An excellent tip, I have done much the same thing myself with a home-made device. I see a few negative comments which are totally uncalled-for, Joe is kind enough to share some good workshop tips, if you don't have a use personally there are plenty who do, don't knock it.
I realise that this is an old post but have to say that I completely agree, Joe is a teaching legend! He has a real knack of keeping it interesting and at the same time getting really useful information across. Big thumbs up for the guy 👍
Thanks very much. I've been in engineering for 50 years and have never seen this trick, not done that much small drilling but enough to know I appreciate your video!
I ordered 10 x 0.3mm microbits! After breaking 6 of them I came across this video and built the adapter. I now have two 0.3 mm holes in my project. Thank you for making this video! Greetings from the Netherlands
As someone else mentioned "There are small chucks that can be bought ready made with a sliding shank and a knurled grip to hold onto so you have feel.". I have one and that certainly has been a life saver - that type does do good in the mill due to its contstruction. Your approach is essentially very similar and a great solution for sure - it is essential to have that 'feel'. I'm sure a good many folks will find that super useful.
My Father used to say, "A day you don't learn something is a wasted day". The man read and studied right to the end. He was amazing in his quest for education.
Another great video. I just completed a wing rack gear out of .375 square X 7" long aluminum. Cross milling with .061 end mill @ .160 intervals, .100 deep over the 7" length. I didn't have the 'feel' and broke three .061 end mills during the process. That FEEL doesn't come cheap. I will be making one of these for my lathe. Thank you.
Thank you Thank you Thank you Joe. I make small brass parts with small holes drilled deep. No matter how light my touch is on the tailstock crank, the "feel" is zero. From your great vidoe I can see how much quicker and easier it will be with the free sliding chuck. Indeed a "light bulb" moment for this amateur!
Thank You Joe ! I really do appreciate all the videos you do . I am hobby machinist , I’ve been a Heavy Equipment mechanic for over 40 years I work for Caterpillar Warrencat . I learn something new everyday . Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and wisdom . Looking forward to learning more from your videos. Sincerely, Steve W Black - Anadarko., Oklahoma
I see someone else calls that a sensitive chuck. Had mine given to me by an old machinist who retired and passed many great tools to me. That sensitive chuck adapter saved my goose many times over. I never realized till now how expensive that thing is. A treasured tool because a craftsman gave it to me who I highly respected. I bet those who build your design will have no less a tressured tool. Nothing is more frustrating than fighting and breaking tiny drill bits, unless it's a tiny dull center drill, lol... Another great tip Joe and your right feel is everything for doing good work.
With small drills like that, I usually buy 3: One to lose on the floor, the second to break, and the third to do the job. I now feel confident enough to buy only two, and hopefully not drop either!
One of my old bosses had a sign in the shop that said "If you don't know what lever A is then leaver B". I learned "the feel" from that guy after he stood behind and watched me try to burn a 3/8" drill bit through a stainless plate at high speed and I do mean Glowing Red with all the force I had in me at the time. Talk about work hardening Hahaaa!! Thankfully, "finesse" as he called it or "the feel" as you say is a skill I was capable of acquiring with a little bit of proper coaching. Cool trick man. Rock on Joe, with your 2017 post I somehow missed? Wtf
Absolute Great Video Joe!!!! I'm into Clock Repair and I think You Just solved a huge problem. Some guys hold the bit freehand in a pin vice because they're afraid of snapping it. I can't see how that can give you any kind of close tolerance. Your method eliminates that freehand wobble. Thanks Again!!
Joe, I made the same type of adapter sleeve as you when I was working as a journeyman machinist for a 2 piece D&I sanitary steel food can plant. The D&I bodymakers worked on hydrostatic principles and required small jets made from 1/4 -20 x 1/4 stainless cup point set screws at the various pressure points on the machine. The holes varied in size anywhere from .014 to .036 to control the static and dynamic pressures required at that point. Long story short, the sleeve does a great job of being able to allow you to feel what the drill is doing in the material. I'm 57, and I remember being told when I was a green apprentice about learning to develop" a good feel". Another good video Joe.And I hope the younger guys appreciate these tips because you pay for this experience with your life.
Oh MAN!....you did it again,...I had to stop what I was doing to write this...Sorry for repeating my self mate, but to the likes of me (and I am sure many thousands of others...) this type of generous guidance is so amazingly selfless, and I for one am so grateful for these gems.....I am frustrated that I can't give anything comparable back...Agggh!....Nice one Joe!!!...:-). please keep up this great content; you are some guy:-)
I have one of the commercial ones but I like your's as well. Mine is keyed for use on a mill with a free spinning collar to push on. Your design is better on the lathe because you also get feedback on how much bite the bit has. I've snapped several bits on mine. Looks like I'll be making a new tool. Thanks for sharing.
Aaah grasshopper, this is not a trick, but rather critical thinking and the ability to think outside the box and find simple solutions to complex problems. It comes easy to some, in a MacGyver kind of way, and others can't see the forest for the trees. Bravo to those of us that can size up and quickly find solutions to confounding problems that stump others. Necessity IS the mother of invention !!!
You're a life saver Joe. I need to drill some 1.2mm holes in 304 stainless and I've been dreading it until I saw this video. Though I'll be doing it on a mill, your comments below to use a micro drill adapter have shown me the way. Thanks!
On the subject of Tiny Drills, if your bit is too small for the chuck to clamp down on, spiral wrap the drill shank with fine copper wire then put it in the chuck and snug it down tight. Works in a pinch.👍🏻
Hey this is something I needed yesterday! I was putting an oil pass on a rifle! I am an gunsmith hobby wise!! Both of my grandfathers were machinist and I learned a lot from my dads father I didn’t get to meet the other!! This is a valuable trade and I have loved it for 40 years!!! Thanks
I'm a turner,miller but before that worked as an engineers storeman. While I was there I perused a tap and die catologue and saw that as regular stock they could supply a 4 thousandths of an inch (one tenth of a millimetre) tap with 318 teeth per inch. I would have crapped myself if I was told to use one. It's another world.
My Dad used exactly that method for scratch building small scale model compressed air-driven engines, for longer than I can remember. I never saw him break a drill bit in over 50 years. Thanks for highlighting it.
Looks like a great tool and technique. The idea of rotating the work while holding the drill bit still is great. It solves much of the complication of making a sensitive drilling attachment. Of course it does limit you to drilling holes on parts that can be held in the lathe chuck. I followed a link to this video from a question on the PM board about using a 0.004" drill bit. I have used a 1/64" bit (0.0156") in my Unimat lathe and in the drill press configuration of that machine with NO problems. So 0.026" does not worry me in the least unless it is a cheap, poorly made bit. I have even used a pin vise for drilling 1/32" holes (0.0312") holes in softer materials by hand with no problems. The pin vise allows me to rotate the drill bit using my thumb and forefinger, without moving my hand. That eliminates the movement that other hand held methods will allow and which causes the drill bits to break. The 1/32" and 1/64" bits in my shop are both around 40+ years old and have at least a dozen holes behind each of them. I haven't broken them yet. Now that 0.004" bit does make me pause a bit but I will make a note to get one and try that using this technique some time soon. As an additional note, I would not try this with my SB-9 even though it has very little runout. The Unimat can run at 7,500 and perhaps even 10,000 RPM while the SB is limited to about 3,000.
I have a customer I have had to disappoint because the job involved drilling a 2mm hole 170mm deep in steel (for a special firing pin to slide through). Now I have your technique and will build the adapter and try it. It would be a victory for me to be able to do this job. It has bothered me for a year now. Thanks for the super videos you produce, and this one not least!
2 mm is more than 3 times the diameter of this bit. You'll have to give it a try, but it may be too big to do this with? 170 mm is also really deep too. Your typical 2 mm jobber twist drill is not even a quarter that long. It would be quite a feat to get a straight bore that diameter, that depth.
Sinker EDM or some 2mm capillary tube with diamond abrasive glued on the end and trued up. You might have to reapply and true the abrasive several times to get to depth. The key to both of these techniques is they remove the random tangent force that will bend a twist drill off axis.
