Tiny Drill Bits

[MountainMan]

We all know that those tiny drill bits are very flexible and prone to snap when too much torque is transmitted to that thin little shaft.

Cut the bit in half and discard the shank portion. Chuck the remainder of the bit - the part with the point - into your pin vise and drill away. The shorter shaft is less flexible and therefore less prone to break.

For very tiny drill bits, I discard the upper two-thirds and drill with the remaining point-end-stub. (*note: some visual adjustment by the driller is required!)

Yes, Virginia...size does matter.

[Steamtrains]

The trick to using these teeny bits is to leave only a small portion out of the chuck, just enough to do the job. Otherwise you WILL break the bit...

[doctorwayne]

It sometimes depends on who manufactured the drill bits, too. I bought some Walthers bits that were so flexible you could almost drill around corners with them, but at least they wouldn't break.

Wayne

[dave1905]

I use drill bits from Drill Bit City that are industrial carbide drills (resharpened). They have a 1/8" shaft so they fit in a drill press easily. Plus they have the drill size number stamped into the collar on the drill.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

the real trick will be drilling with the bit way out of the drill/pinvise. I've had to do that to reach certain spots on my models. its insane.

[doctorwayne]

Using a single #79 drill bit, I drilled 70-some-odd holes in this Proto1000 Fowler boxcar, in order to add wire grabirons. After that, I used the same bit to do an additional five similar cars. Sometimes, you just get lucky.
[album]1566[/album]

Recently, I was performing similar work on another car, and broke three bits trying to drill a single hole. Sometimes, you're not quite so lucky.

Wayne

[MountainMan]

As we say out here in Colorado, some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you!