Bought a trainline GP15-1 and started drilling grab iron holes with a pin vise taking roughly 5 minutes per hole. Went on ebay and bought an electric pin vise. The one I bought has a usb connector that plugs into a 120 volt ac converter and produces 5 volts dc to the pin vise. it is roughly the size of 2 d cell batteries and easily holds a #70 drill bit. Looks like this is something I should have thought of many years ago. Cost including shipping was under $25.00
How about a little more info? Brand? Model?
The one I chose is by Mid Valley but there must be at least 50 different ones. This one has a small set 0f drills, a four foot cord, some large eye bolts, a small allen wrench to lock the chuck while tightening and a small pouch to keep everything in. Comes in a box about 3" x4" x 6" and arrived in northern Michigan in two days. I have no idea at this point if it will hold up over time but am satisfied at this point. I assume it is of Chinese origin. I found it by searching for electric pin vise on ebay.
I have no idea why that posted twice but I just drilled 14 grab iron holes in three and a half minutes. With no load the box say's it turns at 11,000 rpm. I was able to extend the drill far enough I could drill the body with the handrails in place. each hole took literally less then 3 seconds. Directions say it is not for drilling metals but that is not what I bought it for. It is a low torque motor apparently only good for resin or plastic they say but it made driiling those grab iron holes an absolute piece of cake.
There have been discussion on other forums about using dremels or equivalent drills with bit adapters. I brought one from Micromark last year, haven't had a chance to really use it, but I got it for the same reason you did - manually drilling with a Pin Vise isn't too bad for 1 or 2 holes, but 10s or 20s or more of them is problematic.Anyway, does your drill handle bits as small as #78 (which I often use for grab-irons/handrails and the like - good enough for most purposes once you account for the CA or other cements)?
ndbprrWith no load the box say's it turns at 11,000 rpm.
I found a solution that works beautifully for me —
motor-pin-vice by Edmund, on Flickr
This one runs on a pair of AAA batteries and turns at 100 RPM. For most of my small drilling chores the lower speed is much more preferable in my experience.
It will chuck a #80 drill bit just fine (this one is a #78)
Chuck_no78 by Edmund, on Flickr
For high speed drilling I have one of the Foredom-styled flexible shafts with a speed control but even at its lowest speed it is still over 1500 RPM.
Dremel_flex by Edmund, on Flickr
Dremel_flex-chuck by Edmund, on Flickr
Good Luck, Ed
I presume a drill won't work for the grab iron holes?
Need to see how to make them since the included ones break off quite easily (at least for me).
gmpullmanThis one runs on a pair of AAA batteries and turns at 100 RPM.
-Matt
Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.
Hi, Matt
Yes it is the General #500. There was a 'how-to' article in another leading model RR forum a while back that gave some pointers.
It has been a while since I put this setup together. I bought several different chucks from Amazon and picked the one that had the most promise. I had a friend make an adapter that had to be bored to IIRC 7mm from 6mm.
Chuck by Edmund, on Flickr
The chuck on the left will fit a regular ¼" hex driver socket.
Drill_chucks by Edmund, on Flickr
This may have been one of the chucks I used?
https://a.co/d/jm1bQk7
You have to do some modifications or make an adapter to get the chuck mounted on the shank of the General. If you get something similar to the Black & Decker power screw driver that takes a common ¼" hex bit you will be able to find a better selection of chucks that will fit (top example in my photo) but there will be just a little more slop in the shaft.
https://a.co/d/6SiuQVc
Try to get a three-jaw chuck as the four jaw variety are a pain to center a tiny drill bit into.
Thanks for the follow-up, Ed.
kasskabooseI presume a drill won't work for the grab iron holes? Need to see how to make them since the included ones break off quite easily (at least for me).
If you haven't tried already, choke up on your #75 and smaller drill bits so that no more than a 1/4" of drill bit protrudes past the end of the drill chuck or pin vise. That should drastically reduce the fatalities of our grab iron drill bits because they will flex very little, which is what causes them to break.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Something to remember if chucking tiny bits is that the jaws have to be true down to zero (0) opening.
Some chuck designs "aid centering" by putting a small rounding on the inner corners of the jaw faces. This supposedly gives good centering line contact when tightened, but the drill may be too thin to 'reach' the cutaway contact areas even with the chuck forced closed.
About the chucking and small bits... I was in a gundam shop today in Seattle's International District, which is a euphemism for what used to be called Chinatown. The little family-owned business had every Tamiya rattle can color in the product line except flat black, which was what I needed. So before leaving I looked around at the modeling tools they had, and there were sets of tiny drill bits that widened out to integrated normal-size shafts. They would fit in any driver.
They were expensive -- $25.99 for a set of five or six bits ranging on either side of 0.8 mm -- and because you cannot "choke up" on them as was suggested above, I imagine they would break fairly easily if even pressure and alignment are not maintained during drilling. But the community here should know that they're an option.
They were of Japanese or maybe Chinese manufacture and the writing all over the package was not Roman/Latin but an Asian script, so I couldn't even discern the name of the company or product. I wish I'd taken a photo of it. But I'm sure someone here could find them online if they needed them.
I thought it was a great idea, just didn't want to lay out the cash yet when I'm nowhere near the point of adding grab bars to my rolling stock.