Thanks Joe, For an excellent suggestion. Would it also help to put the bit further into the chuck and then gradually draw it out as you progress with the drilling
So fabulous. I have struggled to make 0.6 mm clearance holes for copper mig welding tips due to breaking drills. The tips are not that expensive to buy, but I have several times needed one when the shops were shut & could not make one. Next time I will try your super useful method. Thank you for sharing!
Springwood Cottage: Forethought and planning has to do with having spare consumables. Kinda like starting a weld fab with only 5 feet of wire left on the spool - just saying... could also drill out your 0.023 or 0.030 tip to 0.045, in a pinch.
Scott Burrous Yes, being organised is best, but as a one man operation I often have to fix things that break in use, often weeks or months between needing to weld, then back to what ever the broken part stopped. Being able to repair tools has often got me going far more quickly than getting new and with welding tips I often burn the wire back into them till I get back to the feel of the welder for the gauge I am at as it's so long between use and on various gauges from car bodies to 3/8 inch.
Super method. Wow, that is a great solution; much appreciate your sharing it. Thank you. Just curious; what's the tolerance between the drill chuck shank and the cylinder holding it? Thanks
There's showing a trick (new technique), and there's showing how and why it works. Without the how and why, it's just a one off thing, and hit or miss technique. The explanation of why it works makes all the difference. Thanks!
Hi Joe, I'm a freelance engineer working in the medical device space and over the years and out of necessity I've become something of a hack 'machinist'. I took machining classes in college but they were only good enough for me to know the basics of how to operate a lathe and mill. The rest of what I've learned has come from OJT. I've been fortunate to pick up some very useful techniques from machinists at places I've worked, but when I started my own company, I often had to develop my own methods because there was no one around to ask and at the time, youtube had more cat videos than useful content. Since youtube has matured, the world is fortunate to have several content providers who've made the rest of us homeshoppers and hacks into much better 'machinists'. As I've surfed youtube, I've run across a handful of content providers that I've found useful, but your content is top-notch. Your videos stand out because you provide tips and techniques that are clearly driven by a real pro who needs dead-nuts reliable techniques that don't break tools, make setup straightforward and easy, and make money. I admit that you can be a little tough for me to follow the first (or second!) time through, but nothing I can't eventually figure out. Thanks for all the content you provide. I'll be working my way through your catalog of videos to see what new and useful things I can add to my 'toolbox' of techniques.
My business was born out of the need for specialized Knee and Hip instrumentation. I am a former associate knee product development engineer for Zimmer. What field are you in?
@@joepie221 I'm in the minimally invasive space, and over the years I've ended up dealing in vascular, peripheral, neuro and structural heart applications. My belief is that in my niche, it's important to have control over the means of fabrication - it just wouldn't be practical from a cost, timeline, and iteration standpoint to send everything out. And because I'm a freelancer, that means I'm the designer AND the machinist. Somehow a lot of my designs utilize really small holes
Really a super video again Joe!!! I’ve always been super fortunate to have use of Hardinge HLVH SUPER PRECISION lathes.wherever I was employed. Not much of a machine for medium to large parts, but for small to micro parts nothing could compare! The tail stock was a monster to remove from the lathe, but for small hole drilling in most materials I think anyone could be a master machinist in no time. I had one of the precision drill chucks you mentioned and the smallest hole I ever drilled was .005” and only .020” deep in aluminum. Luckily the lathe spindle speed was 3,000 rpm. The surprising thing to me was I actually preferred to drill 304 stainless. Every time when drilling, I’d get the most beautiful two chips coming out of the hole. I was surprised how much force I was putting on the drill without it breaking! Thanks so much Joe for your always interesting machining videos.
I use the same technique in a milling machine and lathe to tap small holes. It keeps the tap lined up while allowing you to feel when the chips are building up or bind so you don't snap the fragile small taps. I have never used it to drill small holes on a lathe, but now I will. Thanks.
I've seen and copied a much larger version intended for safely tapping LARGE holes in a lathe, but still with the feel you get by hand. It's based on a long hollow quill which slides on the _outside_ of the tailstock barrel, with a 3/4" Jacobs Superchuck (a keyed, ball bearing chuck which can grip almost like a collet) at the front end. A go-kart wheel bolted to the back end enables the operator to push the tap into engagement and then, using both hands, safely resist the torque of a big tap even in a blind hole. Just keep your thumbs clear of where the spokes will spin if the tap jams or bottoms! It's lapped to a neat fit on the barrel so it slides nicely and permits the tap to self feed. When you reverse out you can speed things up by also spinning the wheel in reverse. Works a treat up to M16 or 5/8-11" in steel, or with serial taps in stainless. Also down to M4.
A mill/drill version of this micro drill does exist. Years ago I made one for our tool room before we found out we could buy one. The micro drill chuck in this video can be upgraded fairly easily. 1. cut a key slot in the shank. 2.drill and tap the outer sleeve, the female part or adapter, on center and near the open end and install 'dog' tip set screw. The dog end set screw is used to drive the chuck but still allow the shank to extend and retract. 3. Cut a small groove for a snap ring about 1/4 inch rom the back of the chuck. this will hold a 'finger ring', basically just a washer, that you hold to control the depth. Here is a store bought adapter that uses a key and slot. Hopefully there is enough info between my quick explanation and the pic to make your own!
Joe; talking about "feel" on a larger scale, I read an acticle about building the Alcan highway to Alaska. They interviewed this old bulldozer operator who was operating on a very steep slope. When asked how he knew when he thought his Cat was about to tip over he replied "You got to feel it in your ass". The human body is an amazing thing when it comes to our senses.
I would not want to try to replicate the perfection of the human body mechanically. Just think about how much is going on when a pencil rolls off your desk and you catch it before it hits the floor. Good luck with that. On a different note, I had the opportunity to scuba dive inside a ship wreck that was just slightly listing to the left on the bottom. As I swam down the hallway, my eyes wanted to swim parallel to the floor because it looked natural, but my equilibrium told me to swim level to the bottom of the ocean. It was a strange sensation to come to a comfortable position and not get sick from the conflict. Thanks for your comment.
For years I have used the chuck you describe with the ball bearing and know what you are talking about. I never thought to make one like this one. I like that you can let go if the drill grabs on yours unlike the one I have. But then again I use mine mostly on the mill. I can say that I still broke a drill or two. But not as many if I didn’t use it.
Genius! I do work on musical instruments and use these sizes all the time. Do you have any tips regarding small drills straight into the sides of curved steel? Usually working with steel cylinders OD .085, drilling holes at right angles with a .020-.035 drill and reaming after. I would love to hear your thoughts on reducing walk, getting perfectly centered holes, and getting precise distance measurements between holes.
If possible, make a hollow guide that your tube fits into. This guide should have the hole through it the size of your tube, and a cross hole just like you want in your part. The main hole keeps the tube located, and the cross hole "guide hole" keeps the small drill from walking when it hits the actual part.
Joe Pieczynski thanks so much! That is the best method that has ever been suggested to me. We all have basic machining skills, but the practical problem solving stuff can sometimes be elusive. Love your vids, the threading techniques are ace.
I just used your technique and it worked great. Thanks, I didn't know what I was going to do, my drill was a .040" so bigger than yours but I couldn't have done it without you.
It is a wasted day when you don't learn something new. Thank you. I must have broken many small drills in my life without realising it was an easy fix.
Genius!!!. I used to say, "Let the material, and the bit TELL YA WHAT TO DO." My machinist boss just shook his head, incredulous. Yet it worked. Thanks for REPROVING IT!
Some times the guy that becomes the boss is the guy that is taking all the time and not working much , so if that guy gets the boss job then there is no lose in perduction , if a good worker gets moved up perduction will go down and may take 2 or 3 people to replace that good worker .
I think "the feel" is different for everyone and mostly gets learned from many many mistakes and remembering what things felt like right before they happened. Ive been a mechanic for 15 years and through all the experience I can tighten a bolt to within a reasonable torque and can tell when a bolts going to snap (usually) long before it does. I definitely agree that kind of thing can't be taught.
Sherline has a “sensitive drilling attachment for doing this with THEIR MINIATURE HOBBYIST MILLING MACHINE. (The drill spins, but you feed manually in a similar manner). I think the Sherline unit cost around a hundred bucks....
