drilling holes in models

[markgeorgetwo]

Can someone help me with a sticky probelm it envolves putting holes in the models for the stands . i was told that certain drills can melt pewter what the models are made of so what drills do my fellow gamers recommend that i can buy in the uk.

One brand i heard about is the dremel so any advice including hand drills would be handy i find out the hard way and nearly runied a fed ship iwas working on. so any help would be .

[Scoutdad]

I use a Dremel tool for 99.9% of my drilling - the rest is done witt a full-size Black & Decker drill. I have both a cordless Dremel and a multi-speed Dremel. I have used both Dremels and the Black and Decker drill on lead, pewter, and plastic miniatures with no adverse effects.

[djdood]

I'm in agreement with Scoutdad.

I too use a battery-powered Dremel (similar to this one) and have a corded one for when I need it (as well as full-size drills). Honestly though, the little battery-powered one does the job for everything I've needed on lead, pewter and plastic mini's.

The key thing is bits. Most of the holes I've drilled in minis required drill bits much smaller than those included in a typical "hardware store" set. I ended up buying my set of tiny bits from a hobby shop.

When drilling I've found higher speeds to be the best (which is counter-intuitive - I expected more control from lower speeds). The higher speeds mean you need to be more careful to avoid "drill-through", but it also makes it go through the material quicker and therefore straighter. Drilling through can be prevented with a little masking tape wrapped around the bit at the maximum allowable depth - if the drill tries to take off, it hits the tape and is stopped.

[John Schneder II]

I buy from Harbor Freight (both brick-and-mortar as well as internet). They have a grab bag of small machined-down tungsten-carbide bits for use with Dremels (or any other rotary tool). $6.00 gets you twenty in various grab-bag sizes. My last box I bought had ones ranging from .018" to 1/16" with a few repeats in the smaller sizes.

[wrongway klingon]

Pin vices are available in several sizes and can take large enough drills for base pins. They are more controllable than an electrical drill is at low speeds.

[djdood]

I've actually had a lot of problem with those, especially in the harder pewter now in use. I broke quite a few bits trying to drill by hand.

Once I switched to the Dremel at low speed, I stopped breaking bits for the most part, but I do have to contend with the drill-through control problems.

Nothing's easy...

[wrongway klingon]

Try starting with a smaller size bit then enlarge the hole with larger bits.

[Scoutdad]

I've broken enough bits using my pin vise to pay for a new Dremel.

I used to use my pin vise exclusively, but then I got the multi-speed Dremel and it works soooo much better. It's faster, cleaner, and easier to control - at least IMHO... YMMV.

[djdood]

Yeah, anytime I drilled with the really tiny bits by hand I'd end up putting too much pressure behind it and bow the bit suddenly - snap. Broken bit.