Hand Drills?

[Mr.Marx]

Hey all.

Ive taken a shine to useing magnets to hold on my all tank's turrets, and have decided that to facilitate this task I need a hand drill. Ive had a look at various electric things and 'Dremmels' and have come to the conclusion that ones of those hand powered types with cogs would be far better.

I was just wondering really, firstly, does anyone have any experience useint this kind of drill on resin?, and secondly, does anyone know where I can get my hands on one (anyone got one they dont want in their shed?).

Thank you

Marx

[Daeothar]

What scale are your tanks? And with that I mean; how big need the holes to be? If your scale is anywhere below 1/35, I think you won't be needing any power tools for just installing some magnets...

I've been using a pin vice for years to embed magnets, in metal, plastic and resin, and for the purpose, one really does not need anything larger. Actually, because you're so close to the action so to speak, you have the best control possible over how deep you drill and also, because there is no mechanical mechanism, even just two cogs accelerating the rotation of the drill (as per an oldfashioned hand drill), there is no fear of melting or breaking the material either.

In conjuction with the pin vice (cheap one form GW), I use a set of (again) cheap drill heads from the DIY bargain bin, they have served me well for years of hobbying. The only specialised material I use is a Dremel drill bit I especially bought for this purpose, which actually evens out the holes I drill with the other drill bits. And with that I mean it squares the holes out; a regular drill head is tapered to a point, whilst this one is perfectly flat, thus creating prefectly cilindrical holes, which will hold the magnets perfectly.

I once bought a Dremel for the sole purpose of making pinning metal bits easier, but I never did get used to the thing and it is gathering dust in my garage now. Call me old fashioned, but for me, the pin vice is the way to go when working with miniatures...

[Cory]

The slow speed of a hand powered drill will work on resin, the big issue is control. It's not too hard to jury rig a quick drill press rig for these along with a jig to hold the tanks - this'll be vitally important because otherwise you'll have two hands to do a job that takes three.

Alternately buy a bit of the size you need and have someone weld a cross handle to it to make a T drill. They work wonders, especially when you have to drill a lot of holes the same size.

[Mr.Marx]

Hey. Thanks both of you.

Ive been magneting up 15mm tanks recently, but they have worked out so well that I think I will apply the things to my 28mm tanks. The magnets that I am useing require a 5mm diameter hole that is about 2mm deep.

I have been drilling a whole with my pin vice using my largest bit (about 1.5mm) and then useing a combenation of knives and files to expand the whole to size. Cutting though resin and metal is hell doing it this way and it takes forever, so to do it for all of the things Im going to need a bigger drill.

What sort of problems am I likely to encounter like melting, cracking ect?

Also, any idea where I can get one of these things?

Cheers

Marx

[Cory]

Here in the US just about any hardware store will carry a hand powered drill for $25-$35.

Melting shouldn't be a problem at the speeds you'll generate, cracking will come if you force the bit down too hard or are cutting too large of a hole - a sharp bit is the key to success. A bit for wood will work fine, there shouldn't be any need for a metal grade bit.

Also, avoid the push drills. They require to much thrusting force and are harder to control for depth.

[Mr.Marx]

I found a drill on Ebay for £7.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silverline-Double-Pinion-Hand-Drill-675032-/170621224576?pt=UK_Collectable_ToolsHasdware_RL&hash=item27b9d14680

so if im careful and dont do anything silly its just like useing a big pin vice then? thats good.

[Mitch K]

If it was me, I'd suggest getting a low-speed rechargeable power screwdriver, then a three-jaw chuck with a hex shank attachment. You can drill without needing both hands on the drill, keep less weight behind the tool and keep the bit running square and true more easily. Most of these things have a "soft start" facility, so reducing the chances of the bit skidding or snapping when you're first starting to drill.

[Mr.Marx]

If it was me, I'd suggest getting a low-speed rechargeable power screwdriver, then a three-jaw chuck with a hex shank attachment. You can drill without needing both hands on the drill, keep less weight behind the tool and keep the bit running square and true more easily. Most of these things have a "soft start" facility, so reducing the chances of the bit skidding or snapping when you're first starting to drill.