New here, the micro drill title caught our attention because well we are micro machinists so your 26 thousands just under 6.5 mm for us as watchmakers we do millimeter more often. I hope my micro drill press does not begin to stall out here at 6.5 mm as that is really large for us. Just funin, you are good.
But it is, to all intents and purposes, 0.65mm, so he got his decimal point out by one place. I'm sure that would have become obvious if he ever had to perform the task in reality... At one shop I worked at, a guy converted a dimension wrongly, from metric to the inches he was so much more familiar with, and we ended up with a roomful of aircraft spec light alloy billets, all 5mm, or a little over 3/16" too short for the task... @@joepie221
being a swiss apprentice micromecanician i can understand why you would have some difficulties with drilling that small of a hole with such a lathe so good job but if you take the good machine for the good job you'd have no problem drilling this hole, for example the smallest hole i ever drilled with a lathe was 0.2mm on a schaublin 70 lathe the hole ended up being 0.215mm in diameter but i was in my tolerance so the job was done
Agreed, 1350 RPM is way too slow for the drill bit he's using - but that's probably about as fast as that lathe will spin. At a speed of 50 sfm (recommended for stainless), a .026" drill should be turning around 7500 RPM!
It sounds to me like you are a CNC lathe guy. If the feed isn't perfectly inline with the RPM, this drill wouldn't last a minute at that speed. Obviously my RPM was fine for the process because it works perfectly. Every time.
Bryan rou I have to drill 0.32mm diameter drill. Depth is 12mm.Material is EN31 fully annealed . Can you suggest better way than hand drilling? Vikram mefavkd@hotmail.com
When I started as an app. in 1966 ,That spring loaded drill that you explinded in the last of the video is what was used in the Bridgeport and lathe in the shop ..
Always a pleasure Joe. I could have bet you while you in the office at the beginning of your video, exactly what it was that you showed us here. It is kind of you to share, I recall how selfish 'some' of those crotchety old timers could be back when I was an an apprentice. However in '78, I took a job in a tool room at a stamping company, and I was lucky enough to work for a journeyman that was a lot like you. Thanks.
I made my own by chucking a piece of brass in the tailstock and drilling and reaming to match the straight shank chuck with the drill and reamer in the headstock. It has been in my toolbox for 55 years.
I had often used these many years ago, and they worked well. But for very small drills, it can still be hard to feel the resistance and broken drills can still result. I eliminated this by installing a drop indicator mount on the quill and used the quill stop to control the pecking depth of the drill. I would peck .001"-.003" at a time and did not rely on feel. Also, it improved chip clearing and prevented me from getting over aggressive with the down force on a finger chuck that often would results from my impatience.
I have a similar tool made by Rutland that utilizes a Jacobs #0 chuck that closes to 0 on a spring-loaded shaft. I'm in the carburetor business and use it frequently on my miniature Sherline lathe which is smaller than your tailstock. Thank you for your video
i drill very small holes in tool steel alot at my job and I just rest my finger on the drill so i can feel it cutting and if it bows at all , say today 12 hole bolt circle thru a2 with a 1/16 drill thru 1.500 of material 12 times 1 drill no breaks ,I have been a tool maker for 40 years and my supervisor who is not a tool maker today tells me not to let him see me doing this again it is a safety hazzard I have been doing this over 30 plus yrs. Broke alot of drills before I found what works and it works for me never an injury .I keep my rpms at between 700 800 and it cuts like butter everyone else is breaking drills running way high rpms and ,like you said no feel..I got angry being told how to do my job by someone that doesn,t know my Job, and this man thinks it,s ok for a toolmaker to try to drill thru steel at 900 rpm,s with a 5/8 drill it was screaming I backed way off waiting for it to grab and shatter the drill sending fragments like bullets thru the air ,,,,wow I was told people have different ways of doing things ,hello yes sir right and wrong. thanks for letting me vent and I hope you answer to this as you said the drill is so small my finger is like leather after 40 yrs. doing this ,would I rest it on a 1/4 drill at 600 700 rpms hell know it would tear my skin off ,,,please reply Sir.
Machining is an art and the appreciation of feedback. Sound, color, smell machine tone changes...everything is a message for those willing to listen. It a shame when a company hires a degree to run a shop where hands are the best tools. Ask your genius boss to demonstrate his preferred technique next time he opens his mouth. Problem solved.
I made one like that some time ago. I bought one those $150 jobbies, but it had too much runout. I took the chuck off and made a sliding adapter like yours. Works great.
A bigger problem is if your tailstock center is not online with the headstock axis, a drill will break off. Our secondary operation lathe has no adjustments for setting the height and position of the tail stock. I had to drill a bunch of .007' holes To me, .026 is HUGE.
I've seen this trick before, but never held in a drill chuck. What seems to work well is to but y a Morse taper blank, putting it in the tailstock, marking orientation of the blank, and then drilling and reaming a hole in using tools held in the work holding chuck. It eliminates any off centeredness of the tailstock, both laterally and vertically.
Thank you very much Joe, bloody life saver, I’m sick of breaking small drills and more sick having to go to the shops and spend the money to keep replacing them, thanks again mate 👌🏼
this little trick is quite useful. made one of these in tradeschool. all my class mates thought i was a fool for wasting so much time getting the fit just right. ...and then they had to drill a wire size hole. boy did they all come to me!
This reminds me of the old joke about a drilling competition between the USA and Soviet Russia back before laser drilling was a thing: It goes that the USA sent a drill bit, measure in microns, to their Russian counterparts that was "the smallest possible dill bit in the World". Days later the Russians returned it with a hole drilled through the centre of it along with the bit used still a sliding fit in the hole!
Very good Idea. I am a hobby machinist. When I was taught lathe work many years ago the instructor emphasised "develop a feel for the procedures you use". I will be using the method you have shown. Thankyou Joe
I've heard that since I was in shop in highschool in the 70's, I don't do much metal work these days, mostly wood, but the "feel" is bang on. You know when something's wrong....specially when using a circular saw through maple plywood with a dull blade....
I know what you mean, my grandpa the clockmaker, and nationwide clock repairman for montgomery wards did all his practically microscopic hole drilling by hand.
@@MatthewHolevinski that is still a standard method. My grandfather and father had contracts with the Railroad until they went to Satalite. I'd like to add we use an abrasive piece of Corundum to shape, harden, and polish high carbon steel 0.002mm/min material displacement on average sized conical pivots for the balance staff on modern Watches creating super hardened mirrored surfaces. The larger size balance pivots on an 18 size Elgin pocket watch are typically between 0.11mm and .014mm. In Jeweled mechanisms (7j-21j) those pivots also glide on a Corundum surface that is also drilled. Corundum is the same composition as Ruby and Sapphire with a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale. Gypsum is a 1 and Diamond is a 10. Ps. It is rare but Diamond jewels have also been used. Naturally Diamond is also the abrasive used in such drilling applications. The drill bit looks like a hair with a double heli and the diamond "slurry" is a fine powder added with oil. I typically only need a 20%mm dia 3.8mm long Tungsten Carbide HHS bit for small brass pivot holes www.mikrontool.com/en/Products/CrazyDrill-Flex/Description I also drill by hand using a "Steaking Tool" to stay perpendicular to the plates.
Did something like this when I was working! But smaller! The material was H13 toolsteel, which is a versatile chromium-molybdenum stainless, in this case for use in an injection mould tool for moulding precision medical spray nozzles. The set up was as you saw here, but on a mill with the work piece in a collet in the milling head, and the slide chuck fixed to the table. Two . reasons for this set up, firstly setting and checking concentricity is much easier, and secondly a potential problem with chippings in the hole causing problems, by having the workpiece at the top, they fall out no problem. The drill size was 0.010" and the lubricant was a very cheap one, lick your finger and wipe the drill with it. This was a 128 impression tool we made, so a lot of holes, plus spares. One part was accidentally drilled at 0.008" diameter, we told the customer we'd forgotten to grind that one. This method was also successful at drilling 0.006 diameter for another mould tool. I'm not saying we didn't break drills, of course we did, again various reasons for this, not all drills are equal, drill enough small holes and 'feel' will tell this and you can discard the drill, even so because the drills vary, so does the number of holes you can get before changing, and of course tiredness from concentration and the constant light but firm grip on the drill chuck tells after a while. A useful tip for more than an odd one or two off, rig a dial indicator so that you know the break through point, this is yet another regular source of drill breakage on small holes. In all though a very satisfying process, and I can think of no better way of learning 'feel' .
