Drill bits smaller than #80?

I'm disappointed that .008 wire has a nice surround that shoes the gap from drilling an #80 hole. Just wondering from the detail guru's if there is a D-bit smaller than a #80? Something strong yet afforbable to order a hand full.

Thanks guys!
Tim

 

The answer was "yes" until you got to the part about "strong yet affordable". A #91 tungsten carbide bit will give you .0083". A 5-pack will set you back about $45.00. The price rises exponentially as the size decreases. Sizes available down to a .05mm (.0020) 5-pack for $178. This all from Drill Bit City.

Maybe someone can source something cheaper, but breakage is going to be a problem no matter what. I wouldn't trust myself with a $$ bit that small in a pin vise. You would probably want to use a drill press.

Pete D.

 

Can you use a pin? This is a question that comes up sometimes in pinhole photography, too, and what some people do is take a pin or a sewing needle and stick it in a pin vise and "drill" their hole that way. It take a while, but it's durable and cheaper than a $9 bit.

 

I've had very good luck with the Drill Bit City sets. The thing I like about them most is that they are machined directly onto a standard 1/8" mandrel so they can be chucked into a pin vise or drill without any issue of getting them truly on axis. I could never do that very reliably with a standard chuck at these sizes. (They also have an ID ring on the mandrel so you don't have to guess the size.)

I have the 80-85 set (which has two bits of each size):

http://drillbitcity.com/catalogue/product_detail.asp?Tg=112-10W85-80

but frankly I don't have much need for 81-84 because the differences between them are so small. I'd much rather have a 10 pack of #85 to go with my 10 pack of #80. Their site says to e-mail them if you want a package they don't offer, so I'm going to try that next time I order. Note that this set is $10.30, so a buck a bit. Not too bad for the quality.

Cheers,
Gary

P.S. Their 10-pack of #80 bits is in their monthly specials section, $7.45 for 10 bits:

http://drillbitcity.com/catalogue/monthly_special.asp?Pt=2&St=&Sc=

They might be willing to package a 10-pack of #91 for a decent price.

 

Guys,
DBC looks like a winner, I emailed them to see what they offer in the way of a #91 10 pack.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I dont have a drillpress (yet) and if I did drilling loco shells with the aid of a milling table would be somewhat time consuming and inefficient.

Hopefully DBC will come through!

Thanks,
T

 

Great. I'd be curious to hear their response.

-gfh

 

I finally bought one of these #80 bits with the 1/8" shank and colored ring at a local show. Put it in a pin vise and broke it on the very first hole I tried, and it was in soft resin!

 

Being a machinest that works with carbide all day a brill bit that small in carbide in a pin vice is a bad idea to me.Carbide is so brittle one slight wrong move and its toast these drill bit are made to run at 50-100,000 rpm to work properly

 

71 Jeep (prefer a 44/45 GPW myself ),
Would be able to recommend a drill bit size #91 then? Really I'm just trying to get a .008 hole if I have to go metric thats ok too.

I'll try the #91's pending a return email from DBC.

T

 

Now that I am really thinking about this...how hard would it be to get say, a dremel tool to run in the 50 - 100 RPM range?

It would require the use of say a potentiometer and the use of a flexi-shaft. That way you get the use of a "high" RPM device with the control of a handtool.... Yet another stinking project!

T

 

Sizemore..

Check MSC online part #77848224 #91 .0083 HSS bright finish drill @ 4.52 cents each they have all the way down to .0013 @ like 14.00 but you have to buy them in packages of ten.

Hope this helps

Allen.....

 

I come back with food for the pack!

So after browsing their site, "Tom Glancying" then exchanging emails I was directed to their resharpened drill-bits page:

Main
http://drillcity.stores.yahoo.net

Page directed:
http://drillcity.stores.yahoo.net/10pacresmics.html

$20 clams is well worth the price for 10 resharpened bits to experiment. I give these guys top notch in customer service emails returned within the hour.

Tim

 

I agree with the need for speed here. The setup I have been using for a while now is a Dremel with a flexible extension. The speed switch on the motor says 5000-35000 rpm and I tend to use it on the slowest setting. That has generally worked pretty well, once you get the feeling for working these bits. A key point is to use very little pressure - let the speed of the bit do the work.

The thing that led me to this setup was the "need" to apply grab irons to the end of this stacker:



The metal these are cast from is fairly hard (a pin vise was getting nowhere!), the hole had to be pretty deep to accommodate the grab, and there is very little surface area, so no room for error. When I first tried the Dremel I couldn't get a decent chuck to set a regular #80 bit true, so I tried the DBC bits. Now its like drilling into butter - problem solved. But I almost gave up before I got to that point...

Good luck!
Gary

P.S. Even though these grabs are .008 wire, I ended up using #80 holes for the most part. This gave me some leeway if the two holes were not exactly aligned, and I can barely see the extra size of the hole anyway.... So if #80 in a pin vise is working for you, you might just want to stick with it.

EDIT - just saw your last post. Hadn't seen that last web page before - thanks for posting it. gfh

 

Sirzmore...


I would suggest HSS MSC has them part number 7784224 number 91 for 4.25 each.
Thaey have all the way down to .0013 for 14.75 but these have to be bought in packages of ten.

Allen....