I had a go with one of those the other day that I borrowed off my dad. It came with a whole bunch of drill bits too, the problem was that the thing used a small magnet to hold the bits in place and had a circular hole for the circular bits - so as soon as they got any kind of purchise on what I was drilling the damned things just stopped dead and rotated around the magnet. It was only a cheep electric screwdriver - you know the 'special offer' type of thing, but I honestly cant see the point in the bloody thing - who designs tools that just dont work in any situation?

Sorry, rant over.

Marx

[Scout_II]

While I like my old hand drill - it isn't something that I would actually consider for use on miniatures.  They are a bit awkward to use, and on small items - it would be more so.

Mitch K has a good suggestion, and you can actually get a good selection of Hex shanked bits which will plug right into most the hex shank chucks that the cordless screwdrivers use.  I can honestly say I have never seen the round hole that you mentioned - though that would be a piss poor idea.  Likely someone's idea to prevent people from over torquing the motor and burning it out.

The wife had gotten me one of these last year as a stocking stuffer:

http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-DB3DL-3-6-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Screwdriver/dp/B000H2P05Q

While it wasn't what I had in mind when I mentioned it to her (was actually hinting at a compact impact driver...) but it has actually found its way into my hobby tool box.  It is much slower than my Dremel, which is handy when you are getting holes started and using larger bits in soft materials.  You should be able to get bits as small as 1/16" from the local hardware store - and you can get an adapter that works a bit like a pin vise to hold smaller bits.  I use mine for drilling magnet holes and alignment pin holes for a lot of models and terrain now.

A less expensive option, that will be easier to control than a large hand drill would be something like this:

http://www.micromark.com/Micro-Hand-Drill,7045.html

Same basic principle as the big hand drill - but you can use it one handed and it is less fatiguing.  I use that quite often to drill pinning holes.  However, since you are looking at magnets...there is a good chance you are after 1/8" holes or so.  With any kind of pin vise - even ones like that, it is a pain to drill more than a couple of them.

[Mitch K]

I have the ideal thing - a now very old Makita cordless hand drill in 7.2V. Unfortunately, tool companies don't make these small, lower powered (and hence light!) drills any more. The nearest equivalent is the power screwdriver.

Scout_II, all the selections of hex-shank drills started at about 3 mm and went upwards, which never seemed that helpful to me,which was why I suggested the three jaw chuck attachment. This ought to go down to 1 mm without difficulty. Below that and I stick with an archimedes drill anyway...

[Watery Graves]

I swear by my Tamiya Handy Drill. It's an odd little low-power drill (AA battery) that's essentially a powered pin vise--much less power than a dremel or similar tool, much easier to control. You have to build it from a kit, oddly enough, but the construction is pretty trivial. It would be an awful drill for anything but miniatures and plastic model kits, but for those, it's golden.

[Scout_II]

Scout_II, all the selections of hex-shank drills started at about 3 mm and went upwards, which never seemed that helpful to me,which was why I suggested the three jaw chuck attachment.

I agree - get the chuck...but get the Hex bits as well.  On a related note, have you ever compared manufacturers websites between countries?  Just spent a bit of time looking through the Bosch and Hitachi sites for the UK...and they seem a bit backwards compared to the US and Canadian versions.

http://www.hitachipowertools.ca/en/Products/Accessories?acat=52&cat=57&aid=167

Wasn't able to track down the specific part number for that side of the pond - but they should stock this item (or something similar to it).  It goes from 1/16" to 1/4" in 1/64" increments (about 1.5 mm to just over 6 mm for you metric types).  For magnets - you generally don't get much smaller than that.

On the three jaw chuck - be sure to look at the limits too.  Most of mine won't even hold a drill bit much smaller than 1/16".  They have sort of teeth at the end of the jaws to allow them to grab bits better...but they prevent the jaws from actually meeting in the middle.

[Mitch K]

Scout_II,

I've never found that Bosch's website was anything like as good as their tools, so your experience is not unique!

Good point re three-jaw chucks: a standard 1/4" (6mm) chuck is actually rated down to 1mm drill bits. The alternative below this size is the archimedes drill (as I generally do) or buy some collet shanked drills in the smallest sizes. I have a few, odd ones, left over. Somewhere like RS always used to carry these, as they were not uncommon in the electronic industry back in the day.