You can do this with a mill. You need a sensitive drill attachment. It's roughly the same setup, but the drill is spinning and you grab the chuck by a ring that spins on bearings.www.msdiscounttool.com/catalog/product_info.php?csv=gg&products_id=105401&gclid=Cj0KCQjww7HsBRDkARIsAARsIT4gMT3c3RQA5VMN7I1kuGrmW6OWlKt2JMeE8GzT1CvNAgU5r--PNXwaAlbvEALw_wcB
Bob Darli. The only thing I found wrong with the posred website for the attachment is that only in the state of California, the product has material that may cause cancer. All of the other 49 states and the rest of the world can use this product without worry. What can the Californians use?? 😃😃😃
That is a neat setup. It reminded me of how the cutter is pushed with the thumb on a rose engine lathe. Same concept, a rigid tool in 2 dimensions with as little friction in cutting direction as possible to maximize digital sensation. Been a long time since I used the word"digital" to refer to fingers......
Yes, much better feel by hand. I made a similar slip fit system for hand tapping anything smaller than 10/32 threads. When using your fingers you can really feel that tap binding up and starting to flex. That's when you back out, blow it out, re- oil and go back in for another "peck". Works equally as well on a mill. Good stuff Joe.
Broke 3 tiny bits before looking. Bring on the names - just want to make TINY holes in 1/4” vintage OAK... Uh oh. Did he say lathe. WELL *P00P* !! I’m talkin hand drill and Wood, so I can put in fine brass nail. darn it.
I use a Amtech R0279 Mini Craft Hand Drill but it doesn't always get positive revues but I have had and used mine for more than ten years. I brake the odd bit still now and then but light pressure and less speed gets the job done and fewer broke A normal hand drill is heavy pushing down on the small bit but the Amtech is plastic with a brass chuck and he did say lathe but I found my self hear by accident too. To make fine holes in wood you could try using a pin push Expo 2mm Pin pusher - ideal for Amati and Peco pins # 75110
Have you tried an Archimedes drill? Gives you much greater control over twist speed & pressure for small jobs. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/QUALITY-ARCHIMEDES-PUMP-ACTION-PIN-DRILL-Precision-Model-Pinning-Hand-Tool-/172537853411?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292
Nice technique. I was taught to use a pin vice sliding on a drill blank mounted in a Jacobs chuck. As the drills get into the very small sizes (76, 80) it’s even easier to get the feel. Your RPM seemed a little slow to me for Stainless. Having a high speed bench lathe or a Hardinge toolroom lathe makes life easier too. Keep up the great work. Thanks for sharing.
As you said, a very old trick, but one of which many today seem unaware..... During WW2 my mother used to make welding tips in a factory in London using a similar method. She got extra wages because her production rate was high and she never broke drills.
Another great video. Thanks. I have a project for the wife's business that requires a 3/16 in hole and have just been breaking drills by the handful. I have a scrounged piece of steel which can be easily modified to use the hand feed technique. Great job.
@@joepie221 Fat finger. It is a 1/16 inch hole, just big enough to get a small wire through. My wife makes jewelry and fancy zipper pulls, tassels, etc. for decoration on her hand tooled leather products, earrings, etc. We purchase spent shell casings sizes .22 cal. .375, .38 through .45 shell casings. Most of the products use the shell casing base. However some of the spent casings used for earrings and other dangly stuff are left in one piece. In these I drill a 1/16 inch hole through the center of the soent casing base which requires the 1/16" drill to penetrate the spent primer cap. For the .22 cal shells the drill still has to penetrate some layered metal. It is common for the small drill to catch and bind and snap off before I can stop the lathe. I have been busy with some other projects but will get back to cutting and drilling casings in the next few days and will use your technique then. Many thanks.
in the late 60s i worked on a lot of carburetors. and in 68 on the Carter AVS they put an idle jet to small. it caused the V 8 engines to stumble off idle. it was a brass tube. necked down at the end. i used a .034 " drill in a hand held pin vice. hold the tube pointing down so the chips dont get in the the tube. on 440s incres the dia of the jet by .001. the stumble is gone
A 12 min video for 30 seconds of info. Jump ahead to 7:00 to see the “secret”. What the guy left out of the title is you need a $2,000 lathe and what you are drilling has to be round stock. It
I've done this many times in the lathe and mill using what I know as a finger chuck adapter. Also known as a micro drill adapter.Sierra American sells a version for $62. I've seen versions on Ebay for $27. It is a 1/2" strait arbor with an extending spring loaded arbor that has a "0" Jacobs taper end for a micro chuck. There also is a 1 1/8' dia. flange that free wheels so your fingers can extend the chuck. This is can be used in mills and drill presses because the chuck rotates with the 1/2" arbor. I also get as good or better results, depending on material that I am cutting by setting a quill stop and advancing it .002"-.003' at a time. Without the advancing stop, it is easy to get too ambitious and lose patience. Especially when doing many hole patterns and in gummy materials.
The difference being the "micro drill adapter" doesn't allow you to let go and save the drill before it breaks off. Those adapters are great for mill work, but are designed for a driving spindle. And about the "Dilettante" comment you made on my threading video. Next time you leave a comment that crosses over and gets personal, I'll block your channel. Anytime you care to find out the depth of my experience, just ask.
An excellent tip, I have done much the same thing myself with a home-made device. I see a few negative comments which are totally uncalled-for, Joe is kind enough to share some good workshop tips, if you don't have a use personally there are plenty who do, don't knock it.
I realise that this is an old post but have to say that I completely agree, Joe is a teaching legend! He has a real knack of keeping it interesting and at the same time getting really useful information across. Big thumbs up for the guy 👍
Hear! Hear!👍
Thanks very much. I've been in engineering for 50 years and have never seen this trick, not done that much small drilling but enough to know I appreciate your video!
I ordered 10 x 0.3mm microbits! After breaking 6 of them I came across this video and built the adapter. I now have two 0.3 mm holes in my project. Thank you for making this video! Greetings from the Netherlands
Glad I could help! Did you break any after making the adapter?
@@joepie221 None what so ever!
@@geordykorte Wow. Even with that adapter 0.3mm is pretty impressive.
As someone else mentioned "There are small chucks that can be bought ready made with a sliding shank and a knurled grip to hold onto so you have feel.". I have one and that certainly has been a life saver - that type does do good in the mill due to its contstruction.
Your approach is essentially very similar and a great solution for sure - it is essential to have that 'feel'. I'm sure a good many folks will find that super useful.
Thanks Joe.I'm an old guy (72) but still learning,.It never stops until your sucking dirt.,thanks to people like you and the magic of the internet
My Father used to say, "A day you don't learn something is a wasted day". The man read and studied right to the end. He was amazing in his quest for education.
Another great video. I just completed a wing rack gear out of .375 square X 7" long aluminum. Cross milling with .061 end mill @ .160 intervals, .100 deep over the 7" length. I didn't have the 'feel' and broke three .061 end mills during the process. That FEEL doesn't come cheap. I will be making one of these for my lathe. Thank you.
Thank you Thank you Thank you Joe. I make small brass parts with small holes drilled deep. No matter how light my touch is on the tailstock crank, the "feel" is zero. From your great vidoe I can see how much quicker and easier it will be with the free sliding chuck. Indeed a "light bulb" moment for this amateur!
GREAT video, been an "old school" machinist for 50+ years and just learned something new......gonna make that adapter today, love it. Thanks
I thought of this, two seconds after I saw that adapter ... near 80 years old and still learning ... thanks!
All of Joe's tips are obvious once you've seen them. Before? Not so much.
Thank You Joe ! I really do appreciate all the videos you do . I am hobby machinist , I’ve been a Heavy Equipment mechanic for over 40 years I work for Caterpillar Warrencat . I learn something new everyday . Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and wisdom . Looking forward to learning more from your videos. Sincerely, Steve W Black - Anadarko., Oklahoma
You've helped me meet my goal of learning something new every day.
Thanks
Peter Walker
Thank you for telling me that. Stay tuned.
