Pinning aids

[Gadgetman!]

I surfed by the tools Pron site (The Marked Micro site)  

 

 

It may be ppossible to mod this to hold drill bits?

 

 

This last one is a Press that you modify to hold drill bits...

 

[Corsair]

Off the subject of drills, there are also gadgets built that are designed to grab small items. I cannot think what they are called bu have 3 or 4 hardened wires sticking out to pick up and hold anything from diamonds to screws.

[Cyradis]

1 hour ago, Corsair said:

Off the subject of drills, there are also gadgets built that are designed to grab small items. I cannot think what they are called bu have 3 or 4 hardened wires sticking out to pick up and hold anything from diamonds to screws.

 

We use those in gemology work. It is an easy way to grab a stone to show off without getting finger prints. I'd never use one to hold something I'd apply pressure to. They're flimsy. The moment you put pressure and torque on a mini for pinning, it would come out. 

[Doug Sundseth]

6 hours ago, zemjw said:

One thing I always do now, especially on metal figures, is to push the drill bit into a candle first to give it a bit of a coat of wax. It makes it much less likely to stick when drilling

 

I usually use 3-in-1 oil (a light machine oil) for bit lubrication, but paraffin can work pretty well too. But definitely lubricate the bits.

 

They cut much better, produce much less heat, and clear the waste material from the hole much better when you do. It's both faster and easier to drill with a lubricated bit.

[CorallineAlgae]

I'm looking at getting a Yakamoz 0.3mm - 4mm adjustable micro electric drill for about $30 on Amazon. The smallest bits and pins I use are 0.4mm so this should work. Bits that size slip out of the collet of most pin vices I have. I do have a Starrett 166A Pin Vise to handle the smallest bits but it's a little tricky with my persistent hand and arm pain. I like that the Yakamoz drill has a proper looking chuck that uses a key instead of a twist to hold collet. Reviewers say it slower speed than dremil tools, plus it has variable speed.

 

There is a cheaper version, but the smallest bits it holds are 0.7mm. I'm curious if anyone here has tried these.

 

[FireImp]

On 3/22/2019 at 3:40 AM, zemjw said:

It may be worth looking at cordless screwdrivers, although you will probably need a drill chuck adapter to use it with drill bits. They have much slower rotation speeds, more of the order of 100s of rpm, rather than 1000s

 

One thing I always do now, especially on metal figures, is to push the drill bit into a candle first to give it a bit of a coat of wax. It makes it much less likely to stick when drilling

 

Yes, I was looking at those yesterday. If the hobby drill doesn’t work out for me, I think a little cordless screwdriver might be the next step. Nice tip about the wax.

I was also curious about those units, Coralline. In the end I opted for something cordless, but if you get it, I’d be interested in hearing how you like it.