Hi Matt,
crossthedog there were sets of tiny drill bits that widened out to integrated normal-size shafts. They would fit in any driver.
Those bits are designed to be used in drill presses where there is little if any runout or side thrust force on the bit. If you use them freehand, you run the risk of breaking them very quickly because any side force or bending force will be concentrated at the point where the bit transitions from the small drill to the larger shank. There was a forum member a couple of years ago who bought numerous 1/4" shank micro drill bits and, IIRC, was constantly breaking them trying to drill holes freehand.
I have the battery powered micro drill setup that Ed uses (thanks for posting that a few years ago Ed). It works extremely well!
One other point. Tom (tstage) suggested chucking the micro drill bit so that there is very little of the bit sticking out of the chuck. He is correct when he says that it reduce breakage but I have large fingers so sometimes I find it hard to see the target point. I use the opposite approach. I chuck the bits so that most of the bit is sticking out of the chuck. That maximizes the length of the bit that can flex if your hand wobbles a bit.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
kasskabooseI presume a drill won't work for the grab iron holes?
Hi kasskaboose,
You are correct. The problem with using a normal sized electric hand drill is that they are rather bulky compared to the micro bits. That makes them hard to keep steady, and if the drill wobbles, the bit might (probably will) break.
The setup that Ed shows works extremely well. The battery powered drill is very light so that your arm doesn't get exhausted trying to hold it steady. The constant 100 rpm speed is also perfect. If you use a regular sized electric drill you will have to modulate the speed constantly which is also tiring.
Okay Ed, that's two endorsements in a row! You owe me money!!
hon30critterOkay Ed, that's two endorsements in a row! You owe me money!!
Would a box of chocolate covered strawberries do?
CC_strawberry by Edmund, on Flickr
Or maybe a bottle of Chivas?
Chivas by Edmund, on Flickr
I just hope the USPS doesn't send the package to Sydney for a little R&R!
Cheers, Ed
crossthedogSo before leaving I looked around at the modeling tools they had, and there were sets of tiny drill bits that widened out to integrated normal-size shafts. They would fit in any driver.
These are what I use.
However, the general concensus in here is that I am doing it all wrong.
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
I like to use this 4.8 volt el-cheapo Dremel battery driver. It is slow and has no power, so it is great for my needs.
It is not perfect, but it works well enough off the shelf with no modifications. It wears about once a year, but it is so cheap that is OK.
I buy my drill birs with the 1/8" (3mm) shamk from Drill Bits Unlimited. They are expensive, but not as high as the ones you mentioned.
I bought 1,000 #78 drill bits a few years ago when they were on sale. That should be my lifetime supply.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Thanks for the notes about those bits, Dave, although, to be fair, see Kevin's comments.
Ed, how many thousands of gallons of Chivas is that, sitting on your tracks?
crossthedogThanks for the notes about those bits, Dave, although, to be fair, see Kevin's comments.
I'm sure that Kevin knows what he is doing so I shouldn't have painted with such a broad brush.
I buy my bits from Grainger Canada. They are industrial quality and, unlike a lot of the stuff from eBay, I have never had a bad drill bit. They cost about $5.00 Cdn. each so they aren't cheap, but I think that they are well worth the investment. The specific brands that I have are CLE-LINE and Chicago-Latrobe. They come in 12 packs so they aren't cheap, but 12 bits of the same size will probably last me for a lifetime (with the possible exception of the really tiny bits like #78-#80). In the last few months I have only broken one bit and that was because I was forcing the bit into a steel weight using far too much pressure. I can't blame the drill bit for that!
hon30critterThe specific brands that I have are CLE-LINE and Chicago-Latrobe.
I bought a pack of #50 Chicago Latrobe drill bits from Grainger for drilling coupler screw holes into brass. That was a very good purchase. I don't think I have even worn out the first one yet.
I also bought a high quality 2-56 tap from Grainger for the same purpose. It has lasted perfectly well.
I used this little pin-vise in my DeWalt Impact driver...
...then place the impact driver in the centre drawer of my work desk, and with the driver on slow speed, (and laying in the drawer with the business end angled upward) gently feed the item to be drilled onto the slow-rotating drill bit.It takes only a few minutes to drill enough holes to put four grabiron ladders on a boxcar.
Wayne
SeeYou190 crossthedog So before leaving I looked around at the modeling tools they had, and there were sets of tiny drill bits that widened out to integrated normal-size shafts. They would fit in any driver. These are what I use. However, the general concensus in here is that I am doing it all wrong. -Photograph by Kevin Parson I like to use this 4.8 volt el-cheapo Dremel battery driver. It is slow and has no power, so it is great for my needs. It is not perfect, but it works well enough off the shelf with no modifications. It wears about once a year, but it is so cheap that is OK. -Photograph by Kevin Parson I buy my drill birs with the 1/8" (3mm) shamk from Drill Bits Unlimited. They are expensive, but not as high as the ones you mentioned. I bought 1,000 #78 drill bits a few years ago when they were on sale. That should be my lifetime supply. -Kevin
crossthedog So before leaving I looked around at the modeling tools they had, and there were sets of tiny drill bits that widened out to integrated normal-size shafts. They would fit in any driver.
I use a number of different bits, plus this type also in #61-#80. I would love to see the machine/tool that make them.