I see someone else calls that a sensitive chuck. Had mine given to me by an old machinist who retired and passed many great tools to me. That sensitive chuck adapter saved my goose many times over. I never realized till now how expensive that thing is. A treasured tool because a craftsman gave it to me who I highly respected. I bet those who build your design will have no less a tressured tool. Nothing is more frustrating than fighting and breaking tiny drill bits, unless it's a tiny dull center drill, lol... Another great tip Joe and your right feel is everything for doing good work.
With small drills like that, I usually buy 3: One to lose on the floor, the second to break, and the third to do the job. I now feel confident enough to buy only two, and hopefully not drop either!
Thank you joe, I needed to make 130 pieces like that out of steel at work.
And this video saved me a lot of bits sweat and tears!
One of my old bosses had a sign in the shop that said "If you don't know what lever A is then leaver B". I learned "the feel" from that guy after he stood behind and watched me try to burn a 3/8" drill bit through a stainless plate at high speed and I do mean Glowing Red with all the force I had in me at the time. Talk about work hardening Hahaaa!! Thankfully, "finesse" as he called it or "the feel" as you say is a skill I was capable of acquiring with a little bit of proper coaching. Cool trick man. Rock on Joe, with your 2017 post I somehow missed? Wtf
Absolute Great Video Joe!!!! I'm into Clock Repair and I think You Just solved a huge problem. Some guys hold the bit freehand in a pin vice because they're afraid of snapping it. I can't see how that can give you any kind of close tolerance. Your method eliminates that freehand wobble. Thanks Again!!
The theory can be applied many ways. It gives great feedback for small holes. You'll like it.
Joe I made the tool to drill .040 holes in 2 orifice I made of brass. It worked great. 👍🏻. Thanks!
Nice work!
Joe, I made the same type of adapter sleeve as you when I was working as a journeyman machinist for a 2 piece D&I sanitary steel food can plant. The D&I bodymakers worked on hydrostatic principles and required small jets made from 1/4 -20 x 1/4 stainless cup point set screws at the various pressure points on the machine. The holes varied in size anywhere from .014 to .036 to control the static and dynamic pressures required at that point. Long story short, the sleeve does a great job of being able to allow you to feel what the drill is doing in the material. I'm 57, and I remember being told when I was a green apprentice about learning to develop" a good feel". Another good video Joe.And I hope the younger guys appreciate these tips because you pay for this experience with your life.
Very true. Thanks for the comment.
Oh MAN!....you did it again,...I had to stop what I was doing to write this...Sorry for repeating my self mate, but to the likes of me (and I am sure many thousands of others...) this type of generous guidance is so amazingly selfless, and I for one am so grateful for these gems.....I am frustrated that I can't give anything comparable back...Agggh!....Nice one Joe!!!...:-). please keep up this great content; you are some guy:-)
Thank you Sir.
Really excellent technique. I have broken many small bits, doing it the wrong way, as you explained. Thanks again
I have one of the commercial ones but I like your's as well. Mine is keyed for use on a mill with a free spinning collar to push on. Your design is better on the lathe because you also get feedback on how much bite the bit has. I've snapped several bits on mine. Looks like I'll be making a new tool. Thanks for sharing.
Joe, great trick.
If you clamp a small V-block on the OD of that female mandrel, you can magnet mount a dial indicator depth.
Aaah grasshopper, this is not a trick, but rather critical thinking and the ability to think outside the box and find simple solutions to complex problems. It comes easy to some, in a MacGyver kind of way, and others can't see the forest for the trees. Bravo to those of us that can size up and quickly find solutions to confounding problems that stump others. Necessity IS the mother of invention !!!
You're a life saver Joe. I need to drill some 1.2mm holes in 304 stainless and I've been dreading it until I saw this video. Though I'll be doing it on a mill, your comments below to use a micro drill adapter have shown me the way. Thanks!
On the subject of Tiny Drills, if your bit is too small for the chuck to clamp down on, spiral wrap the drill shank with fine copper wire then put it in the chuck and snug it down tight. Works in a pinch.👍🏻
I like that idea. Thanks.
Hey this is something I needed yesterday! I was putting an oil pass on a rifle! I am an gunsmith hobby wise!! Both of my grandfathers were machinist and I learned a lot from my dads father I didn’t get to meet the other!! This is a valuable trade and I have loved it for 40 years!!! Thanks
I'm a turner,miller but before that worked as an engineers storeman. While I was there I perused a tap and die catologue and saw that as regular stock they could supply a 4 thousandths of an inch (one tenth of a millimetre) tap with 318 teeth per inch. I would have crapped myself if I was told to use one. It's another world.
My Dad used exactly that method for scratch building small scale model compressed air-driven engines, for longer than I can remember. I never saw him break a drill bit in over 50 years. Thanks for highlighting it.
Awesome, I always have that problem of breaking the tiny brill. Thank you.
Looks like a great tool and technique. The idea of rotating the work while holding the drill bit still is great. It solves much of the complication of making a sensitive drilling attachment. Of course it does limit you to drilling holes on parts that can be held in the lathe chuck.
I followed a link to this video from a question on the PM board about using a 0.004" drill bit. I have used a 1/64" bit (0.0156") in my Unimat lathe and in the drill press configuration of that machine with NO problems. So 0.026" does not worry me in the least unless it is a cheap, poorly made bit. I have even used a pin vise for drilling 1/32" holes (0.0312") holes in softer materials by hand with no problems. The pin vise allows me to rotate the drill bit using my thumb and forefinger, without moving my hand. That eliminates the movement that other hand held methods will allow and which causes the drill bits to break. The 1/32" and 1/64" bits in my shop are both around 40+ years old and have at least a dozen holes behind each of them. I haven't broken them yet. Now that 0.004" bit does make me pause a bit but I will make a note to get one and try that using this technique some time soon.
As an additional note, I would not try this with my SB-9 even though it has very little runout. The Unimat can run at 7,500 and perhaps even 10,000 RPM while the SB is limited to about 3,000.
Joe, simple yet brilliant. Thank you sir.
I have a customer I have had to disappoint because the job involved drilling a 2mm hole 170mm deep in steel (for a special firing pin to slide through). Now I have your technique and will build the adapter and try it. It would be a victory for me to be able to do this job. It has bothered me for a year now. Thanks for the super videos you produce, and this one not least!
2 mm is more than 3 times the diameter of this bit. You'll have to give it a try, but it may be too big to do this with? 170 mm is also really deep too. Your typical 2 mm jobber twist drill is not even a quarter that long. It would be quite a feat to get a straight bore that diameter, that depth.
Sinker EDM or some 2mm capillary tube with diamond abrasive glued on the end and trued up. You might have to reapply and true the abrasive several times to get to depth. The key to both of these techniques is they remove the random tangent force that will bend a twist drill off axis.
Thanks Joe,
For an excellent suggestion. Would it also help to put the bit further into the chuck and then gradually draw it out as you progress with the drilling
Absolutely
So fabulous. I have struggled to make 0.6 mm clearance holes for copper mig welding tips due to breaking drills. The tips are not that expensive to buy, but I have several times needed one when the shops were shut & could not make one. Next time I will try your super useful method. Thank you for sharing!
Springwood Cottage: Forethought and planning has to do with having spare consumables. Kinda like starting a weld fab with only 5 feet of wire left on the spool - just saying...
could also drill out your 0.023 or 0.030 tip to 0.045, in a pinch.
Scott Burrous Yes, being organised is best, but as a one man operation I often have to fix things that break in use, often weeks or months between needing to weld, then back to what ever the broken part stopped. Being able to repair tools has often got me going far more quickly than getting new and with welding tips I often burn the wire back into them till I get back to the feel of the welder for the gauge I am at as it's so long between use and on various gauges from car bodies to 3/8 inch.
Super method. Wow, that is a great solution; much appreciate your sharing it. Thank you.
Just curious; what's the tolerance between the drill chuck shank and the cylinder holding it? Thanks
About .0005". Close enough that the air hole in the arbor is a must or it won't go in.
There's showing a trick (new technique), and there's showing how and why it works. Without the how and why, it's just a one off thing, and hit or miss technique. The explanation of why it works makes all the difference. Thanks!
i like the theory part as well. it helps drive home the practical part of the demonstration. Thanks for the comment.
