drilling small holes... with router???

[eloid]

would like to get some feed back from user, how they drill small holes
I can see the need in the future to make sheet melt work which will require
1/8 or smaller holes in it... also for my wood working need,,,
in stead of cheiseling out the corners of 90 grove, i would pilot drill the outside corner just to make cleaning out dado / pockets easier with a chisel.

[mcphill]

I sell an adapter for 1/4" collets if you are interested. You can use "cheap" small drills in it:

http://www.mcpii.com/Nicknacks.html#anchor_96

E-mail me at mike(at)mcpii(dot)com if you are interested, or click the "Buy Now" button.

[Boots]

I use a very small drill chuck that has a 1/2 in shank and can be held with a regular tool holder set-up and gos from 3/16 in. down to about a 1/64 in. drill size. I set with the tool setter and use like any other drill.

[ger21]

Be careful using bits not designed for high rpm. Can be very dangerous. http://www.precisebits.com/ sells precision collets and 1/8" shank bits made for 10,000 rpm and higher.

[FandZ]

Originally Posted by mcphill I sell an adapter for 1/4" collets if you are interested. You can use "cheap" small drills in it: http://www.mcpii.com/Nicknacks.html#anchor_96 E-mail me at mike(at)mcpii(dot)com if you are interested, or click the "Buy Now" button.

Sorry to side track this thread, but what is the run out on your attachment that you sell?

[mcphill]

Originally Posted by FandZ Sorry to side track this thread, but what is the run out on your attachment that you sell?

It runs "pretty true". The adapter has less than 0.0005" runout, but I don't make the Dremel collet, so I can't speak to the system tolerance. I have had no issues drilling PCBs with #60 bits and no centering. That is many hundreds of holes (could be close to 2000) with that bit in FR4 board.

[GeeksGoneBad]

I bought the collet kit from Precise Bits for my Hitachi router so I can hold 1/8" shanks - it was very well built and is absolutely perfect

[Torchhead]

On Aluminum (which works with higher RPM) we found that using two flute small mills and milling out holes did several things for us:

No need to change drill sizes or tools for all the holes and all of the other shapes we cut (all cuts in one setup).

No walking on the initial start of a hole. Without centering holes a drill bit will flex as it starts. If precision hole placement is your goal (and I would assume asking about run-out it is) then the end mills will make the hole be exactly at the right spot.

We do use spray lubricant as we mill. Leaves very clean holes and a 1/16th inch carbide spiral upcut bit (used in the PCB industry) is cheap and lasts a long time.

We don't cut steel with our router....even thin stuff. You need lower RPM and even with the good speed control on my Mikitia and cooling its not a good match.

I used to use a drill chuck and do tool changes and it was a PITA to get consistent results. We now mill everything; even holes that need to be tapped.

Only place I still use twist drills is in cutting proto PCB's on the small engraver/router

TOM Caudle
ww.CandCNC.com

[mcphill]

So did I, for my Bosch Colt, but that ONLY holds 1/8" bits. With a Dremel chuck you can vary the size to any drill bit you want within the sizes of the chuck. Less precise, but much more versatile. With drills you don't need the precision as much, as long as you have a center drill starting the hole. The bit will center on the first point and flex as needed to drill the hole. Works great on PCBs, and is much cheaper than buying a bunch of carbide 1/8" bits (which are better, no question, but in the long run more expensive, and not needed for my applications).