimum pressure if it is not kept vertical. Finally, when you start to drill allow the bit on the prick mark to find its center, once you see that material is starting to travel up the flutes pressure may be increased (slightly) to allow the bit to cut more aggressively.....too much pressure and the bit will try to bind....if you feel it starting to bind, reverse your direction to allow any chips to clear out of the flutes, then continue on.
Happy Drilling!

 

[yak face]

As said above Los , the PCB drills are great , easily available on ebay . The assorted set is very useful , just have to be VERY careful with the tiny ones , they snap as soon as you look at them ! Personally I dont usually use power tools with them , normally for plastic just using your fingers is enough to drill the hole . If ive got a lot of holes to do then i might get the pin vice out .