I always buy cobalt micro drill bits. They work good in a pin vice also
Hi Joe, I'm a freelance engineer working in the medical device space and over the years and out of necessity I've become something of a hack 'machinist'. I took machining classes in college but they were only good enough for me to know the basics of how to operate a lathe and mill. The rest of what I've learned has come from OJT. I've been fortunate to pick up some very useful techniques from machinists at places I've worked, but when I started my own company, I often had to develop my own methods because there was no one around to ask and at the time, youtube had more cat videos than useful content. Since youtube has matured, the world is fortunate to have several content providers who've made the rest of us homeshoppers and hacks into much better 'machinists'. As I've surfed youtube, I've run across a handful of content providers that I've found useful, but your content is top-notch. Your videos stand out because you provide tips and techniques that are clearly driven by a real pro who needs dead-nuts reliable techniques that don't break tools, make setup straightforward and easy, and make money. I admit that you can be a little tough for me to follow the first (or second!) time through, but nothing I can't eventually figure out. Thanks for all the content you provide. I'll be working my way through your catalog of videos to see what new and useful things I can add to my 'toolbox' of techniques.
My business was born out of the need for specialized Knee and Hip instrumentation. I am a former associate knee product development engineer for Zimmer. What field are you in?
@@joepie221 I'm in the minimally invasive space, and over the years I've ended up dealing in vascular, peripheral, neuro and structural heart applications. My belief is that in my niche, it's important to have control over the means of fabrication - it just wouldn't be practical from a cost, timeline, and iteration standpoint to send everything out. And because I'm a freelancer, that means I'm the designer AND the machinist. Somehow a lot of my designs utilize really small holes
Genious method! Thanks
Really a super video again Joe!!! I’ve always been super fortunate to have use of Hardinge HLVH SUPER PRECISION lathes.wherever I was employed. Not much of a machine for medium to large parts, but for small to micro parts nothing could compare! The tail stock was a monster to remove from the lathe, but for small hole drilling in most materials I think anyone could be a master machinist in no time. I had one of the precision drill chucks you mentioned and the smallest hole I ever drilled was .005” and only .020” deep in aluminum. Luckily the lathe spindle speed was 3,000 rpm. The surprising thing to me was I actually preferred to drill 304 stainless. Every time when drilling, I’d get the most beautiful two chips coming out of the hole. I was surprised how much force I was putting on the drill without it breaking! Thanks so much Joe for your always interesting machining videos.
That is genius ! But now damn it, its 10:30 at night and I have to go to the shop to make this and play with it !!
I use the same technique in a milling machine and lathe to tap small holes. It keeps the tap lined up while allowing you to feel when the chips are building up or bind so you don't snap the fragile small taps. I have never used it to drill small holes on a lathe, but now I will. Thanks.
You'll like the feedback and sensitivity.
I've seen and copied a much larger version intended for safely tapping LARGE holes in a lathe, but still with the feel you get by hand. It's based on a long hollow quill which slides on the _outside_ of the tailstock barrel, with a 3/4" Jacobs Superchuck (a keyed, ball bearing chuck which can grip almost like a collet) at the front end.
A go-kart wheel bolted to the back end enables the operator to push the tap into engagement and then, using both hands, safely resist the torque of a big tap even in a blind hole.
Just keep your thumbs clear of where the spokes will spin if the tap jams or bottoms!
It's lapped to a neat fit on the barrel so it slides nicely and permits the tap to self feed. When you reverse out you can speed things up by also spinning the wheel in reverse.
Works a treat up to M16 or 5/8-11" in steel, or with serial taps in stainless. Also down to M4.
Great video. Can you tell me what material the drill was made of, seemed to have no problem cutting
Most of my small drill are Cobalt.
A mill/drill version of this micro drill does exist. Years ago I made one for our tool room before we found out we could buy one. The micro drill chuck in this video can be upgraded fairly easily. 1. cut a key slot in the shank. 2.drill and tap the outer sleeve, the female part or adapter, on center and near the open end and install 'dog' tip set screw. The dog end set screw is used to drive the chuck but still allow the shank to extend and retract. 3. Cut a small groove for a snap ring about 1/4 inch rom the back of the chuck. this will hold a 'finger ring', basically just a washer, that you hold to control the depth. Here is a store bought adapter that uses a key and slot. Hopefully there is enough info between my quick explanation and the pic to make your own!
As I have commented before, the keyed mill versions of this concept will not allow you to let go and have the chuck spin if the drill starts to bind.
Joe; talking about "feel" on a larger scale, I read an acticle about building the Alcan highway to Alaska. They interviewed this old bulldozer operator who was operating on a very steep slope. When asked how he knew when he thought his Cat was about to tip over he replied "You got to feel it in your ass". The human body is an amazing thing when it comes to our senses.
I would not want to try to replicate the perfection of the human body mechanically. Just think about how much is going on when a pencil rolls off your desk and you catch it before it hits the floor. Good luck with that. On a different note, I had the opportunity to scuba dive inside a ship wreck that was just slightly listing to the left on the bottom. As I swam down the hallway, my eyes wanted to swim parallel to the floor because it looked natural, but my equilibrium told me to swim level to the bottom of the ocean. It was a strange sensation to come to a comfortable position and not get sick from the conflict. Thanks for your comment.
For years I have used the chuck you describe with the ball bearing and know what you are talking about. I never thought to make one like this one. I like that you can let go if the drill grabs on yours unlike the one I have. But then again I use mine mostly on the mill. I can say that I still broke a drill or two. But not as many if I didn’t use it.
Genius! I do work on musical instruments and use these sizes all the time. Do you have any tips regarding small drills straight into the sides of curved steel? Usually working with steel cylinders OD .085, drilling holes at right angles with a .020-.035 drill and reaming after. I would love to hear your thoughts on reducing walk, getting perfectly centered holes, and getting precise distance measurements between holes.
If possible, make a hollow guide that your tube fits into. This guide should have the hole through it the size of your tube, and a cross hole just like you want in your part. The main hole keeps the tube located, and the cross hole "guide hole" keeps the small drill from walking when it hits the actual part.
Joe Pieczynski thanks so much! That is the best method that has ever been suggested to me. We all have basic machining skills, but the practical problem solving stuff can sometimes be elusive. Love your vids, the threading techniques are ace.
I just used your technique and it worked great. Thanks, I didn't know what I was going to do, my drill was a .040" so bigger than yours but I couldn't have done it without you.
Glad it helped!
How clever is that? - Brilliant trick. Thank you for sharing...
You'll like it once you try it. Great tool feedback.
It is a wasted day when you don't learn something new. Thank you. I must have broken many small drills in my life without realising it was an easy fix.
...."...all I got"...this is excellent!!!
Genius!!!. I used to say, "Let the material, and the bit TELL YA WHAT TO DO." My machinist boss just shook his head, incredulous. Yet it worked. Thanks for REPROVING IT!
The boss isn't always the smartest guy in the shop.
Some times the guy that becomes the boss is the guy that is taking all the time and not working much , so if that guy gets the boss job then there is no lose in perduction , if a good worker gets moved up perduction will go down and may take 2 or 3 people to replace that good worker .
@@kennethnevel3263 unfortunately.
They should be let go,in my opinion.
Not in a million years would I have thought of that!
Thanks Joe. I trained as a machinist yet have never been shown this. You’re up there with the best mate and I appreciate your time. Cheers mate.
Mmm, What about drilling a .5mm hole 3" long on brass rod..What type of bit would you use?
I'd use several and start from both sides. Finish with a reamer if possible.
I think "the feel" is different for everyone and mostly gets learned from many many mistakes and remembering what things felt like right before they happened. Ive been a mechanic for 15 years and through all the experience I can tighten a bolt to within a reasonable torque and can tell when a bolts going to snap (usually) long before it does. I definitely agree that kind of thing can't be taught.
Sherline has a “sensitive drilling attachment for doing this with THEIR MINIATURE HOBBYIST MILLING MACHINE. (The drill spins, but you feed manually in a similar manner). I think the Sherline unit cost around a hundred bucks....
Thanks as a 71 year old newbie what a pleasure watching your Chanel.
