questions on pin vices

A pin vise is nothing more than a handle to hold (very small) drill bits, much like the handle that holds a blade you call a hobby knife. It allows you to contol the bit while twisting the bit by hand into the material you are drilling into. Made for doing delicate work, definitely not for mass production unless you want forearms like Popeye.

 

The unit on the far left is a conventional pin vise, the two on the right are 'pin vises' that are used to clean gas welding torches...they include the bits which are stored in the handle. Otherwise you have to source the bits separately...individually they can be expensive or you can find sets like this one. Both the bits and vises I found at my local hardware store in the tool department.

 

There are 1001 pin vises to chhose from out there. I have six different ones myself and I am not a prolific builder. If you want to choose one to start with I would strongly recommend one with a rotating top (I have one made by General) with two-double ended collets. It is the one I use most because it's comfortable to use and, with the rotating head, seems to make it much easier to get my bores squarer to the suface I'm drilling.

From the description given it sounds like a smaller version of the Yankee Pushdrill used in woodworking.   The Yankee drill converts the up and down motion on the drill to rotary motion at the bit.   I have one for woodworking & have broken bits 1/16th & larger when the plane of motion is not exactly in line with the plane of the drill.   

I think that using such a drill on the wire-gauge sized bits common in the hobby will lead to many broken bits unless care is taken.  Using a pin vise which is twisted in the fingers, while it may be slower, will result in less breakage in the long run.

 

EdGrune is right. DO NOT use power with wire guage bits. It isnt needed on plastic and only adds the risk of breakage to your other worries. You only get ONE of each bit in a set; you dont want them breaking off because you were too strenuous with them.

Trust us on this point, too: a #75-#80 drill bit is SMAAAAL. You need to exercise care with such things. 

SIDE NOTE: I've got some that go to .008". This is even smaller than #80, which is .014" and normally the bottom of the common wire guage scale. These things are little bigger than a hair. They're mostly useless, but pretty neat anyway!

Get two sizes of pin vise: The small one and the larger one with the spinning finger rest on top. The one for welding tips that Glenn recommends is okay, too. I've found no need for larger ones with plastic aircraft or armor models. If you build large ship models of wood, then maybe. But plastic models? Naaah.

Go slow with models and the tools used on them. Patience and a deft touch are your by-words.

The pin vise in one of my favorite tools.  It allows me to bore out gun barrels, antenna mounting points, exhaust stacks or any other place I need to drill small holes.

Though to make life easier, I almost always use the point of a brand new #11 blade to make a starting divot so the bit doesn't walk off-center.

-Fred

 

Good tip, Frank. (pun intended)

I use a sharp needle, epoxied into a dowel for a center punch. Hey, whatever works.

Oh, and just for the pedants in the group (of which I am one), it is pin "vise," not vice.

 

dahut - I apprecited the;

"They're mostly useless, but pretty neat anyway!

comment, there is so much out there like that. I think its something that consumerism has helped along the way - I would love an F-4 (I would accept a used one) for the back garden, it would be very useless - but painfully neat, can imagine what the wife would say "thats pretty useless" amongst other things.

Aint it the truth. I have some old antigue camping items from my dad's collection. While much of it is essentially useless (well, unless out camping a century ago), they're still pretty neat.

I dunno about rampant consumerism - but I know 'pretty neat' when I see it!