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The Tool Shed - 2
Obviously, one solution for this frustration is to purchase four
of these pin vises and have each one set up for each of the dif-
ferent collets. I actually did this but I still don’t use these pin
vises that often. That is because I have realized over the years
that many pin vises are too large for the tiny drill bits we typi-
cally use.
I think that a pin vise should have a mass as small as possible
since a heavier pin vise makes it much easier to break a small
drill bit. A lightweight pin vise can be used with a light touch.
For years now, I have been using the Secure Grip Sliding pin
vise (Item No. MT1079) from Model Expo (
. This one pin vise works with drill bits from No. 80 to
slightly larger than a No. 61. The sliding collar works well and
small drill bits center easily in the tool. But, most important to
me, the light weight of the pin vise doesn’t overpower the drill
bit, thus making it easy to use very small drill bits without the
threat of breaking them due to excessive side pressure on the
drill bit.
Drill Bit Holders
Of course, a pin vise needs a selection of small drill bits in the
range of 61-80. While one can obviously buy just the drills
needed for a particular project, I have long had an entire selec-
tion of drill bits ranging from 61-80 (together with another set
in the range of 1 to 60 for other projects).
Regardless of how you buy small drill bits, you need an easy
way to store them so that you can easily find the one that you
need. There are a couple of choices for storing small drill bits
in the range 61-80—all of these choices require that you pur-
chase an entire set of 61-80 drill bits in order to get the case.
One choice is the circular case sold under the name Rogers
Drill Bit Set and available through Micro-Mark
and others. These cost about $33 each, which includes
the 20 drill bits. I started using one of these several decades
ago (probably marketed back then by X-Acto) since it was the
only collection of 61-80 drill bits available then. But one annoy-
ance with this case was that, with my large fingers, I could eas-
ily grab more than one drill bit at a time when trying to remove
a single drill bit. Once a drill bit was accidently broken (not a
infrequent occurrence, especially with those in the range of
77-80), it was easy to pick up a drill bit next to an open hole
and then set it back down in the wrong hole after using it.
2: This is the Secure Grip Sliding pin vise with a small drill bit
in place. The collar is slid toward the top of the tool to close
the collet which is part of the body of the tool. When using
very small drill bits, this collar can be slid part of the way up
to only partially close the collet, making it easy to center the
drill bit.
2
MRH-Mar 2013