New here, the micro drill title caught our attention because well we are micro machinists so your 26 thousands just under 6.5 mm for us as watchmakers we do millimeter more often. I hope my micro drill press does not begin to stall out here at 6.5 mm as that is really large for us. Just funin, you are good.
To correct you, 26 thousands is not just under 6.5mm. Its about 3/4 of 1mm. .026, not .260
@@joepie221 Thank you that is what I get for trying to convert inches to my mm's, thank you for correcting me.
@@ActiveAtom You aren't the first...nor the last.
But it is, to all intents and purposes, 0.65mm, so he got his decimal point out by one place. I'm sure that would have become obvious if he ever had to perform the task in reality... At one shop I worked at, a guy converted a dimension wrongly, from metric to the inches he was so much more familiar with, and we ended up with a roomful of aircraft spec light alloy billets, all 5mm, or a little over 3/16" too short for the task... @@joepie221
Brother, I watched this 4 times because I love the ingenuity. Awesome.
Stick a small digital caliper along the adapter and have a accurate depth gauge.
Thank you, from the UK. So many micro drills I've broken over the years, and had no idea about this setup!
being a swiss apprentice micromecanician i can understand why you would have some difficulties with drilling that small of a hole with such a lathe so good job but if you take the good machine for the good job you'd have no problem drilling this hole, for example the smallest hole i ever drilled with a lathe was 0.2mm on a schaublin 70 lathe the hole ended up being 0.215mm in diameter but i was in my tolerance so the job was done
Agreed, 1350 RPM is way too slow for the drill bit he's using - but that's probably about as fast as that lathe will spin. At a speed of 50 sfm (recommended for stainless), a .026" drill should be turning around 7500 RPM!
It sounds to me like you are a CNC lathe guy. If the feed isn't perfectly inline with the RPM, this drill wouldn't last a minute at that speed. Obviously my RPM was fine for the process because it works perfectly. Every time.
I also see you are a ST subscriber. Ask DB to do this at 7500 rpm by hand and get back to me.
Bryan rou
I have to drill 0.32mm diameter drill. Depth is 12mm.Material is EN31 fully annealed .
Can you suggest better way than hand drilling?
Vikram
mefavkd@hotmail.com
When I started as an app. in 1966 ,That spring loaded drill that you explinded in the last of the video is what was used in the Bridgeport and lathe in the shop ..
Cool, never seen that before
When I was in the Air Force in the early 80's my shop chief taught me how to do this. Great to see it's making the rounds again!
Maybe I taught him how to do it. ya never know.
Nice trick. I work with stainless every day. Sure does test my patience
Yes it does!
Always a pleasure Joe. I could have bet you while you in the office at the beginning of your video, exactly what it was that you showed us here. It is kind of you to share, I recall how selfish 'some' of those crotchety old timers could be back when I was an an apprentice. However in '78, I took a job in a tool room at a stamping company, and I was lucky enough to work for a journeyman that was a lot like you. Thanks.
I looked up to the guy that trained me. Chet Z. a fellow Pollock from NJ.
You're absolutely right about the 'feel' of the drilling/cutting. Once you've lost the feel, you've lost your drill bit!
I made my own by chucking a piece of brass in the tailstock and drilling and reaming to match the straight shank chuck with the drill and reamer in the headstock. It has been in my toolbox for 55 years.
That is clever, I don’t have a lathe for metal. but still interesting.
I had often used these many years ago, and they worked well. But for very small drills, it can still be hard to feel the resistance and broken drills can still result. I eliminated this by installing a drop indicator mount on the quill and used the quill stop to control the pecking depth of the drill. I would peck .001"-.003" at a time and did not rely on feel. Also, it improved chip clearing and prevented me from getting over aggressive with the down force on a finger chuck that often would results from my impatience.
Patience is a virtue.
So, if you can't afford a lathe you can't drill tiny holes, is that it? Brilliant idea though. Thanks for sharing.
I have a similar tool made by Rutland that utilizes a Jacobs #0 chuck that closes to 0 on a spring-loaded shaft. I'm in the carburetor business and use it frequently on my miniature Sherline lathe which is smaller than your tailstock. Thank you for your video
Brilliant!!
You're the best. Cut to the chase and explain it out in a way another mechanic can understand. Best to you and your's for the Holiday Season.
Thank you. Have a great Holiday season as well.
i drill very small holes in tool steel alot at my job and I just rest my finger on the drill so i can feel it cutting and if it bows at all , say today 12 hole bolt circle thru a2 with a 1/16 drill thru 1.500 of material 12 times 1 drill no breaks ,I have been a tool maker for 40 years and my supervisor who is not a tool maker today tells me not to let him see me doing this again it is a safety hazzard I have been doing this over 30 plus yrs. Broke alot of drills before I found what works and it works for me never an injury .I keep my rpms at between 700 800 and it cuts like butter everyone else is breaking drills running way high rpms and ,like you said no feel..I got angry being told how to do my job by someone that doesn,t know my Job, and this man thinks it,s ok for a toolmaker to try to drill thru steel at 900 rpm,s with a 5/8 drill it was screaming I backed way off waiting for it to grab and shatter the drill sending fragments like bullets thru the air ,,,,wow I was told people have different ways of doing things ,hello yes sir right and wrong. thanks for letting me vent and I hope you answer to this as you said the drill is so small my finger is like leather after 40 yrs. doing this ,would I rest it on a 1/4 drill at 600 700 rpms hell know it would tear my skin off ,,,please reply Sir.
Machining is an art and the appreciation of feedback. Sound, color, smell machine tone changes...everything is a message for those willing to listen. It a shame when a company hires a degree to run a shop where hands are the best tools. Ask your genius boss to demonstrate his preferred technique next time he opens his mouth. Problem solved.
I made one like that some time ago. I bought one those $150 jobbies, but it had too much runout. I took the chuck off and made a sliding adapter like yours. Works great.
A bigger problem is if your tailstock center is not online with the headstock axis, a drill will break off. Our secondary operation lathe has no adjustments for setting the height and position of the tail stock. I had to drill a bunch of .007' holes To me, .026 is HUGE.
I've seen this trick before, but never held in a drill chuck. What seems to work well is to but y a Morse taper blank, putting it in the tailstock, marking orientation of the blank, and then drilling and reaming a hole in using tools held in the work holding chuck. It eliminates any off centeredness of the tailstock, both laterally and vertically.
what sort of bit did you use to drill 0.007 holes?
Thank you very much Joe, bloody life saver, I’m sick of breaking small drills and more sick having to go to the shops and spend the money to keep replacing them, thanks again mate 👌🏼
I didn't remember watching .
My only complaint is I can't leave a 2nd LIKE ;)
I appreciate that.
this little trick is quite useful. made one of these in tradeschool. all my class mates thought i was a fool for wasting so much time getting the fit just right. ...and then they had to drill a wire size hole. boy did they all come to me!
Rent it...don't loan it. just sayin
This reminds me of the old joke about a drilling competition between the USA and Soviet Russia back before laser drilling was a thing:
It goes that the USA sent a drill bit, measure in microns, to their Russian counterparts that was "the smallest possible dill bit in the World".
Days later the Russians returned it with a hole drilled through the centre of it along with the bit used still a sliding fit in the hole!
A story exists that Germany did that with Japan .
Very good Idea. I am a hobby machinist. When I was taught lathe work many years ago the instructor emphasised "develop a feel for the procedures you use". I will be using the method you have shown. Thankyou Joe
I've heard that since I was in shop in highschool in the 70's, I don't do much metal work these days, mostly wood, but the "feel" is bang on. You know when something's wrong....specially when using a circular saw through maple plywood with a dull blade....
I'm a Watchmaker. That drill bit is fairly large to me.
www.testntools.co.nz/desic-tungsten-micro-drill-bits-0.3mm-3.1mm-5-pack.html
I know what you mean, my grandpa the clockmaker, and nationwide clock repairman for montgomery wards did all his practically microscopic hole drilling by hand.
