drill bits

[italwars]

Hello
i've noticed that drill bits sets ordered from Al Express in China are ridicoulosly cheap....i don t care too much if they are of low quality as i'm not expecting that they 'll last for ever.
well i would like to use them for making holes to scecure a pin for 1:72 and 28mm heads on my miniatures..metal...and sometime even reinforcing broken muskets (in 28mm in this case)..please which diameter do you suggest me to buys ..possibly in mm?
thanks so much

[Antonio J Carrasco]

I tried drill bits bought from a vendor in Aliexpress. Once. Never again. It is not that they won't last forever. It is that: a) the metal they were made was so soft that it struggled to drill through barely 2mm of white metal; and b) they broke/bend after a couple of uses, sometimes even with the first use! They were cheap, no question, but in the end they were more expensive than buying good stuff that will last for a long time.

[zemjw]

I generally start with a 0.5mm bit, then go back over with wider and wider bits. The first one is the most work, the others are much quicker.

Most spears and the like seem to be around 1mm to 1.2mm diameter. Paperclips are 0.8mm diameter (useless fact of the day  )

I still have drill bits from decades ago, so it's probably better to buy decent ones. Best tip I read for better driling was to rub candle wax on the bit before starting (I bought a tea light candle from poundland). It really makes a difference it terms of how often the drill bit sticks and should cut down on breakages

[Cubs]

I assume we're talking pin vice twist drills as opposed to electric ones? I use 0.7 most often for pinning joints together, but have found that actually the multi-boxes of lots of different ones are pretty good value compared to buying individually. 

[italwars]

thanks for the feedback...i  had just recently discovered those tools and i used (maybe i'm wrong in doing so) same bits for my manual and my electric drill...mainly for heads and broken muskets..even in 20mm miniatures...so i'll try to find bits from a bout minimum 0,6mm

[Daeothar]

I tried drill bits bought from a vendor in Aliexpress. Once. Never again. It is not that they won't last forever. It is that: a) the metal they were made was so soft that it struggled to drill through barely 2mm of white metal; and b) they broke/bend after a couple of uses, sometimes even with the first use! They were cheap, no question, but in the end they were more expensive than buying good stuff that will last for a long time.

Exactly this!

I actually stabbed myself in the hand with the protruding end (on the miniature I was working on) when the bit broke off flush to the hand drill I was using. Much blood and swearing ensued.

They were so dull, I had to put quite some pressure on (sometimes seeing the bit actually bend under the pressure) for them to actualy bite. The fact they have a very small diameter to begin with obviously didn't help in that regard either (0.5 and 1mm).

This applies to drilling white metal obviously, but also even to plastic bits at times!

I've stopped using them, and now use several more expensive sets I bought at the local hobby store (and more expensive here should read as 'reasonably priced'  as opposed to 'unbelievably cheap').

I like AliExpress for loads of hobby related cheap products, but tools are no longer amongst those things...

[Battle Brush Sigur]

Yeah, I'd avoid Aliexpress for this reason (and some others). When it comes to tools I wouldn't look to save money. Unless you snap it (which doesn't happen very often after the first time ) a bit will last you a lifetime. Doesn't matter if you pay €0,45 or € 3,00.

There are pretty good sets of small-sized bits out there as well. But in general I just go down to the hardware store when I need drill bits. Local vendors are cooler anyway.

[boneio]

What would people recommend when it comes to drill bits? 0.5 - 1mm essentially.
Had a look on ebay but I can't tell which ones are good and many sellers are offering the same set.

[Daeothar]

I'm afraid I won't be of much help here, as I bough mine in packs of five at the local hobby store, and the packaging has long been thrown out.

It is from a brand of products they stock though, which has everything from drill bits and hand tools, to sanding paper and even small power tools...

[Timmo]

Buy some Draper 0.5mm. They come in packs of ten. I use a Mini electric drill. Keep the drill bit moving. If you hit a bit of tin, as can happen in older figures, it'll all get hot. Keep the drill moving back and forth, don't put too much pressure on the tip.

These drill bits are high quality. Cheap drill bits might get through plastic but they are useless on metal and you'll break no end of them.

[Major_Gilbear]

Drill bits come are either "rolled" or "ground".

The rolled (sometimes called "twisted") are exactly what they sound like - drawn to a specific section, and then twisted or rolled to get the helical cutting faces.

Ground are round blanks that are machined to the finished item. They are more precise than the rolled bits.

Rolled bits are much cheaper than ground bits, and for certain things like a 4mm drill bit for wood, they're fine and do a basic job well enough.

However, for our modelling purposes, the cutting faces are not even/regular enough when shrunk down to the size of a 0.5mm drill bit, and the swarf gets stuck in the hole when you're drilling.  This binds the bit, and before you know it, it's snapped - and it's a bugger to remove the broken piece from the model too.

Next up is the material. You are often offered HSS (High Speed Steel), Titanium-coated, and cobalt. For plastic minis, any of these is fine, and HSS is cheapest. For metal minis, and especially any modern tin-rich ones, I would always go for cobalt. It cuts better, for longer, and doesn't get stuck as often.

Be aware that some sizes of drill bit are only ever made in HSS, and that for very small sizes (usually anything under 0.4mm), you can only get rolled bits.

Finally, there's the old technique of drilling into a wax candle first, to coat the drill bit evenly all over and help keep it moving when you're drilling your miniature. This works on all types of drill bit, and is general good practice for any fine work where finish is important. You can use oil, or a little bit of grease (say, from a chapstick); but these need cleaning up afterwards, whereas the wax doesn't.

Hello
i've noticed that drill bits sets ordered from Al Express in China are ridicoulosly cheap....i don t care too much if they are of low quality as i'm not expecting that they 'll last for ever.
well i would like to use them for making holes to scecure a pin for 1:72 and 28mm heads on my miniatures..metal...and sometime even reinforcing broken muskets (in 28mm in this case)..please which diameter do you suggest me to buys ..possibly in mm?
thanks so much

What would people recommend when it comes to drill bits? 0.5 - 1mm essentially.
Had a look on ebay but I can't tell which ones are good and many sellers are offering the same set.

I would recommend that you buy your brass rod first, and then buy your drill bits to suit. The drill bits need to be fractionally larger than the pins so that there is room for the glue. As the bits come in many sizes, but brass rod generally comes in only a few, I feel this is the better way around.

.020" (0.5mm) rod needs a 0.6-0.7mm drill bit
.032" (0.79mm) rod needs a 0.1mm drill bit
.047" (1.19mm) rod needs a 1.3mm drill bit

I have found UK Drills on eBay to be a good seller of small ground cobalt drill bits, and they have decent prices and fast shipping. They sell individual bits, and also packs (usually in 10s) of the same size.

[italwars]

thanks a lot to all...thanks Gen to the link...i'l follow your very tough suggestions