The speed of the Dremel might

The speed of the Dremel might be too high for what you want. I'd like to have a mini drill press but the prices ($175-$300) are out of my budget. I have looked at plans to build one on line. I've been thinking about doing that.

drill budget

Chuck

Or use the chuck that comes with the drill and use machine drill bits.  You can buy resharpened numeric drill bits from Drill Bit City, with a 1/8 in  shank and a collar with the drill bit number printed on it.  No guessing which bit is which, the bits center perfectly in the chuck and if you treat them properly are fine for metal plastic and resin.  Key is to keep the work steady while drilling.

Drill Press

GP30       Dremel makes a drill press stand for their dremels. Look for them on ebay they are very reasonable. If your dremel has veriable speed it will work real well. I use mine all the time for drilling very small holes.    ron netti

Necessity is the mother of invention they say

Made from a cheapo Harbor Freight hand drill press. Drilled thousands of 0.030" holes with it recently. By the feel of it I am sure it could be used with much smaller bits just as well. Ran the Dremel on the slowest speed setting. Worked great after I managed to get rid of the side-to-side slop in the mechanism i.e. every rubber band I could find in the house. What do you think of my precision Y axis adjuster wood block? Looks tacky but works excellent. And no, that is not an oscillating table fan you see. It is in fact an industrial cutting chip extraction system. :-P

There are 3 or 4 different

There are 3 or 4 different "mini" drill presses on Amazon. This one is $77.00.  Sorry, the photo is a bit large.  I haven't figured out how to re-size yet.

Mike

SE 97511MDP 8500 RPM 3-speeds Mini Drill Press Bench Jeweler Hobby

Dremel

Dremel does make a variable speed rotary tool for about $80. Model 4000-2/30.  And the Dremel work station is also about $80.  Pretty nice setup. 

Mike

I have the Dremel drill press

I have the Dremel drill press and it is not that accurate too many plastic parts. If you have a big box store or a store that sells it I would check it out in person before you buy.

"The speed of the Dremel

"The speed of the Dremel might be too high for what you want."

   The smaller the bit the higher you want the speed so dremels might be fine for small bits, otherwise one can get a variable speed dremel motor .    I have a small  precision drill press that works fine but I only use it for drilling tougher parts like metal with carbide bits, for most plastic modeling jobs I use a pin vice or chuck the bit in my cordless drill. .DaveB

slow drills

Athearn motor.

I once read on either this forum or it was a posting from the modelrailroadforums.com forum of a guy that was in the same position as you and made a drill press using an old motor from an BB athearn locomotive he had laying around. I never thought to ask for pictures of his setup on how he built it but I could see that working as a low speed option as well. I guess I didnt think drilling into plastic would require high speed like posted here but perhaps im wrong and high speed is the key. I personally have the dremel drill press but ill admit I have never tried to drill holes with that size and the kind of precision needed to do it right though.

I have a Micro Mark variable speed...........

...............drill press with a foot switch.  It does a really great job.  I know it's a bit expensive, but their add on x-y axis stand and the adjustable drill press vice make all the difference.  You just cannot hold small pieces with your hands.  I the below picture, I an using a file in the vice to turn down an aluminum screw for a headlight reflector.

A poor man's lathe.

The finished product prior to polishing to a mirror finish.

Peter

" I didnt think drilling into

" I didnt think drilling into plastic would require high speed like posted here but perhaps im wrong and high speed is the key."

    Drilling into plastic doesn't require high speed since the plastic is soft but drilling into steel with a small bit requires a higher speed than drilling into steel with a large bit. The reason is the edge speed is determined by the radius of the bit so tiny bits have to spin fast to generate any edge speed. For plastic I don't bother with a drill motor or press as a pin vice spun by hand is fast enough and easy to control..DaveB

Peter's Micro Mark Drill

Peter I applaud you. Nice use of a drill press as a vertical lathe.