@@MatthewHolevinski that is still a standard method. My grandfather and father had contracts with the Railroad until they went to Satalite. I'd like to add we use an abrasive piece of Corundum to shape, harden, and polish high carbon steel 0.002mm/min material displacement on average sized conical pivots for the balance staff on modern Watches creating super hardened mirrored surfaces. The larger size balance pivots on an 18 size Elgin pocket watch are typically between 0.11mm and .014mm. In Jeweled mechanisms (7j-21j) those pivots also glide on a Corundum surface that is also drilled. Corundum is the same composition as Ruby and Sapphire with a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale. Gypsum is a 1 and Diamond is a 10. Ps. It is rare but Diamond jewels have also been used. Naturally Diamond is also the abrasive used in such drilling applications. The drill bit looks like a hair with a double heli and the diamond "slurry" is a fine powder added with oil. I typically only need a 20%mm dia 3.8mm long Tungsten Carbide HHS bit for small brass pivot holes www.mikrontool.com/en/Products/CrazyDrill-Flex/Description I also drill by hand using a "Steaking Tool" to stay perpendicular to the plates.
Did something like this when I was working! But smaller! The material was H13 toolsteel, which is a versatile chromium-molybdenum stainless, in this case for use in an injection mould tool for moulding precision medical spray nozzles. The set up was as you saw here, but on a mill with the work piece in a collet in the milling head, and the slide chuck fixed to the table. Two . reasons for this set up, firstly setting and checking concentricity is much easier, and secondly a potential problem with chippings in the hole causing problems, by having the workpiece at the top, they fall out no problem. The drill size was 0.010" and the lubricant was a very cheap one, lick your finger and wipe the drill with it. This was a 128 impression tool we made, so a lot of holes, plus spares. One part was accidentally drilled at 0.008" diameter, we told the customer we'd forgotten to grind that one. This method was also successful at drilling 0.006 diameter for another mould tool. I'm not saying we didn't break drills, of course we did, again various reasons for this, not all drills are equal, drill enough small holes and 'feel' will tell this and you can discard the drill, even so because the drills vary, so does the number of holes you can get before changing, and of course tiredness from concentration and the constant light but firm grip on the drill chuck tells after a while. A useful tip for more than an odd one or two off, rig a dial indicator so that you know the break through point, this is yet another regular source of drill breakage on small holes. In all though a very satisfying process, and I can think of no better way of learning 'feel' .
You can do this with a mill. You need a sensitive drill attachment. It's roughly the same setup, but the drill is spinning and you grab the chuck by a ring that spins on bearings.www.msdiscounttool.com/catalog/product_info.php?csv=gg&products_id=105401&gclid=Cj0KCQjww7HsBRDkARIsAARsIT4gMT3c3RQA5VMN7I1kuGrmW6OWlKt2JMeE8GzT1CvNAgU5r--PNXwaAlbvEALw_wcB
Bob Darli. The only thing I found wrong with the posred website for the attachment is that only in the state of California, the product has material that may cause cancer. All of the other 49 states and the rest of the world can use this product without worry. What can the Californians use?? 😃😃😃
Great idea. I have an application for this at the present time. It will save me purchasing many 1/16 ths drills.
So, the secret to not break your little drill bits is to buy a lathe...
That is a neat setup. It reminded me of how the cutter is pushed with the thumb on a rose engine lathe. Same concept, a rigid tool in 2 dimensions with as little friction in cutting direction as possible to maximize digital sensation. Been a long time since I used the word"digital" to refer to fingers......
This video is 10 times longer than it needs to be.
Maybe not, some people still don't get it!
Yes, much better feel by hand. I made a similar slip fit system for hand tapping anything smaller than 10/32 threads. When using your fingers you can really feel that tap binding up and starting to flex. That's when you back out, blow it out, re- oil and go back in for another "peck". Works equally as well on a mill. Good stuff Joe.
Broke 3 tiny bits before looking. Bring on the names - just want to make TINY holes in 1/4” vintage OAK...
Uh oh. Did he say lathe.
WELL *P00P* !! I’m talkin hand drill and Wood, so I can put in fine brass nail.
darn it.
I use a Amtech R0279 Mini Craft Hand Drill but it doesn't always get positive revues but I have had and used mine for more than ten years. I brake the odd bit still now and then but light pressure and less speed gets the job done and fewer broke A normal hand drill is heavy pushing down on the small bit but the Amtech is plastic with a brass chuck and he did say lathe but I found my self hear by accident too. To make fine holes in wood you could try using a pin push Expo 2mm Pin pusher - ideal for Amati and Peco pins # 75110
Have you tried an Archimedes drill?
Gives you much greater control over twist speed & pressure for small jobs.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/QUALITY-ARCHIMEDES-PUMP-ACTION-PIN-DRILL-Precision-Model-Pinning-Hand-Tool-/172537853411?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292
I have put a drill bit in a pin vice and drilled it by hand. It takes forever but it might work for you.
Nice technique. I was taught to use a pin vice sliding on a drill blank mounted in a Jacobs chuck. As the drills get into the very small sizes (76, 80) it’s even easier to get the feel. Your RPM seemed a little slow to me for Stainless. Having a high speed bench lathe or a Hardinge toolroom lathe makes life easier too.
Keep up the great work. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure.
"feel"=trigger time...nothing replaces time in the seat
Thats a fact.
As you said, a very old trick, but one of which many today seem unaware..... During WW2 my mother used to make welding tips in a factory in London using a similar method. She got extra wages because her production rate was high and she never broke drills.
So, you used digital control for the drill... :-)
James I had to think on this one. HaHa!
Another great video. Thanks. I have a project for the wife's business that requires a 3/16 in hole and have just been breaking drills by the handful. I have a scrounged piece of steel which can be easily modified to use the hand feed technique. Great job.
3/16 diameter may be a little large for this technique. What is your material?
@@joepie221 Fat finger. It is a 1/16 inch hole, just big enough to get a small wire through. My wife makes jewelry and fancy zipper pulls, tassels, etc. for decoration on her hand tooled leather products, earrings, etc. We purchase spent shell casings sizes .22 cal. .375, .38 through .45 shell casings. Most of the products use the shell casing base.
However some of the spent casings used for earrings and other dangly stuff are left in one piece. In these I drill a 1/16 inch hole through the center of the soent casing base which requires the 1/16" drill to penetrate the spent primer cap. For the .22 cal shells the drill still has to penetrate some layered metal. It is common for the small drill to catch and bind and snap off before I can stop the lathe. I have been busy with some other projects but will get back to cutting and drilling casings in the next few days and will use your technique then. Many thanks.
Excellent tip!
I wonder if mosquitoes find this pornographic? ;-)
in the late 60s i worked on a lot of carburetors. and in 68 on the Carter AVS they put an idle jet to small. it caused the V 8 engines to stumble off idle. it was a brass tube. necked down at the end. i used a .034 " drill in a hand held pin vice. hold the tube pointing down so the chips dont get in the the tube. on 440s incres the dia of the jet by .001. the stumble is gone
A 12 min video for 30 seconds of info. Jump ahead to 7:00 to see the “secret”. What the guy left out of the title is you need a $2,000 lathe and what you are drilling has to be round stock. It
I've never had a Latte, but I would never spend 2 grand on a drink either.
@@newstart49 Great video, I hope you make more. Just keep them short and get to the point.
My lathe was about 100k is it suitable for small Drills?
@@fitzifoppel4980 No, you have to buy the $250k one for small holes. You can only drill large ones.
Some time i miss the silent era of film making.🤣😂😁😀😎
I've done this many times in the lathe and mill using what I know as a finger chuck adapter. Also known as a micro drill adapter.Sierra American sells a version for $62. I've seen versions on Ebay for $27. It is a 1/2" strait arbor with an extending spring loaded arbor that has a "0" Jacobs taper end for a micro chuck. There also is a 1 1/8' dia. flange that free wheels so your fingers can extend the chuck. This is can be used in mills and drill presses because the chuck rotates with the 1/2" arbor. I also get as good or better results, depending on material that I am cutting by setting a quill stop and advancing it .002"-.003' at a time. Without the advancing stop, it is easy to get too ambitious and lose patience. Especially when doing many hole patterns and in gummy materials.
The difference being the "micro drill adapter" doesn't allow you to let go and save the drill before it breaks off. Those adapters are great for mill work, but are designed for a driving spindle. And about the "Dilettante" comment you made on my threading video. Next time you leave a comment that crosses over and gets personal, I'll block your channel. Anytime you care to find out the depth of my experience, just ask.