One note on drilling with tiny drills. Speed can also kill the cutting edge of a drill. Friction will heat up the metal and can cause it to get hard. Known as work hardening. Sometimes a carbide drill won't even break through that in trying to save a piece. Thirty years in the machine tool industry has taught me that.

Bernd

I got this 4 volt screw gun

I got this 4 volt screw gun on sale for $20. I use it more than my drill press. I picked up a couple of chucks that have a hex end and snap in like a bit. It runs really slow and works well for plastic.

Experience

What the OP needs is someone who has actually done this.

A few years ago I tried with a Dreme l

Obvious Man told me to run the Dremel slow for tiny bits like this.

The pin vise was the best. Slow but controllable without bending the bit.

I used kerosene for a cutting fluid for metal. Saw that recommend in a model railroad magazine before the Internet. Not sure anyone remembers what a magazine is.

Rich

Many versions of a hand-held

Many versions of a hand-held pin vise have body diameters in the range of 3/8 to 1/4 inch. Just take off the handle, and (gently) chuck the body of the pin vise in the drill press. Now you have precise depth and alignment control for drilling. 

Definitely use slow speeds on plastic, and not much faster on metals... but with metal, LUBRICATE LUBRICATE LUBRICATE! It's ESPECIALLY important for tiny drills! A drop of oil works fine... and if you start seeing smoke, you're pushing too hard/too fast.

The problem with plastic is also heat, but for different reasons. If you get it too hot, it melts through the plastic rather than cutting... and if it cools around the drill and welds to the piece you're drilling, you'll snap the drill in a jiffy.

In fact, for plastic, leave the drill press turned off and turn the chuck by hand. (Unplug it from power for safety...)You still get the alignment and precision, without the risk. You can do many metals the same way...

Dremels are WAY too fast for this kind of drilling... 10x or more. You want drill speeds no faster than the 100s of RPMs, and Dremels typically run 10,000 - 20,000 rpm.

"Dremels are WAY too fast for

"Dremels are WAY too fast for this kind of drilling... 10x or more. You want drill speeds no faster than the 100s of RPMs, and Dremels typically run 10,000 - 20,000 rpm."

     I don't think 10K is too fast for a #80 bit, IIRC depending on the material drilled it might need up to 25K .DaveB

Drill Speed

Yes.........

At about 1 inch per second feed rate!

Bernd

"At about 1 inch per second

"At about 1 inch per second feed rate!?"

    looks like steel likes a SFM of 100 feet per minute or 1200 inches per minute, divided by 3.1417X .0135            ( circumference of #80 bit) =  28,301 rpm. Probably why my precision drill press has a 30K speed at one setting? ...DaveB

Craftsman

I use a small Craftsman drillpress bought about 10 years ago for less than $100.  I use it to make rotary couplers for coal gondolas and have it set up to drill .022 holes.  I usually get around 50 or so holes from a bit but the bits are not all the same.  Some only last a few holes with the same technique.  The holes are the length of a KD #5 shank.  I did tighten up the spindle so it doesn't have side to side play.  The chuck closes to zero so I can use small bits.

Paul

Small Drill Chucks

Search through the Micro Mark web for an assortment of Ideas for drills and drill bits here is the Mini Drill Chuck and pin Vice page---

http://www.micromark.com/drills-and-pin-vises.html

whoa.....it's not the drill...but....

The controller.   I have a no-name benchtop drill press, but get a 0-x volt foot pedal from micro mark or whomever.   I can slow my drill press down to where you can count the revolutions with your eye.   complete control is available.   My drill press will likely last forever if you drill 20  to 50 revolutions per week, right?

Let me know if you need part numbers.

Sensitive drill press

Ben King had an article in the August 1969 Model Railroader about building and operating a precision drill press; in a later issue he published an update using a motor suitable for large 1:45 scale locomotives. Those very small bits on 1/8 inch shanks he called "pivot drills". I've seen them in any of several electronic surplus emporia in Silicon Valley on occasion.